Zoo Station live intro...?

[leamspaceman]

Probably been asked before but...what is the short intro Bono sang at the start of Zoo Station on the Zoo TV indoor shows?

Have always thought to ask but always forgot...until now.

 

[gareth brown]

I'd never heard of it before this thread, sounds pretty nice definitely prefer him just appearing from under the stage though haha
a quick google search [that's not sarcasm, for the record] has thrown up some threads that suggest it was just some improvised thing Bono would sing before Zoo Station! but I'm sure there's someone here who could offer a better explanation.

on a side note the search also led me to finding this on one of the forums god only knows why it wasn't the cover for October..

 

[Blue Room]

Its basically jibberish he made up. He got the idea while they were in Morocco and he would hear the daily Muslim call to prayer. So I guess it is the Bonogolese call to a concert.

 

[Rhiannon64]

I LOVE that into! Isn't it just a short little intro Bono made up Bongelese style?

? I could have lost you
? I could have let you go
Slipping through the cracks, slipping through the cracks.

Zoo Station Dortmund 6-4-92

U2 Zoo Station (Dortmund 6-4-1992) Multicam - YouTube

 

[gareth brown]

what i wouldn't give to have seen a Zoo TV concert...

 

[Rhiannon64]

Its basically jibberish he made up. He got the idea while they were in Morocco and he would hear the daily Muslim call to prayer. So I guess it is the Bonogolese call to a concert.

Bongelese, Bonogolese...whatever you want to call it I love it either way!

 

[trevgreg]

I vaguely remember hearing this gobbledygook before in a bootleg or something. Thanks for reminding me it existed!

 

[Vlaco]

He did it on many 1992 shows. Dortmund, Stockholm, Rotterdam, New York, Detroit and so on.

 

[leamspaceman]

Thanks for your comments everyone.

I loved this intro and to this day the ZooTV indoor show I went to at Birmingham NEC is my most memorable gig ever. I'd queued for three days outside the venue to get tickets and so the anticipation waiting the few months to the day had built. I'd been to the London show the previous night and had been quite a way back. At the Birmingham show we'd chosen seats on the aisle right next to the 'B' stage. It was A1 position.

When Bono walked out and sang this intro I think I did a little 'wee-wee' :-\

 

[AndrewCowley]

It is EPIC. One of U2's best live moments.

Those early indoor Zoo TV shows seem totally manic to me. Much more so than the stadium shows which were kind of different in that they were grand and large but more scripted.

 

[djerdap]

Thanks for your comments everyone.

I loved this intro and to this day the ZooTV indoor show I went to at Birmingham NEC is my most memorable gig ever. I'd queued for three days outside the venue to get tickets and so the anticipation waiting the few months to the day had built. I'd been to the London show the previous night and had been quite a way back. At the Birmingham show we'd chosen seats on the aisle right next to the 'B' stage. It was A1 position.

When Bono walked out and sang this intro I think I did a little 'wee-wee' :-\

Despite the average sound quality of the bootleg, that Birmingham gig is one of my favourites. Best version of Love is Blindness ever.

 

[Nick66]

One of the glaring omissions from U2's live video catalogue is an indoor ZOOTV show. I'm sure we'll get one some day, but as someone who only saw the stadium concert, I was really hoping for one of the inside broadcast shows for the AB reissue.

 

[digitize]

One of the glaring omissions from U2's live video catalogue is an indoor ZOOTV show. I'm sure we'll get one some day, but as someone who only saw the stadium concert, I was really hoping for one of the inside broadcast shows for the AB reissue.

Have you ever seen the Stockholm bootleg? It exists in audio and video form, because it was a TV broadcast. The quality isn't incredible, but it's certainly watchable. And it's a fantastic show. U2Torrents should have the video version.

 

[Nick66]

Have you ever seen the Stockholm bootleg? It exists in audio and video form, because it was a TV broadcast. The quality isn't incredible, but it's certainly watchable. And it's a fantastic show. U2Torrents should have the video version.

I saw that one several years ago, and yeah the show is quite good (and you're quite right, the video quality is just OK). I'm just hoping for some kind of official release. I'd also hope that eventually they'd officially release a complete JT tour show...i.e. a complete filmed (not video) concert from the R&H footage. Though since Paramount owns all that footage, I'm not holding my breath on that.

 

[zoopop]

Watching that video reminds of how confident U2 were with the new tunes.....

I really hope than gain that confidence within themselves on the next album

 

[nbelcik]

I saw that one several years ago, and yeah the show is quite good (and you're quite right, the video quality is just OK). I'm just hoping for some kind of official release. I'd also hope that eventually they'd officially release a complete JT tour show...i.e. a complete filmed (not video) concert from the R&H footage. Though since Paramount owns all that footage, I'm not holding my breath on that.

