Worst single show on the 2005 tour???????

[ruffian]

As someone that was actually there, I disagree. I think you left off the most important part out of your argument. Bono himself, said they were off that night. I know how I felt coming out of that show. I have seen U2 over 30 times throughout the years, I know one of their weaker performances when I see it. Sorry you disagree, but basing it on an aud. shot bootleg video is no indicator at all IMO.

i totally agree with you--and really, bono was sick, his voice was not in great shape, and it just lacked energy. I was front row in the ellipse and was sooo excited to be there. But the performance fell flat.

 

[ruffian]

What I'd like to ask is: How were the 5/9-10 DVD nights compared to the other shows you've been to?

....and am I right that the 5/12 show was way more on fire than the others in Chicago?

yes...5/12 was AMAZING. Better than either DVD night.

 

[alainn-la]

i went to 24 shows incl . hartford and hartford was a good show.

Agreed. I only went to three, and of the three Hartford was the worst, but if it was the worst show of the whole tour then kudos to U2 because I still had an amazing time. It was also the night before the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, and all of U2's covers of Beatles and Lennon's songs were great.

I have a couple of boots of European shows, and I'd have to say I felt those shows were the worst. I just don't think they connect as well with a stadium as they do in arenas.

 

[Techie2000]

I didn't go to Hartford but I heard from a friend who did, he also saw two LA shows, that it wasn't so hot...that B's voice was very raspy following the Boston gigs... anyone else on Hartford???

It was slightly raspy, but the show as still incredible (and also the first concert I'd ever been to).

 

[Blue Room]

Bono's comment that 'they were off that night' was only in response to the unfair review in one of the Chicago papers the next day... he was probably trying to be humble about it, imagine that. If he would have said, "What are you talking about, I thought we were pretty good", you can see how that would have gone over.

I just want to get this straight so I'm not misrepresenting what you are saying here. Are you actually saying you are reading Bono's mind on what he actually meant, despite what he was quoted as saying??? So you can prove your point that a show that you did not attend, was not flat?? All I can say to that if true is WOW.

Videos of ANY kind do not capture what it was like to actually be there. Basing it solely on that just isnt accurate IMO. I think most would agree.

 

[Blue Room]

What I'd like to ask is: How were the 5/9-10 DVD nights compared to the other shows you've been to?

....and am I right that the 5/12 show was way more on fire than the others in Chicago?

The Chicago shows on the first leg got progressively better. 5-9 and 5-10 were very good solid shows, but 5-12 was the best show they did in Chicago on this tour IMO (With 9-20 and 9-21 being 2nd and 3rd). They were more relaxed at the 4th show, plus the setlist mix up made it even more exciting. (which I know you and Chizip can appreciate! )

 

[mads]

5/7 was my first show, and i had an amazing time. of course i had nothing to compare it to at the time. it was obvious from the beginning of the show that it was going to be an "off night," because of the technical problems and fucked up vertigo, but it ended up not being a bad show at all. it gets a lot of crap, probably more than it deserves.
bad, zoo station, streets, and an cat dubh were all incredible that night.
although, the wanky guy next to me went on FOUR beer runs during the show, bumping past me every time, and then left early, so that somewhat put a damper on my fun.

of the shows i saw this tour, oakland 1 was probably my least favorite. the setlist was pretty good, but the crowd absolutely sucked.
but then again, i was seated behind the stage, so that might have been part of it. not a bad place to be but i didn't love it.

that said, i didn't attend a vertigo show i wasn't thrilled to be at. it's all relative.

 

[Miroslava]

I think 5/7 gets a bad rep... then again, it was only my second show of the tour. If I had had that show much later in the tour, I probably would be more critical of it...

But good lord, seeing that AB encore (after never having a chance to see Zoo TV but loving the band ever since those days) probably made up for a LOT!

Bad was indeed gorgeous... what I remember of it anyway... I was busy hanging on to the dude next to, having cold sweats, shaking and trying to not pass out... That experience taught me to relax a bit more during the long GA waits

 

[kellyahern]

it's all relative... this question is damn near impossible to answer because everyone's experiences are different.

someone mentioned that they thought 5/14 philadelphia was one of the worst because of the crowd... well i was at that show, my first show of the tour, had an amazing GA spot right on the rail outside the ellipse and thought it was amazing.

same with 11/21 MSG, which someone else mentioned... i was in the ellipse and had an amazing time.

now 10/11 MSG i had nosebleed seats, the only time i actually sat in the nosebleeders for the entire tour, and the people in my section were rather lame, not really standing too often, only into the mega hits, talking durring some of the slower songs, etc etc. now while the show it's self was good, it's my least favorite of all the ones i saw because of where i was sitting. but i'm sure that someone who was inside the ellipse had an amazing time.

it's amazing how getting stuck in a bad section can change someone's view of a show. when it's a quiet, lame-o section, you tend to pick up on little errors that the band makes, tend to think that the band was "lacking energy"... when you're in a spot that's going off and you're jumping all around like a mad man, the band sounds ilke they're having the greatest show they've ever done.

