U2's 'X-Radio' on Sirius

[ascender_RS]

I always say that if I had a time machine, I'd just go back and follow the ZooTV tour... but Please into Streets - with the bubbly synth bridging the two/replacing the organ intro to Streets - is probably my favorite live moment of theirs, and I got to witness it in person all those years ago in the simple times.

Same here.... amazing how these little things from gigs 20+ years ago stay with you. Was just a perfect transition.

 

[marik]

Glad this is getting some appresh. Always felt the zootv transition overshadowed it (obv it was indeed amazing), but that it was under-appreshed perhaps due to the electronic-ey approach of Streets. But soooo good to my ears

 

[zoocarolina]

Was nice to hear Edge confirm we almost got Playboy Mansion on the EI Tour and also for him to admit that Pop was a pretty damn good album. Hopefully we get some more live tracks down the road if we ever get a freaking live U2 concert again.

 

[lazarus]

Whoever vetoed Playboy Mansion should be kicked in the teeth.

 

[tommycharles]

Whoever vetoed Playboy Mansion should be kicked in the teeth.

The “Experience” section (Elevation -> Pride) was great but had so much extra potential. Considering what they already included:

Elevation
Vertigo
Desire (US)
EBTTRT (Europe)
Acrobat
Best Thing
Staring At the Sun (US)
Summer of Love (Europe)
PITNOL

... songs which could have also worked there:
- Playboy Mansion (in place of Best Thing probably?)
- The Showman (probably between Vertigo and Desire/EBTTRT)
- Discotheque (in place of Desire/EBTRTT)
- I think they could also have done Babyface, Last Night On Earth, or God Pt 2 in this set

...so much potential.

 

[DeVaul]

Not playing The Showman was a head scratcher.

 

[ascender_RS]

Was nice to hear Edge confirm we almost got Playboy Mansion on the EI Tour and also for him to admit that Pop was a pretty damn good album. Hopefully we get some more live tracks down the road if we ever get a freaking live U2 concert again.

Even just the highlights/summary of that interview on U2 Songs was great and I can imagine Edge being that enthusiastic while talking about all the tracks (and tour). Which just makes it all the more baffling as to how the songs have had such little love over the years in terms of live shows.

I'd still love to see a reissued Pop with demos, alternate versions, mixes etc as I think its still one of the most interesting periods in the band's history. What's the next opportunity, 2022, for the 25th Anniversary? Which won't happen as presumably they'll have something new out, so 2027?!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Even just the highlights/summary of that interview on U2 Songs was great and I can imagine Edge being that enthusiastic while talking about all the tracks (and tour). Which just makes it all the more baffling as to how the songs have had such little love over the years in terms of live shows.



I'd still love to see a reissued Pop with demos, alternate versions, mixes etc as I think its still one of the most interesting periods in the band's history. What's the next opportunity, 2022, for the 25th Anniversary? Which won't happen as presumably they'll have something new out, so 2027?!

For reals.

Of all of their albums the three that I am most interested in hearing outtakes, early versions and demos from are

3.Songs of Innocence
2. No Line On The Horizon
1 with a bullet. Pop

 

[ascender_RS]

Not playing The Showman was a head scratcher.

I know we've debated it to death over the years, but U2 are one of those bands who want to perform the perfect show and setlist every night, usually around a theme etc, so they're never going to be one of those bands who change it up each show.

I'd love to see them doing a tour where they have maybe the 8-10 new tracks from whatever album and then just mix the rest up with anything up for grabs. Strip back the whole visual side to it to keep the complexity and costs down a bit and just get out there to arenas.

Maybe its like their approach to writing, recording & releasing music in that they'll never change, but I do wonder if a part of them is thinking about their legacy and the chance to get all these barely-played songs out there and recorded for posterity in decent video and audio quality. Plus the challenge of playing some of them live, learning them again etc.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Instead of an Zoo anniversary tour I'd much rather see U2022 World Tour: We're Touring For No Reason Because Everyone Had To Sit In Their Fucking Houses For A Year Without Live Concerts

 

[ascender_RS]

For reals.

Of all of their albums the three that I am most interested in hearing outtakes, early versions and demos from are

3.Songs of Innocence
2. No Line On The Horizon
1 with a bullet. Pop

I agree entirely!

I know a lot of bands don't like to show us what goes on "behind the curtain", but I think someone like Edge would understand why fans want to hear that stuff and would be quite into the whole process.

