This Day, February 26, In U2 History...Sing This With Me, This Is '40'!!!

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This day, February 26, in U2 History:

February 26, 1980: Concert: Dublin, Ireland. U2 closes out month-long Ireland tour at the National Boxing Stadium, which
holds 2,000 people. About 1,000 people actually show up.


February 26, 1983: '40' debuts as closer.
U2 kicks off the War Tour with a sold-out show in Dundee, Scotland. This show marks Edge's vocal debut, as the band plays "Seconds." It also marks the start of a long tradition: U2 closing a show with "40."


February 26, 2000: Bono and Edge sing at Festival of San Remo. Bono and Edge perform together on the last day of Italy's Festival of San Remo. They play acoustic versions of "All I Want Is You" and "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" -- the latter song receiving its first-ever live performance. The appearance caps several days in Italy for Bono, who successfully lobbies the Italian government to drop some of its debt from Third World countries.

February 26, 2001: U2 wins and performs at the Brit Awards. U2 receives the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the Brit Awards, the UK's equivalent of the Grammys. The band also wins Best International Group and performs four songs.


This day in U2 history is especially poignant with February 26, 1983 being the day that U2 debuts '40' as a closer. A closing tradition that would carry on for the War Tour, The Unforgettable Fire Tour, The Joshua Tree Tour, and many of the shows on the Lovetown Tour.

As someone who had the privilege of attending a show where '40' was a closer, nothing comes close to the communal uplifting that you felt with everyone singing in unison, "How long...to sing this song", as the crowd spilled out into the streets, and the long night swallowed us back in to our own worlds...but in the lingering of that moment, the words of that song stayed with you, and for that little while, everything seemed okay in the world.

Chris
 
i wish they'd bring 40 back as the closer.
frown.gif


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she wore canvas shoes white canvas shoes, around her neck she wore a silver necklace...
ME! all day, every day!
"...a poptart in pants..." -- elizabeth
 
Originally posted by KhanadaRhodes:
i wish they'd bring 40 back as the closer.
frown.gif



Some day they will. Even if it's no sooner than the last concert they ever play.

I did get to hear a snatch of it during Bad at the concert I went to. THat was pretty amazing--Bad plus 40. I felt privileged.


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Your sun so bright it leaves no shadows, only scars
Carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes
 
Yes, "40" as the closer again...100.000 people singing that song again...one day...like it hapenned in S?o Paulo, Jan 31st 1998. Next time I?ll be there.
 
At the Detroit show, when everybody singing "40", it seemed like it ended too soon, so I kept singing. At first I felt stupid because nobody else was, but then the people behind me started to sing again and so did others close by. It was so cool.
smile.gif



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"Hallelujah, Heaven's white rose,
The doors you open...I just can't close..."
 
Why is the "Rock's Hottest Ticket" my favorite Bootleg show??

Because it ends with '40'. Listening to the fans sing along as the band plays this song with all their hear brings tears to my eyes every time. I have had to stop listening to it while driving
biggrin.gif


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***Spinny***
"OH, SINNY- er,um- SPINNY!" (freudian slip?)-JulyFly

"Here I go and I don't know why
I spin so ceaselessly
Could it be he's taken over me????
"
 
When I saw them on ZooTV at Yankee Stadium (August 92 or 93, can't remember) every person in that stadium sang "40" as we all filed out of the stadium to the parking lot! It was awesome and goose-bumpy. One person just started it,and everyone sang along and I remember just walking out of the stadium with this feeling of, "U2 fans rock"!

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What are we going to do now It's all been said,
No new ideas in the house and Every book has been read....
 
Originally posted by u2loopy:
When I saw them on ZooTV at Yankee Stadium (August 92 or 93, can't remember) every person in that stadium sang "40" as we all filed out of the stadium to the parking lot! It was awesome and goose-bumpy. One person just started it,and everyone sang along and I remember just walking out of the stadium with this feeling of, "U2 fans rock"!


I remember that! I was there....
 
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