best/worst performance of a song of the tour

[phommel]

i'm curious about your opinion.

Worst performance of a song:

for me, this has to be 'with or without you' Such a great and meaningful song, but I feel the performace was really uninspired. Bono playing with this hanging mic thing...no inspiration and on a routine basis. it has been way better before!!! maybe they played it too often. Imo they (bono) even ruined
it a bit....however for people who never saw U2 before and go for their main hits, it has to be one of the highlights of the show.


Best performance of a song:

Difficult to choose, but the new songs were great! Especially 'Breath' amazing start of the show. As uninspired and routine WOWY sounded, so fresh and full of power breathe was, as well as the other new songs.

 

[Diemen]

Worst would probably be the version of WOWY I heard in Chicago. The version I heard in Norman was actually the best live version I've heard in person, though it still paled in comparison to anything Pre-2000.

Best: Ultraviolet.

 

[telephone88]

wowy from Barcelona 1. Piss

 

[beau99]

Since I only went to Phoenix, I nominate the whole setlist for "best"... though I admit "Stuck" killed the crowd.

 

[Axver]

With Or Without You is garbage this tour and not fit for human ears. I'd be pissed off if I'd never heard it live before and U2 trotted out this dull version for me. I'd rather not hear it at all.

In contrast, Crazy Tonight is off the hook. Pure awesome every night.

 

[xtrmx]

The worst was With or Without you in Gelsenkirchen imo, in the NL it was ok but in germany it lacked everything.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

With Or Without You is garbage this tour and not fit for human ears. I'd be pissed off if I'd never heard it live before and U2 trotted out this dull version for me. I'd rather not hear it at all.

Both times i have heard it were pretty good, especially Norman. Im guessing you went to a show on the European leg somewhere....

 

[beau99]

^ And it was good in Phoenix too.

Hell, I saw a video from one of the Paris shows and it was great there.

 

[BWU2Buffs]

From my 1 show, Vegas.

From NLOTH:

Best -- NLOTH - nice, rowdy rock song.

Worst -- MOS, Magnificent -- I was bummed at how poorly Magnicifient went off; it is
rare for me to think an album version is better, this was IMO. MOS was just clunky.

From the other stuff:

Best - Vertigo, Streets

Worst - Walk On - the parade of mask volunteers did not work for me, and Bono sounded a bit rough (he seemed to recover after the break)

 

[gareth brown]

With Or Without You is garbage this tour and not fit for human ears. I'd be pissed off if I'd never heard it live before and U2 trotted out this dull version for me. I'd rather not hear it at all.

this.

 

[monsieur fly]

Best- UV- THE standout of the show
Worst- WOWY, absolutely hideous.

With these two songs U2 quite literally move from the sublime to the ridiculous.

 

[youarenotimmune]

WOWY was brilliant in Paris I (with the "Rain" snippet) and Cardiff

 

[clerks]

BEST -- UV


WORST -- I'LL GO CRAZY, IF I DON'T GO CRAZY TONIGHT (still love the pop version and want to hear it done that way. It sounded so great on Letterman and it kills me that they changed it just to fit the show... so many other songs that would have worked better in my eyes....)

 

['RoomOnFire]

Best: UC in Milan. Streets in Sheffield. UF in Glasgow. Every performance of Ultraviolet.

Worst: Hmmm. Easy option would be to say WOWY but I quite enjoyed in the shows I saw. Walk On is a bit hit and miss at times. Was great in Sheffield but was a little flat in Milan.

 

[Aygo]

Highlights
Ultraviolet
Sunday Bloody Sunday
No Line On The Horizon

Bad Moments
I'll Go Crazy If TheyCan't Play This The Way It Should Instead Of This Attrocity
With Or Without You
One

 

[digitize]

Highlights:
All of the NLOTH songs, especially MOS and the Crazy remix
Ultraviolet
TUF -> Cobble
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Still Haven't Found
One / Hear Us Coming / Amazing Grace / Streets
Bad
Electrical Storm
Your Blue Room
In A Little While
Beautiful Day

Bad Moments:
Uhh...

 

[bonoschild2009]

worst- listen to IALW from Glendale- it sounded like the Edge forgot how to play the song.....also YBR- it's nice to bring out a new song, but why not something that rocks? just my humble opinion

 

[U2387]

Best:Ultraviolet, Unforgttable Fire, NLOTH, Boots, UC, MOS, Sunday Bloody Sunday, MLK, Streets have been consistently great. Until The End of The World Boston, Unknown Caller Barcelona big highlights.

Just me, or was In A Little While from Vegas exceptionally good?

Worst: Easily WOWY, Vegas was painful. That has been the rule this tour, with an ok/almost good performance the exception(Foxboro, Giants, Paris). On Vertigo, only a few versions were great, but most were at least decent.

