ZooTV :drool: More Than Just A Tour

[namkcuR]

I've just watched the Sydney DVD again and all I can say is



The performances - Spectacular, U2 in Top Form. From the electrifying performances of the AB songs, to the freshness of the then-brand-spanking-new Zooropa songs(Stay, Lemon, Numb, Dirty Day) and the acoustic set, including great versions of Angel Of Harlem and the Lou Reed classic Satellite Of Love, and a version of Stay that blows the Elevation version out of the water, from the breath-taking Dirty Day->Bullet The Blue Sky(the best version of it period, with Edge doing some of his best live solos ever)->Running To Stand Still(Hallelujahs and all)->Streets(shivers, as usual) combo, to the soaring higher-octave-midnight...-vocal in Lemon, from the restrained-yet-emotionally-charged performance of WOWY that goes on-and-on-and-on, to the spine-tingling finale combo of Love Is Blindness, which is just a mesmerizing performance for all the band members, no one more than the Edge with that blistering bittersweet solo, and Can't Help Falling In Love, my favorite U2 concert closer EVER, yes, better than "40", even though it's a cover. A nearly flawless concert.

The show - unparalleled in the history of rock concert tours. The screens, the satellite coverage of CNN/other news/soap operas/Sarajevo hookups/etc, the words flashing in hyperspeed on the screens, Bono's alteregos(The Fly, Macphisto, Mirrorball Man), the phone calls, the advent of the b-stage(U2 are pretty much responsible for it becoming an industry standard), the lights, the whole concept of making fun of rock stardom, etc etc

The attire - U2 just look cooler than they ever have before or after on this tour. Bono's leather jacket, devil horns, fly shades, his Bullet/RTSS attire. Adam's blonde hair. Larry with the black vest and longer hair(not as long as now). And Edge. I want to look like Edge did on ZooTV, no joke. The Beanie with the white drawings on it, the cool little braid, the black pants, and the purple topless shirt - I swear Edge is the only man I've ever seen who can wear purple and not look....you know. Damnit, I'm a guy and now I'm sounding....you know. I'm not.

It was more than just a tour. It was a story of rock star(The Fly) evolving into a washed up old rock star(Macphisto) and in the end being happy with whatever audience he can get(Can't Help Falling In Love). It is also, of course, the greatest tour in rock history.

Like I said, all I can say is



I can't wait for Axver to dispute me

 

[miss becky]

Excellent post.

 

[Axver]

I can't wait for Axver to dispute me

As soon as I saw the thread title, I thought "I'm not going to be welcome here, am I?"

 

[Axver]

Excellent post.

Allow me to correct that: Shitty post.

Sarcasm, people, sarcasm. I agree with some points and disagree with others, but nonetheless, namkcuR's post is good.

 

[miss becky]

That better be sarcasm, Axver. Otherwise, I'm going to have to declare war on you.

 

[the tourist]

I loved Zoo TV. I just watched it a few weeks ago. And it made me sad I was a mere child when it happened and that I missed it. *sigh*

 

[ludilobrate]

ZOOTV is unbeatable ROCK TOUR IN HISTORY OF MUSIC!U2 in Sydney dvd is the best music dvd which I saw.U2 were over themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!U2 forever!

 

[ponkine]

Let´s fair my friends ZOO TV was such an incredible tour...but... it wasn´t the greatest Tour in Rock History The greatest Tour in Rock history ( I´m considering everything, I mean, stage, visuals, concepts, performance, etc, etc ) was Pink Floyd The Wall Live 1980 - 1981 performed a whole decade before the innovative ZOO TV . Pink Floyd was the first ever band in using such visuals.

The Wall Live was such a theatrical, depressive, dark, magic , alienating and addictive experience. They used gigantic dummies, plus the construction of the wall in real time of the show, besides using this same wall as the biggest screen of the music history at that moment proyecting those unique drawings, etc David Gilmour playing his marvelous solo on Comfortably Numb at the top of the wall, Roger Waters singing Nobody Home and vera from a room of hotel in the middle of the same wall, etc

HOW I WISH I WAS THERE ( I mean, both shows, Pink Floyd The Wall Live and U2 Zoo TV )

 

[timothius]

Let´s fair my friends ZOO TV was such an incredible tour...but... it wasn´t the greatest Tour in Rock History The greatest Tour in Rock history ( I´m considering everything, I mean, stage, visuals, concepts, performance, etc, etc ) was Pink Floyd The Wall Live 1980 - 1981 performed a whole decade before the innovative ZOO TV .

