last review

Show reviewed: Melbourne, Australia
Reviewed by: iTim
Reviewed 2 days ago

Performance:
"Right, here we go. Get ready..." says one fan close to the microphone as The Beatles come across the PA. The band kicks off the show with Hawkmoon 269 and it sounds fantastic. Bono's voice is in full force. Once finished, The Edge launches straight into an energetic Desire and treat us to a reprise with a great snippet of So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star before breaking into All Along The Watchtower. Again, a faultless performance full of energy. The band rein in that early pace with All I Want Is You. A little too early in the setlist for me, I don't see why they can't continue with something like God Part II or I Will Follow. Still, they nail the performance down and the crowd love it. They continue to go wild as they realise that Where The Streets Have No Name is next. A brief snippet of Heartland is spoken during the introduction, which I quite like. Really good performance of Streets on the whole. I Will Follow is next and it's a pretty standard effort. I love the "woo-hoo-hoo"'s that Bono throws in early on. There's a tiny mistake by The Edge at the end, forgivable. Tonight, Bono's vocals have really been on the money. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for is up now and everything comes together nicely. Great vocals, perfect music, good crowd interaction and the definitive snippet of Bob Marley's Exodus. MLK follows on and you'd perhaps expect to hear The Unforgettable Fire afterwards, but surprisingly it's One Tree Hill - very refreshing and very well done.

On to God Part II. Disappointing that the audio skips towards the end as it leads into Bullet The Blue Sky, but still sounded very good. I don't think the snippets thrown into Bullet The Blue Sky really add anything, disappointing. Inevitably it leads into Running To Stand Still and we can be sure that this will make up for any nonsense that has preceded it. Great performance, highlight of the night so far for me. Bad is next and as usual, a brilliant effort. I love the Walk On The Wild Side snippet too. Bono takes a time-out as The Edge and Van Dieman's Land lead us nicely into With Or Without You. Great energy from the crowd early on in this song, on person even thinks he's finished before the song has started as he sings "Ohhhh-ohhh-oh". Very strange to hear New Year's Day afterwards, I suppose that's the nature of Lovetown though. Thoroughly enjoyable performance, Bono still shining vocally. The main set finishes with an energetic rendition of Pride that the crowd go wild for.

"This gig is so good, I just split my pants" - Bono. Time for the encore, kicked off with Angel of Harlem alongside the B.B. King Orchestra! Party time. Full of energy, the crowd love it, I love it. Here comes the big man himself for When Love Comes to Town which is great until it starts skipping. Very nice snippet of In The Midnight Hour though. Knockin' On Heaven's Door is the first song tonight to give me goosebumps. Simply amazing. Love Rescue Me ends a quartet of songs featuring B.B. King and it's a great way to close the show. Well, that is until they begin '40'. Very good show.

Audience:
They enjoy the show and I suppose you can't ask for much more than that. When the band kill the sound to allow the crowd to sing, you can hear them joining in. Other than that, it's difficult to hear them throughout unless they're close to the taper. Notable songs include I Will Follow, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, With Or Without You, and Angel of Harlem.

Sound:
To be honest, it's not great. Persistent hissing, distortion across The Edge, intermittent drop-outs, and persons standing too close to the taper and shouting.

Overall:
A very good show on the whole. The band are in fine form and Bono's voice is really good. I suppose it's only let down by the sound quality and skips in audio. If it had been a broadcast or higher quality audience recording, it'd be without question a show worth listening to. If you can put up with the poor audio, then go for it.

Highlights:
- Bono's voice
- Desire
- One Tree Hill
- Running To Stand Still
- Angel of Harlem
- Kockin' On Heaven's Door

Lowlights:
- Sound quality

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