I think it could use the remaining legs off- it hasn't been played every night like this since Popmart, and it does not need to be. They are killing this song nightly.

One has been hit or miss, when it hits, its been spectacular, when it misses, its been tough to watch.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

worst:
with or without you, stuck, one, walk on

best:
your blue room, crazy tonight, bad, stay (this was the most surprising one for me as i'm not a fan of the song at all, nor do i like when u2 goes acoustic)

 

[chrissybaby]

Worst: Pride (no contest) then WOWY.
Best: Unknown Caller, YBR

 

[*Ally*]

Best: Last 2 mins of "One" from NJ 9/24, from 3:28-5:28. YouTube - U2-One, U2 360 tour,Giants Stadium,9/24/09

Also Best: "Unknown Caller" from Dublin 7/25 from 3:33-5:39. F*ckin magical with the rain... YouTube - U2 unknown caller 25 07 09

Worst: Not a huge fan of 'Stuck' accoustic...

 

[U2girl]

Best: it's a fist fight between Crazy remix and Ultraviolet.

Worst: WOWY for the oldies, and Your blue room for the 90's and 00's material.

 

[U2opra]

Best:

• The Unforgettable Fire (I love the whole arrangement, awesome!)
• Ultraviolet (Brilliant, I love the way Bono sings it, I love LED jacket, I love the wheel microphone, everything!)
• Magnificent (Really nice and energetic and I love the way Bono snippets some opera)
• Moment Of Surrender (Brilliant live translation, excellent singing, much better than I ever expected)

Worst:

• With Or Without You (please bring back the U2 that used to play this well because every night has pretty much sucked.)
• One(lacking emotion some nights - sorry I can't specify dates)
• Walk On(spoken lyrics instead of 'sung' lyrics - wtf Bono)
• Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of (Very dull and played worse this tour than ever. Acoustic really sucks over full band too.)
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Snore fest for nearly every performance. Yes let's let the crowd sing most of the song... zZZzz)
• Elevation (words fail me on how boring this is now since the Elevation Tour)

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Best:

• The Unforgettable Fire (I love the whole arrangement, awesome!)
• Ultraviolet (Brilliant, I love the way Bono sings it, I love LED jacket, I love the wheel microphone, everything!)
• Magnificent (Really nice and energetic and I love the way Bono snippets some opera)
• Moment Of Surrender (Brilliant live translation, excellent singing, much better than I ever expected)

Worst:

• With Or Without You (please bring back the U2 that used to play this well because every night has pretty much sucked.)
• One(lacking emotion some nights - sorry I can't specify dates)
• Walk On(spoken lyrics instead of 'sung' lyrics - wtf Bono)
• Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of (Very dull and played worse this tour than ever. Acoustic really sucks over full band too.)
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Snore fest for nearly every performance. Yes let's let the crowd sing most of the song... zZZzz)
• Elevation (words fail me on how boring this is now since the Elevation Tour)

it's impossible for me to agree with this post any more than i do unless i'd made the post myself.

 

[U2opra]

Well it's my opinion, deal with it.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

Worst:

WOWY (pretty much all performance)
Mysterious Ways (drum is shit and no slide solo + Bono seems bored as hell)
No BOY or October songs!!!
No POP songs!!!

Best:

CRAZY REMIX
GOYB (loved it live)
Ultraviolet
NLOTH
Unknown caller
TUF
MLK
Moment of Surrender

 

[kramwest1]

I'm going to take the thread premise as a vote for a specific performance at a specific venue--like the definitive or iconic, live version of that song.

I don't care to hear it again soon, but Stuck was just fantastic at the Rose Bowl.

I'd love for someone to convince me that there was a definitive "best" version of Crazy Tonight. Each time I saw it rocked, but if I had to tell a non-fan, this is the one version you must hear of it, which show would it be?

I think UF in Vegas was the weakest version I heard on the tour.


Mark

 

[yenlard]

stuck did sound good at the rose bowl. but mysterious ways has lost its way. there's no fire in that song the way they play it. sbs was off at the rose bowl, but other versions ive heard have been good. it seemed really slowed down at the bowl. im thinking how the band feels it has to play these songs for the audience.....when in reality they don't have the passion to do so. kinda hard for them to hide it sometimes. ultraviolet though....is spectacular what i really miss is edge walking the runway during electric co....wailing on his guitar

 

[ramblin rose]

I'd love for someone to convince me that there was a definitive "best" version of Crazy Tonight. Each time I saw it rocked, but if I had to tell a non-fan, this is the one version you must hear of it, which show would it be?

For me it would be Dublin 3, but you're right, they all rocked.