Blasphamey! Blasphamey!

ZooTV

I agree with everything that was said in the origional post. I personally am not that in love with the Sydney Video, mainly because I think many of the setlist alterations in the latter stages of the tour didnt work as well. I think Bad->AIWIY->Bullet worked better than Dirty Day, Ultraviolet & Desire in McPhestio's set, and NYD instead of Wild Horses....oh Wild Horses.

Still its very good, but I think PopMart ages plenty better.

 

[Slipstream]

I just watched Live in Sydney last night again for the first time in years and the one thing that still amazes me is that it still looks fresh. If they didn't come out with that album yet and came out with it now with Zoo it would still look and feel completely with it and cool. Of course there is a few small things but all and it doesn't age. I loved how Bono after The Fly, went onto the big screens showing stuff like soap operas etc, and towards the end when showing the Oz cricket match he said......


...."mmm...they got balls, bats...poncy shoes...might be a rock and roll band.........this is a rock and roll show.................yeah............makes going for a walk look like hard work......BUT YOU HAVEN'T COME ALL THE WAY OUT HERE TO WATCH TV HAVE YA?!!"

Stay was awesome too how it started out slow then the rest of the band kicked in. As this song was new at the time it did seem interesting to see the fans kind of not knowing that much about the song but starting waving their arms then towards the end Bono got them all singing the oooo..ooooo..oooo. It became an instant classic! Just my opinion but I don't think U2 will ever be able to top that tour, full stop.

 

[Blue Room]

It was a great tour, but it was not more than that for me. Most of U2 tours have been great and this was "one" of them. Production was outstanding, but it was on Popmart also. Musically I liked the band better during the JT tour when the focus was the music and not video screens.

 

[Norse]

What made it great IMO was all the spirit and personality that the band pulled in to the tour. I felt like even if it was an odd mix of music (comming from someone who never understood Zoo..).

 

[Axver]

It was a great tour, but it was not more than that for me. Most of U2 tours have been great and this was "one" of them. Production was outstanding, but it was on Popmart also. Musically I liked the band better during the JT tour when the focus was the music and not video screens.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[the olive]

It was a great tour, but it was not more than that for me. Most of U2 tours have been great and this was "one" of them. Production was outstanding, but it was on Popmart also. Musically I liked the band better during the JT tour when the focus was the music and not video screens.

Agreed, if you watch Sydney '93 then put on the LA '87 dvd its pretty hard to admit Zoo TV was better. Of course the visuals were stunning, but the music just doesn't have the same intensity. Both great shows though, its amazing its the same band!

 

[Zoots]

If there ever was a celebration of Zoo TV in any media, this thread has beaten it. Now, if only I could get a hold of the DVD and watch the damn show.

 

[msbarb]

I've just watched the Sydney DVD again and all I can say is

Great post... but one question. When did ZooTV Live from Sydney come out on DVD?? I can't believe I missed that! I'm still watching a 10 year old (or so) vhs video.

 

[david]

The only way to get it is in bootlegged DVD form off eBay.

 

[namkcuR]

Re: Re: ZooTV More Than Just A Tour

Great post... but one question. When did ZooTV Live from Sydney come out on DVD?? I can't believe I missed that! I'm still watching a 10 year old (or so) vhs video.

It's not an official DVD. I made it myself...captured the VHS into a mpeg-4 file with DVD capture/burn software, marked chapter points on it at the start point of each song, made a menu, and burned.

 

[shaun vox]

is it dolby 5.1 surround/// i did not think so..


put zootv on dvd now u2 before i get old and start thinking that zootv sucks!!!!!!!!



