Jeremy
Gerard
Dan
Aussiemofo
Casper- posted
Chris
Ali? (TBC) Steve (stj0691) (New)
Usual drill. You have until the 18th to post a review.
Please review either the new links provided by Casper or the original links on the bootleg page (say which in your review) and also that you have the show before saying you'll post.
Note: I'm reviewing Casper's upgrade, the links that were found in this topic, not the links currently listed on the bootleg's page.
Sound:
I went back and forth about the sound on this one. As you know, I had some problems with the soundboard-iiness of the last show, but this one is just a LITTLE too audience-y for my tastes. There's got to be a happy medium, right? I found it pretty annoying that you could hear specific audience members screaming or shouting "Woooo!" all the way through show, many times drowning out the instruments or the vocals. That's my biggest beef with the sound on this boot. I can't really comment on Casper's upgrade vs. the original files, since I haven't listened to that source in a while. There were times where the sound was a little tinny for my tastes, but the mix of the instruments was good, there was decent bass, and no real moments of distortion, which I attribute to Casper's remaster. Thanks, Casper!
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Performance:
Alright, I might be incredibly biased on this one, since this is the only show I've ever been to, but the performance at this show was simply flawless. I noticed 2 lyrical flubs by Bono (Amazing Grace, Walk On), but those were very minor mistakes in an otherwise flawless show. Seriously. It's amazing. Everyone was spot on the whole night.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Show Highlights:
Performances of the whole band. Unbelievably good.
Bono's falsetto on "In A Little While" was the best I've ever heard. Hit every note perfectly.
Discotheque - Please guys, bring this one back.
Staring at the Sun snippet - Fits into the end of Discotheque perfectly.
Sweetest Thing - Bumped off the setlist to make room for Kite later in the tour, but good while it lasted.
The "Joey Ramone" set. One- Amazing Grace - I Remember You - Walk On.....very touching, very well excecuted.
Show Lowlights:
None.
(okay, I'm biased!)
Overall:
This one's staying on the iPod and hard drive for good. Sure, it's got special meaning to me, but if you enjoy audience recordings and don't mind the crowd noise, get this show immediately. The performance is perfect.
At my show (Earls Court 4), Bono said before Sweetest Thing "we havent played this one much".
Not sure what replaced Kite in this show as I thought it was a tour standard. Think it may have been Discotheque?
Kite only made its debut 5 days after this gig so at this point it wasn't standard at all. This was an early tour show so things would still have been slightly unconventional.
Downloaded the show using links from this forum, not the bootleg page
Sound
Good, clear recording with some occasional subtle fuzzy sounds but nothing to get annoyed over. Audio was solid for much of the show, however I felt Adam was noticeably silent for some songs. On a brighter note, this was an above-average audience that really transported you there to recreate a genuine concert experience. There was a girl who was very excited at times and had a spot of the giggles. There was a bloke who sounded hilarious singing "How long to see this song" during 40 snippet - Don't quit your day job mate! If this show is what will be posted on bootlegs page, we need to decide what we're going to give it, because it's much better than 2 stars.
Performance
This is Elevation at its peak as far as I'm concerned. Still fairly early on the tour and you could tell the boys weren't tired of any tracks on their setlist. They were on fire... Elevation and BD were immediate crowd pleasers but it was UTEOTW that really got the show started for me. A typically professional rendition that entrenched my opinion that Elevation was its finest period. SIAMYCGOO and In A Little While have never been real faves of mine but this show has got me listening to it more. New York was played with great gusto, probably the best ATYCLB number played in this bootleg, I loved every note. Bring it back next tour!
I can't ignore the sprinkling of some fine renditions of classics in this show. I Will Follow, SBS and Bullet were all gems although I was disappointed the former didn't have"Edge ring those bells". Elevation's my favourite Fly version and this show didn't disappoint. A surprise however was The Ground Beneath Her Feet. I wasn't expecting to like it, in fact there was a good chance of me skipping it but it's honestly a great listen and fit nicely in the acoustic set.
Highlights
The Sweetest Thing - unusual position after SBS but what can I say? Simply outstanding. It's always annoyed me that U2 are so adverse to playing this song and after listening to this show you've really got to wonder why. It was delivered as though they had played it a hundreds times live. A real delight and a perfect demonstration of just how many hidden gems U2 can choose from to give the fans an unexpected treat. I just don't get why they don't play it. They've proved it works live.
The mini-Pop set (Gone, Discotheque/long Staring at the Sun snippet) - Gone was probably better during Elevation than Pop but it was Discotheque's departure from Pop that really sounded captivating for me, particularly it's subtle intro and brilliant snippets.
Bad/40---->Psalm 116/Streets - Elevation tour's jewel in the crown. Nothing more to say.
The snippets - Whole Lotta Love's an all time favourite but there were good ones sprinkled from top to bottom. Creep, Get Up, Stand Up, Devil Inside, Staring at the Sun , Amazing Grace etc.
Lowlights
I can't shower the whole bootleg with praise so if I was being picky, Desire was a brief downer and Walk On to close. Never been a fan of the song and to close with it's just a bit boring.