The show that I had the least amount of fun at was a show that most people regard as great (5/28). But in retrospect, I think the problem was that my section wasn't that great, I had flown in that day to see the show and was too tired, and I was starting to come down with a bad cold.

 

[STERKERNOG]

Agreed. I only went to three, and of the three Hartford was the worst, but if it was the worst show of the whole tour then kudos to U2 because I still had an amazing time. It was also the night before the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, and all of U2's covers of Beatles and Lennon's songs were great.

I have a couple of boots of European shows, and I'd have to say I felt those shows were the worst. I just don't think they connect as well with a stadium as they do in arenas.

I went to some shows in Europe and thought Brussels was the weakest, they didn't seem to have the show together yet. Amsterdam 3 was amazing except for the poor sound.
If you look at the Milan footage you can see that they pretty well connect to the stadium crowd. It has a lot to do with where you are standing IMO

 

[U2FanPeter]

<<people are very influenced by the media>>

Apparently also Bono can take it very personally. I've heard of other performers making private home phonecalls to journalists after a review. I'm sure the other members of U2 and Paul read reviews carefully.

What's odd is that uniformly positive(negative in 1997) U2 can press can get very repetitive. It's also glaringly displays the lack of creativity and real opinion on behalf of the writer.

Lastly, many times 70% of the review is written before the show so that the reviewer can send their copy(via laptop internet) to the newspaper office 15 minutes after the show is complete.

u2fp

 

[Nube Gris]

"Did you fail to read 'BTW, all "they never have a bad night" posts are not welcome in this thread' in the original post? "

Did it intentionally , i wanted to see the real arguments the original poster had to call it a bad night; the ones he pointed out were not valid, not solid reasons
So there is not a bad night.....yet
Did you read his Toronto 1997 experience BTW?

 

[Blue Room]

5/7 was my first show, and i had an amazing time. of course i had nothing to compare it to at the time. it was obvious from the beginning of the show that it was going to be an "off night," because of the technical problems and fucked up vertigo, but it ended up not being a bad show at all. it gets a lot of crap, probably more than it deserves.
bad, zoo station, streets, and an cat dubh were all incredible that night.
although, the wanky guy next to me went on FOUR beer runs during the show, bumping past me every time, and then left early, so that somewhat put a damper on my fun.

of the shows i saw this tour, oakland 1 was probably my least favorite. the setlist was pretty good, but the crowd absolutely sucked.
but then again, i was seated behind the stage, so that might have been part of it. not a bad place to be but i didn't love it.

that said, i didn't attend a vertigo show i wasn't thrilled to be at. it's all relative.

I never said it was a bad show. I said it was the worst one I saw on this tour (probably the 2nd or 3rd worst I have seen them play period) and it appears to alot of people it was one of their worst on this tour also. That doesnt mean it was awful and I have never said it was. As I said before, by U2 standards, it was a subpar night IMO. If that was only show someone went to I'm sure they thought it was good. I will say though that I have a friend that goes to one U2 show every tour and that was his show for this tour. He honestly told me afterwards, that was a good show, but U2 didnt seem very into it.

Bad was excellent that night, but that was the only thing that stood out as great from that show to me.

 

[Matt786]

Bad was excellent that night, but that was the only thing that stood out as great from that show to me.

The Zoo TV encore was awesome as well. Adam was also particularly energetic that night- I think he went around the Ellipse more than anyone else. So there were definitely great moments during that show. But I can understand that people who have seen a lot of U2 shows would not rank that show very high. I was watching the Slane Castle DVD recently, and I was amazed by how much better they were compared to the 5/7 show(especially Bono).

 

[partygirl33]

11/22 with Patti Smith.

Lame. And still no solid explanation...really disappointed me...

 

[u2wedge]

I was at the May 21st show too, and I agree with your assessment of the crowd. Something just wasn't right...people around me were rude and seemed to be into their own little dramas instead of the show (like the obnoxious couple behind me that was talking very loudly about their date during the first encore). I thought the band was fine, though.

could it be that the May 21st crowd was made up of fans who bought their tickets from scalpers due to the presale fiasco?

I suppose it could be a possibility...

 

[Popmartijn]

Then again, I had an excellent time at that 21 May show. It was my first Vertigo concert and I was rocking away in the aisle (never went to my seat). The perfect ending to my trip to New York.

 

[bollox]

it's all relative, though for me, the audience makes a big difference. if they are sitting most of the show (which i thought was not possible @ a u2 show, before i witnessed it) it really brings the enjoyment of the show down.

that being said, my "worst" show was dc1 (10/18 i think), though most of the reasons are subjective. crappy seats + typically lame dc crowd + setlist w/zero surprises = weak show.

 

[soctheo]

I would have to agree with anitram that Toronto 2 was by far the worst show of the tour. They cut out 4 songs from the night before and replaced them with nothing (I wonder if this was the shortest show of the tour?). They also seemed like they were in a hurry to leave (Bono probably had a film fest party to go to).

I went with a buddy who saw the elevation tour in toronto four years previous and he left the concert asking what happened to the band? He couldn't believe the lack of energy this concert had.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Has this forum ever had similar threads for the Popmart and Elevation shows?

u2fp