Didn't they release a Joshua Tree tour show with the Joshua Tree remaster? It's a show in Paris.

 

[Nick66]

Didn't they release a Joshua Tree tour show with the Joshua Tree remaster? It's a show in Paris.

Yes, unfortunately, the Paris show was shot on SD video, and not on film, which is what I'd really like to see. Since multiple JT shows were captured by Phil Joanou on film for the R&H movie, theoretically multiple HD concerts from that tour could be released on video. As an aside I'm not sure that the Paris show is a good representation of the JT tour. But seeing on of the Tempe, Denver, or Madison Square Garden shows in full...that would be amazing.

Theoretically, I say, because Paramount, not U2, own the rights to all that footage, and who knows that kind of condition the actual film stock is in. So even if the rights issues could be sorted, there's the matter of whether the film itself has been preserved well enough for a high quality release.

 

[chrissybaby]

Despite the average sound quality of the bootleg, that Birmingham gig is one of my favourites. Best version of Love is Blindness ever.

I too was there that special night. My first U2 live show.

It wouldn't be hyperbole to suggest that that evening changed my life forever.

Ive always thought that the version of LIB from the NEC is by far the best ever and I've heard countless ZooTV shows. It has "September 1913" bolted onto the end and quite simply it's ridiculously good. A few other nights have snippets of this and other songs, but for me this is the best.

 

[Rhiannon64]

I saw three of the ZooTV shows: MSG, Nassau Colisiuem and Giants Stadium. They really freaked me out. I saw something like 16 JT shows and the whole Zoo thing just blew my mind. From going from that stark JT stage to all of the lights and techology--it was like getting bombarded with too much information and not to mention the image change. I didn't like the change at the time. 20 years later it has become my favorite tour.

It is EPIC. One of U2's best live moments.

Those early indoor Zoo TV shows seem totally manic to me. Much more so than the stadium shows which were kind of different in that they were grand and large but more scripted.

Looking back on it I think those indoor shows and especially the 2nd leg the European shows were amazing. There was more of a connection with the audience than the Outdoor gigs. Even though the setlist was basically identical, they seemed to take more risks musically in Europe then the States shows. The energy was very raw in some of those shows. (I'm thinking of the Kiel '92 show, just to name one.)

I saw that one several years ago, and yeah the show is quite good (and you're quite right, the video quality is just OK). I'm just hoping for some kind of official release. I'd also hope that eventually they'd officially release a complete JT tour show...i.e. a complete filmed (not video) concert from the R&H footage. Though since Paramount owns all that footage, I'm not holding my breath on that.

Have you seen the Syracuse show from October, 87? I don't know if it's film or video. How do you tell the difference? Anyway, it's a complete show. It's pretty good but to me it's lacking something--maybe it's because Bono still had his arm in a sling. But still--amazing. I think the Paris show was much better. Yes, I do wish that they would release some offical footage from JT and indoor ZooTV. They probably filmed every show. Wow, I wonder what that vault must look like!

 

[An Cat Gav]

One of the glaring omissions from U2's live video catalogue is an indoor ZOOTV show. I'm sure we'll get one some day, but as someone who only saw the stadium concert, I was really hoping for one of the inside broadcast shows for the AB reissue.

Absolutely, I was sure they would, especially as there are several shows available for them to use,

That intro was featured on the U2 video: Interference. From which this site gets its name.

 

[chrissybaby]

Those 1st and 2nd leg ZooTV shows were other-worldly.
It's hard to convey just how much of a head-f**k they were at the time.

The best tour ever by any band IMO.

 

[leamspaceman]

I too was there that special night. My first U2 live show.

It wouldn't be hyperbole to suggest that that evening changed my life forever.

Ive always thought that the version of LIB from the NEC is by far the best ever and I've heard countless ZooTV shows. It has "September 1913" bolted onto the end and quite simply it's ridiculously good. A few other nights have snippets of this and other songs, but for me this is the best.

Wow... small world! Were you one of the people who queued for the three days to get your tickets? The two UK dates were announced on Radio 1 on the Thursday morning with tickets going on sale on Sunday morning. I immediately called into work sick as did my girlfriend at the time. We were outside the NEC by about 11am but were fifth in the queue. We had sleeping bags with black bin liners on the bottom to stop the rain getting in. We used the NEC loo's to freshen-up and some guys took orders and went off to the chippy! Someone had a TV that ran on batteries and we were all huddled around it watching 'The Fast Show' on the Friday night.