ZOOTV rocks my balls!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[yimou]

NamKcur

 

[babyman]

zoo tv was THE tour, nothing compares with those shows, it was u2's most intense tour, it was just a beautification.................zoo tv will remain forever the best tour

 

[Miggy D]

It was a great tour, but it was not more than that for me. Most of U2 tours have been great and this was "one" of them. Production was outstanding, but it was on Popmart also. Musically I liked the band better during the JT tour when the focus was the music and not video screens.

You have a point, but frankly, once you start playing crowds of 50,000+, you should start incorporating different media. At a club, or a small arena, you can keep it about 'the music', but during Zoo TV, especially during the 'Outside Broadcast', the media overload worked perfectly because of how huge the audience was.

4 dudes just playing music without any pizazz just doesn't really work as well in huge, impersonal stadiums. In a small club? Give me 4 guys by themselves, any day.

-Miggy

 

[Pero]

Pink Floyd always had the best shows, but it's conceptual, art music and it doesn't belong in rock. Don't think that i hate it, i just think that it can't be compared with U2(it's like comparing Gigi d'Agostino and Britney Spears ).

Zoo tv has no words to explain except these 9 words:

ZOO TV IS THE BEST TOUR IN HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE
(no, that's 11 words, but hey)

-"I wanna speak with my babe"
-"By the time you hear the bip it will be exactly 22.30"
(or whatever)

 

[1stepcloser]

another reason why i believe ZOO TV to be the best tour as opposed to the ones that came previously, is a simple one really - they had all these phenomenal new songs songs to play from AB and Zooropa AS WELL AS all the great songs from 80's. so not only did it become a spectular event to witness, the setlist improved as well e.g. being able to go from UTEOTW straight into New Years Day with all these jaw-dropping visuals going on. fantastic!

 

[JohnCash]

To follow up on 1stepcloser's point, you have to remember what it was like _before_ we all knew that U2 could do something like Achtung, Baby! I mean, the 80s songs were pure old-school U2, but I think most people thought U2 was dead by 1990. Then, all of a sudden, this jaw-dropping, dark, loud, album comes out. U2 was revealing a whole new side. This meant that not only were the shows visually innovative, but that they were touring the album that was by far the single biggest musical leap forward for the group (and still their best album).

Incidentally, I'll never forget the moment that BTBS came on and all the screens were suddenly filled with those huge burning crosses. Amazing moment.

 

[ponkine]

Pink Floyd always had the best shows, but it's conceptual, art music and it doesn't belong in rock. Don't think that i hate it, i just think that it can't be compared with U2(it's like comparing Gigi d'Agostino and Britney Spears ).

I always read good post from you... except for this one You talk like if U2 were the only one God and Pink Floyd... Britney Spears... come on my friend

 

[Zoots]

I always read good post from you... except for this one You talk like if U2 were the only one God and Pink Floyd... Britney Spears... come on my friend

 

[Zoocoustic]

I remember this tour and how getting tickets was like striking gold...just to be able to see what was without question the "coolest" band in the world doing a show that would without question blow your mind.

Yep, ZooTV was the best...I have finally come to the realization that for U2 it won't get any better than 1991 - 1993, but we will always have the Sydney video and other boots to go back and re-live the coolest thing they ever have or ever will do.

 

[Sken]

ZooTV was innovative, daring and U2 doing it in style. Setlists aside, I would say this was U2 at its best, and the show told that to the world.

Joshua Tree: Good tour but inferior to Lovetown.

Lovetown: One of U2's best tours due to Bono being at his best vocally and the ability of the band to easily change their setlist.

ZooTV: U2 at the top of their game. Did not have the varying setlists, but if you were to compare one Lovetown night to one ZooTV night, ZooTV was mindblowing whereas Lovetown was a great night out.

Popmart: I believe this is U2 being lost and trying to rediscover themselves. As much as I love Pop I feel that the band were trying to find a way to top the ZooTV tour, and this tour really showed that bigger was not always better.

Elevation: Loved this stripped down tour, but I felt really sad knowing I would never hear Bono's powerful vocals live again. Damn that smoking.

Anyways, here's hoping Vertigo will surprise us, but I personally dont think it can surpass the JT to Zoo tours.

Sken

 

[ultrraviolette]

Absolutely fabulous tour, visually and musically stunning.