Ed O'Brien from Radiohead was chatting about those OK Computer demos which were stolen & then released and he totally got why fans would want to hear them (and himself enjoyed listening to them, many of which he'd forgotten all about), whilst Thom Yorke didn't want those things released to the public.

Which I then comes back to the U2 standards around quality of things to be released and the democratic decision making process.

 

[Hollow Island]

Any pretense of being concerned with quality went out the window when they released Stand Up Comedy.

 

[pacemaker]

any pretense of being concerned with quality went out the window when they released stand up comedy.

preach

 

[zoopop]

Finished part 2 yesterday. What a great interview!! Can't say enough about Woody being the ultimate Pop-fanboy doing this interview.

It sounds like Edge has always been a fan of Pop (if not the biggest fan of the 4). His closing statement almost brought a tear, haha. I think most fans of Pop always viewed it as a masterpiece, the album & tour, and to hear Edge acknowledge that was refreshing. Even though it didn't have the commerical success they wanted it has and will stand the test of time. From beginning to end Pop is a great album.

This is what he said (to hear it is a bit more satisfying). Taken from U2song;

“We knew that we had stayed true to our idea of swinging from the stands, and trying something totally bold and new and different. And really working from the point of view of being fans and explorers, fans of the culture and explorers of our own abilities and where music might go for us. So that part we were really proud of. In terms of commercial impact or commercial success, I think we weathered the differences of opinions pretty well. We went on the road with this album on our biggest tour ever. It was even bigger than Zoo TV. The PopMart tour was an absolutely huge undertaking, and by the end of that tour particularly I think it was the greatest U2 show that we ever staged. And the video / the DVD of that, I’m still…it’s the top for me.” He says it’s an album he’s supremely proud of, and feels it gets better with time, and has stood the test of time, and is still really unique sounding.

I'm not sure if many were able to see Leg 1 then Leg 2/3 of the Popmart. It was a totally different show. They sounded on fire later on in the tour. Its not stated above but Edge says something about what they went thru from the realease of Pop to the end of Popmart was a great achievment for U2.

 

[lazarus]

I saw the last show on the first leg (Foxboro Stadium) and it was fantastic.

But yeah in terms of performance the Popmart Mexico City recording might top ZooTV Sydney. It’s close.

 

[zoopop]

I saw the last show on the first leg (Foxboro Stadium) and it was fantastic.

But yeah in terms of performance the Popmart Mexico City recording might top ZooTV Sydney. It’s close.

I need to listen to that show. I'm assuming they hit their Popmart stride sometime in Leg 1.

 

[Irvine511]

I need to listen to that show. I'm assuming they hit their Popmart stride sometime in Leg 1.

I saw the shows in NY late May 97, which were good. Then one in Boston a month later, which was significantly better, probably a Top 5 U2 show for me.

By the fall when I saw them in Montreal it was as slick and polished and visually precise as anything they’ve done.

 

[lazarus]

But you still preferred Foxboro to Montreal? Couldn't be the song selection because I'm guessing it was nearly identical, just more passionate performance and U2's connection to Boston?

It was the encore cover of the Beatles "Rain" after it started drizzling that sealed it for me as an all-timer. And they were probably the worst seats I've had for a U2 show, up in the stands on the side of the stadium. I haven't had "seats" since, getting GA for every tour thereafter. My ZooTV tickets were like Row W or something but I was still on the ground level and not looking down onto the stage as with Popmart, and I think we were close to the satellite "acoustic" stage.

For Popmart I had snuck in a portable tape recorder to bootleg the show, but I screwed something up with the microphone because the whole cassette just had some kind of noise on it. To make matters worse, when I went to the bathroom before the band came out so I could set up the recorder, I wound up forgetting my brand-new tour shirt in the toilet stall and never saw it again. Luckily my tour program came with a mail order catalogue so you could order merch after the fact and have it sent to you, and I wound up buying one of those yellow and green "POP for Sport" soccer jersey things. I still have 2 copies of that catalog, man the merch was so much cooler back then...

 

[Hewson]

Yeah the cover of Rain was a cool impromptu moment that we don't get enough of these days with U2.

That was a great show, especially the free T-shirt I found in the men's room.
Conversely to Laz, this show I had the best reserved seats I've ever had for U2, 3rd row on the field on Adam's side.