The Fly intro- Love the Fly here but where is "You walk out into the sports hall..." intro?
WOWY - No feeling
Overall
I loved it and will probably keep it on my iPod for its healthy injection of diversity and fine renditions of both ATYCLB tracks and classics. Thanks to Jeremy, this show certainly would've passed me by if you didn't choose it and for that I'm very grateful.
I would like to conduct my review of the boot, Elevation Portland 2001-04-15.
Now this was my first complete Elevation show I have heard. Now, before I listened to the boot, I listened to ATYCLB. Good album, not my fav or my top 5, but its good. My favs are Beautiful Day, Stuck In a Moment, Elevation, Walk On, Kite, and When I Look at the World.
Onto the show!!!!!!
My review is based upon Caspers links in the topic:
Sound:
I've listened to boots for a good 2 years now, and this one is awesome. I've heard boots where you can barely hear the words or clearly distinguish the instruments. The only thing I didn't like was that you could hear specific audience members scream. Listening to this boot in public, perhaps on a bus just doesn't fly for me. Maybe at home listening. There's a similar boot by the Who that had a great set, great sound, only flawed by the audience. For those who want to know, that boot is Toronto 1975. I rate this 3.5/5, because its not the best aud recording to begin with, and marred by the screaming audience.
The set, performance, and audience:
Its a good Elevation show in my eyes, and I liked it because of some of the rare stuff played like Discothèque and Sweetest Thing. I'm not the biggest fan of the Elevation tour because Still Haven't Found was left out, which also made me feel left out. I liked how the show starts with a bang with Elevation, then goes into the well known Beautiful Day. I liked how Until the End of World was 3rd in the set. Totally unexpected, but still awesome. New Year's Day was great too, but kinda anticipated since this song has followed "UTEOTW" since Zoo TV. I love Stuck In a Moment, especially now. It worked live, and I was taken by surprise. Gone was phenominal, maybe not the best version ever, but still awesome. I liked how Discothèque was thrown in, especially after PopMart got trashed for the slightest things. The snippet of Staring at the Sun was awesome too. After that things go flat. I don't like the song New York, and it just didn't work for me. If anything they could've played Miami and got a better response from the audience. I Will Follow didn't have the spunk it normally has, probably because it followed after the dull New York. Sunday Bloody Sunday is another attempt at reviving the show, but falls short. The Sweetest Thing gives this thing some life, which I liked. It fed off of the moment U2 was in during the show, and made it great live. In a Little While is another song that left the audience alienated, alongside me. Desire was too quiet and just didn't work for me. It's a loud pompous song to be played at great volume, not quiet. The Ground Beneath Her Feet was the concerts low point for me, and you can tell by the audience being so quiet. At this point I was gonna stop listening. Then came along Bad. This song kept the fire alive, and helped the show on the rebound. It may not have been the best version of the song, but I loved it. The snippet of 40 built upon it, which led into an awesome Streets. Mysterious Ways, was well, odd. Odd place, odd intro, just plain odd. I can see why its a bonus track for the Slane DVD. Then the show closes with my second favorite song by U2, the Fly. I love how Bono improv'd before the Love Intro Chorus. Boston's better, but that's the cream of the crop. Bullet was great, played to start the encore in Joshua Tree fashion. With or Without You suffers from being flat. Pride then brings back the excitement we all love. One was beautiful, especially with the snippet of Amazing Grace. The dedication to Joey Ramone gave this so much meaning too. Walk On finshed off the show so well. What a show this was. My rating: 3.5/5
Highlights
I loved how the crowd really got into Beautiful Day. It gave such a great sense. Another song deserving the spotlight of the show is Discothèque / Staring at the Sun (snippet). Just awesome in every aspect. I had never heard Sweetest Thing live before, and it was just so so beautiful live. It was the highest point of the dead spot in the show, and was certainly better than other songs that night. The snipper of 40 from Bad leading into Streets and Streets itself was rocking awesome! Probably the highest point of the night too. The Fly was absolutely rad too! I doubt this song was ever bad during the Elevation tour too. One was nice because of the tribute to Joey Ramone, one of U2s first inspirations. Bono may have screwed up during Amazing Grace, but no flub could ruin this moment.
Odds, Sods and Dead Spots
Right after the snippet of Staring at the Sun everything just went south for the next seven songs, Sweetest Thing stuck in this muck. Of those 7 songs, New York and Desire were the real killers. The Ground Beneath her feet was just plain silent for me. The band may have been playing, but it didn't go anywhere.
Overall
I thought the show was alright, and it had its ups and downs. What makes shows memorable is if the set was ablaze throughout the show. For this one, it wasn't. It's coming off of iTunes tonight and into the vault. Overall, 3 out of 5. Can't wait for the next show!
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"In the song With Or Without You when it says 'and you give yourself away' everybody else in the group knows what that means. It's about how I feel in U2 at times: exposed."
- Bono
Elevation's my favourite Fly version and this show didn't disappoint. A surprise however was The Ground Beneath Her Feet. I wasn't expecting to like it, in fact there was a good chance of me skipping it but it's honestly a great listen and fit nicely in the acoustic set.
, Amazing Grace etc.
