Oh from what I’ve heard of Lovetown it sounds like it was fucking amazing. That Point Depot version of One Tree Hill is one of the band’s best moments and there’s a version of Running to Stand Still from December 20 that I can’t listen to without crying like a little girl. It’s energetic – as good as the Vertigo versions were they didn’t have the same energy and propulsion I felt. The crowd all recognise the song immediately and they almost drown out the band. The “still running” snippet. Bono plays an amazing harmonica bit. And then Bono starts the Dirty Old Town snippet, and he doesn’t even need to sing the “dirty old town, dirty old town…” part. It’s incredible. I know I’m on record as saying RTSS/Streets from ZooTV is the pinnacle of the band, and I stand by that, but man, that Lovetown version is spine-tingling.
Sometimes I wonder if the band’s past has been mythicised a little bit, like if you went back in time to an old Lovetown gig, would it be as magical as some of us young’uns imagine it to be, but hearing moments like that, I think I’ll just hold onto the myth forever