U2 is the greatest live act I have ever seen because they have such a huge body of brilliantly written songs that they tweak and fiddle with on every tour, ensuring different "versions" of the same classic songs each time out... consequently, even when they play Bullet The Blue Sky for the sixth tour in a row, it never gets stale... the Grateful Dead did this sort of thing, who else?
Which other band induces tears of joy from its fans, both men and women? (I admit, I'm guilty of it, too... "Bad" kills me every time, so does "Streets"... someone please play those two songs at my funeral, thanks).
Which other band has thousands of its fans all over the world anxiously debating its setlist everynight on anonymous chat sites like this one? Coldplay? The Killers? Doubt it.
REM were a good live band for about 5 years during the 80's, now they're just average.
Santana is crap.
Allman Bros completely rock, but they haven't put out a good album since when?
Only saw Springsteen on the Born In The USA Tour, which was epic, no doubt, but his new stuff bores me.
Green Day live is always good, very very tight. No emotional connection with the audience, though, just Billy Joe making funny faces and yelling the f-word.
Stones? nah
No one is even close to being in U2's league, not even the Beatles, who ceased being a great live band when they were lured off the Reeperbahn in '62.
Download the bootleg DVDs of U2's earlier shows, like the Nov '87 show in L.A., or the show in Santiago, Chile... these are great, great concerts.
Get a GA ticket and stand in or near the ellipse during this Vertigo Tour... you cannot seriously compare that experience to anything going on anywhere else on the entire planet over the past two months.
Enjoy this while we can, friends... someday we will look back on these weeks and months with rapturous melancholy, wishing we could re-live these concert moments all over again.
Thank God I'm a U2 fan.