TJT
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2017-07-01 - Cleveland
 Tour: Joshua Tree Tour 2017
Songs played: 24
Audio recordings: 2
Videos: 1
  1. The last 2 people were new faces. In NJ, it was someone from NY, which was nice. Someone local(ish).
  2. That girl was also on stage in Paris right? The one in NJ
  4. She was onstage on this tour too (are you talking about Brigitte?), but in another show, during WOWY.
  6. Right. My guess is that it's only a matter of time to have in Europe the usual faces during MW. Amra, then Harry Kantas, then both at the same time, etc.
  7. Checking in after getting home from Cleveland earlier this afternoon. What a show! Just fantastic all around. More thoughts later but we all had a blast.
  9. Has Edge been doing that vocal intro to Mothers for a while now or just last night?
  10. I'm not sure to be honest Paul, I noticed it very much last night though.
  11. I think I could hear it on the Vancouver iem matrix so I'd imagine it's been done all tour, I can't say I'd noticed though until listening to that matrix, must be easier to hear now I'm listening for it.
  12. Fuller thoughts from Cleveland:

    After seeing the band in seats for Chicago 1, we went for GA in Cleveland and were reminded why GA is still the way to go. Got in queue around 3:30pm and managed to get about 100 ft from the b-stage right in the center facing the screen. Were able to watch Larry walk down from the main stage, take his seat at the drums, and rip into Sunday Bloody Sunday. That opening quartet of songs (despite disappointed for still not seeing ASOH) is just an incredible way to begin a show. No fancy stuff, just the band rocking and showing how tight they still are after all these years. It's still fun to be so close to take in the action. Turning off the lights and all singing the "America" snippet with Bono during Bad was lovely.

    But having the view on the field we had was even better when they moved to the main stage to start Streets. When that gigantic screen goes red and the silhouette of the tree and the band's poses make the perfect photo...it's just fantastic that the band KNOWS they are making the perfect picture opportunity for people that all have their phones out, anyway, and still manage to make it goose bump-worthy when Streets begins.

    Witnessing the amazing Anton Corbijn video footage of the American Southwest during the first three songs up close was fantastic. Other highlights for me from the JT set were Bullet and Exit - they both just rocked the place. So incredibly intense and just fire you up and piss you off at the state of America right now.

    Lighter but fun moments that also stand out include:
    -Bono just yelling away from the microphone after finishing RHMT, almost like he couldn't get enough of the song at the end.
    -Bono telling yet another funny story about how he couldn't play the harmonica well.
    -Bono admiringly asking the crowd after Trip, "Isn't the Edge a sexy man? And with a sexy missus swinging the lasso in that video. And America - a sexy country!"

    Finally, the "encore": after not seeing Vertigo or Mysterious Ways previously in Chicago, it was great to have both of these. The whole crowd ate up the entire final run (besides maybe Miss Sarajevo/Syria, unfortunately...). The girl that came on during MW really got into it with Bono, which was funny when Bono admitted with a laugh that Ali was in the crowd that night. And UV...wow. I was brought to tears by the end witnessing that song as a tribute to women again, having two young girls of my own and just thinking about the good I hope and pray they can bring to a broken world.

    All in all a great, great show. I've said before and I'll say again that my 360 and I&E shows still top this tour from what I've seen, and I'm getting impatient waiting for SOE and the new arena tour to resume. But I can't complain about the band treating us to songs we NEVER would have heard live again without deciding to play the JT in full every night. And I appreciate greatly that while they could just "phone it in", they've found a way to re-imagine this album for today, updating and adapting it with the new tricks and technology while staying true to the spirit of what the original tour might have been like.

    In the words of a Cleveland critic from the newspaper this morning (http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/07/u2s_joshua_tree_anniversary_sh.html):

    "I confess that there I had some fear that the show would be U2's first step into becoming a legacy act. What happened instead is that with this live performance, U2 has rekindled within itself and within its fans a love for an album that was seminal for so many.
    And along the way - because U2 has spent its entire career being the conscience for a generation - the group has refocused attention on the global social responsibilities we all have, regardless of party affiliation - maybe in some way, we really DID find what we were looking for."


    Cheers to those of you who get to enjoy the European shows this month! I know I'm looking forward to Detroit again...