 

[lazarus]

I also should have mentioned the other thing that made this show so memorable, even if it wasn’t actually part of the concert: this was the night I met Bono & The Edge for the first time, as we had gone straight to the Ritz Carlton in downtown Boston afterwards, possibly following a tip from the old Wire email list? At any rate there wasn’t a big crowd and the boys had time to talk to everyone. I was still near the peak of my fandom so having Bono clasp my band with both of his, and look me in the eyes as we talked for a couple minutes, really made the night unforgettable (and made up for the lost shirt and failed bootleg recording).

 

[Hewson]

I also should have mentioned the other thing that made this show so memorable, even if it wasn’t actually part of the concert: this was the night I met Bono & The Edge for the first time, as we had gone straight to the Ritz Carlton in downtown Boston afterwards, possibly following a tip from the old Wire email list? At any rate there wasn’t a big crowd and the boys had time to talk to everyone. I was still near the peak of my fandom so having Bono clasp my band with both of his, and look me in the eyes as we talked for a couple minutes, really made the night unforgettable (and made up for the lost shirt and failed bootleg recording).

Actually it would have been the Four Seasons.

I think we've discussed this previously, I was at the Four Seasons in the afternoon, Edge came out and just gave a wave said he had to go to soundcheck, but would see everyone after the show. Bono came out later and I did get to meet him, shake his hand and got him to sign my Rolling Stone with him on the cover, he also said my WBCN T-shirt was cool. I had to drop my wife (then girlfriend) and her nephew back home after the show in metro west then furiously headed east on the pike cause I wanted to meet Edge, got there and a couple of girls who I had been talking to that afternoon told me I "just missed them".

You and I must have crossed paths that night somewhere.

 

[lazarus]

Four Seasons, yes that sounds right.

Bummer you didn’t get to see Edge but that sounds like a great interaction with Bono.

I met both again before an Orange County show on Elevation, where I got my ATYCLB disc booklet signed, but it was outside the arena and there was a throng of people and it all happened so quickly. Not sure why I bothered, in retrospect, as it wasn’t going to top the previous experience, and I wasn’t even that high on the album.

I guess it’s the same mentality of the people who feel compelled to be right at the stage for every show. You do it because you can; I was a superfan who lined up early so why not try to meet the band if you know where they’re arriving?

But after that time I never tried again.

 

[Irvine511]

But you still preferred Foxboro to Montreal? Couldn't be the song selection because I'm guessing it was nearly identical, just more passionate performance and U2's connection to Boston?

It was the encore cover of the Beatles "Rain" after it started drizzling that sealed it for me as an all-timer. ...

Yes, this show exactly. I was there. And I did prefer Foxboro to Montreal, although Montreal was better on a technical level — ie, Bono and his USA umbrella during Bullet was by then highly choreographed. I also think that they played NYD in Boston but not NYC, and that was quite special at the time. I was too young for Zoo TV, so hearing the warhorses live was quite profound for me.

I remember it was Bono kind of dragging the rest of them out to play “Rain” that made me think he’s still the one who puts his heart into it the most.

The best U2 shows I’ve been to have been in Boston. Definitely.

 

[deltau922]

Interesting revelation that the album was very nearly called Miami.

 

[ascender_RS]

My favourite ever U2 gig I saw was the indoor Zoo TV show in Glasgow, but I think Popmart comes second - certainly watching the Mexico show still gives me goosebumps and Pop is one of my favourite albums.

From what we know about the recording of Pop, there should be some interesting stuff in the vault - even the early sessions where they were messing about with loops, drum machines & Howie B when Larry wasn't around - should mean there's some very different demo versions for example.

 

[zoopop]

One thing about the Mexico gig is how good it sounds. I remember when they showed it on Showtime/MTV they promoted something about the soundboard capturing the band.

 

[Hollow Island]

Interesting revelation that the album was very nearly called Miami.

U2songs.com has loads of alternate album covers, and most of them weren't called Pop iirc. Godzilla was one of the alt titles.

 

[david]

Found the POP link with alternate artwork and songs:

https://www.u2songs.com/news/pop_reissued_remastered_collected_and_dreams

 

[Hewson]

Found the POP link with alternate artwork and songs:

https://www.u2songs.com/news/pop_reissued_remastered_collected_and_dreams

Safe to say they made the right choice with "Pop" and the art work. Though I do like the art work on the "Godzilla" cover, but the name would have been heavily ridiculed.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Should have been a photo of Bono downing large quantities of soda