I remember the local press turning up to interview us and people hiding their faces from the photographer because they were bunking off work.

I was 23 then... the years fly-by.

The band always seemed to have a special relationship with Brum. I remember both of The Joshua Tree indoor shows I went to at the NEC. At one of them it was the first time they ever played 'Silver and Gold' live and also 'Spanish Eyes.' They also did some improv of 'Quantanamera' I think?

Bono talked of an early gig they did in a Brum pub and there were six people there. He asked if those six people were in the audience tonight and 10,000 people said they were!

 

[leamspaceman]

Despite the average sound quality of the bootleg, that Birmingham gig is one of my favourites. Best version of Love is Blindness ever.

Were you there too?

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

Best U2 show i ve seen was arena zoo Tv 92.

 

[djerdap]

Were you there too?

I wish. Haven't seen the ZooTV tour at all, which is my one major regret I have with music in general.

 

[gman]

Ive always loved that lil snippet in the intro of ZS, since i first heard it, on a bootleg i heard....way back in 92. It was dropped by the time they hit the UK shores for the tour

 

[chrissybaby]

Ive always loved that lil snippet in the intro of ZS, since i first heard it, on a bootleg i heard....way back in 92. It was dropped by the time they hit the UK shores for the tour

Think they still used it in the UK.

 

[chrissybaby]

Wow... small world! Were you one of the people who queued for the three days to get your tickets? The two UK dates were announced on Radio 1 on the Thursday morning with tickets going on sale on Sunday morning. I immediately called into work sick as did my girlfriend at the time. We were outside the NEC by about 11am but were fifth in the queue. We had sleeping bags with black bin liners on the bottom to stop the rain getting in. We used the NEC loo's to freshen-up and some guys took orders and went off to the chippy! Someone had a TV that ran on batteries and we were all huddled around it watching 'The Fast Show' on the Friday night.

I remember the local press turning up to interview us and people hiding their faces from the photographer because they were bunking off work.

I was 23 then... the years fly-by.

The band always seemed to have a special relationship with Brum. I remember both of The Joshua Tree indoor shows I went to at the NEC. At one of them it was the first time they ever played 'Silver and Gold' live and also 'Spanish Eyes.' They also did some improv of 'Quantanamera' I think?

Bono talked of an early gig they did in a Brum pub and there were six people there. He asked if those six people were in the audience tonight and 10,000 people said they were!

Nice story!

I really lucked out on Propaganda tickets for Brum, only a few rows back from the front. I remember the ticket usher guy just kept taking my sister and I closer and closer to the stage! An amazing experience. I seem to remember The Edge being really fired up that night, he didn't look happy at all, but his playing was ridiculously good. Bono always seems happy to be back in Birmingham and the NEC always feels relatively intimate.

I must have heard that bootleg 1000's of times, a soundboard or a pro-shot are my holiest of holy grails, although I'm more than prepared to accept neither will ever happen! The closest we get is the Stockholm pro-shot, great, but it's not quite got that special intensity that only happens on certain nights. The end of UTEOTW and LIB being two great examples.

 

[leamspaceman]

Nice story!

I really lucked out on Propaganda tickets for Brum, only a few rows back from the front. I remember the ticket usher guy just kept taking my sister and I closer and closer to the stage! An amazing experience. I seem to remember The Edge being really fired up that night, he didn't look happy at all, but his playing was ridiculously good. Bono always seems happy to be back in Birmingham and the NEC always feels relatively intimate.

I must have heard that bootleg 1000's of times, a soundboard or a pro-shot are my holiest of holy grails, although I'm more than prepared to accept neither will ever happen! The closest we get is the Stockholm pro-shot, great, but it's not quite got that special intensity that only happens on certain nights. The end of UTEOTW and LIB being two great examples.

I got tix through Propaganda too as it turned out but there was no guarantee. I remember that you had to send in a stamped-addressed envelope and they kept it on file and used it to send details of the tour etc once it was announced. No crashing websites or pre-sales back then.

I've never heard a bootleg of the show strangely enough. I had it on cassette years ago but never had a tape deck... doh.

Do you know anywhere where it can be downloaded?

 

[chrissybaby]

I got tix through Propaganda too as it turned out but there was no guarantee. I remember that you had to send in a stamped-addressed envelope and they kept it on file and used it to send details of the tour etc once it was announced. No crashing websites or pre-sales back then.

I've never heard a bootleg of the show strangely enough. I had it on cassette years ago but never had a tape deck... doh.

Do you know anywhere where it can be downloaded?

U2start.com | Shows | 1992-06-01 Birmingham, England - National Exhibition Centre