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2015-07-10 - Boston
 Tour: Innocence and Experience tour
Songs played: 27
Audio recordings: 5
  2. Actually, it looks like the last few compilations have been best ofs in each city... Up through LA shows, they have complete concerts...
  3. Someone was mentioning being unsurprised, or sleeping through the show. I've listened to almost every show on this tour that we've got bootlegs from so far. And while the setlist was mostly unsurprising, I've got say that bootlegs, no matter how great the quality, do no justice to seeing these guys live!

    I can't remember how many times I've seen them, but I STILL get goosebumps when Bono walks out on the stage and the show begins. And this time, when Power to the People came on, I could feel it start. And then Bono walked out on to the 'e' stage, and there I was, 17 again, at the Worcester Centrum, for my first ever U2 show on the JT tour.

    They did not fail to deliver. I got all my favorites, Sunday Bloody Sunday (the very first video I saw of theirs that got me hooked in the early '80s), Even Better Than the Real Thing (which, I think has shown the most improvement of all songs ion this show, Larry's drumming is UN-EFFING-BELIEVABLE on this!), Elevation, One, With or Without You, Pride, and, of course, my 2 all-time favorites, Bad and 40.

    Boston has always been a special place for them, and I've always felt extremely lucky to live here and see them here on most every tour. Last night was no exception, and they played for 2 hours, 45 minutes. I don't think they've ever played much past 90 minutes when I've seen them in the past. This tour, without an opening act (also completely unprecedented for them) is allowing them to play longer, which I love, and I'd like to think that last night's Boston opener was a little longer than average (though the stats will prove me wrong, I'm sure because it was Boston, and their home-away-from-home in the States.

    As for Bad & 40 being special, I couldn't agree more. They are, in my opinion, the 2 best songs. Bad, because is such a great song, and 40, because of what Dennis made it into; a crowd participation that rings out the show and the fans can carry out into the streets. I will never forget seeing them that first time on the JT tour and how they ended all shows back then. Personally, I wish they had never stopped. Shows seemed to lose just a little bit of magic when 40 doesn't end the show.

    And, while EBTtRT has gotten so much incredibly better, and Larry really shows off his drumming chops on that song, I can't help but feel that Bad has gotten just a little bit more mundane when they do play it. Last night's performance of Bad was okay. But it was a long way from the days when Maggie's Farm made an appearance and they would make that song last 10-15 minutes with ramblings through Maggie's Farm, Sympathy for the Devil, Ramajam, etc. And that makes me a bit sad. Bad used to be THE quintessential "Bono's going on a tangent" song. And now he's barely doing snippets of other songs in random other places. In other words, what used to make Bad so special isn't there any more.

    Of course, this is all just my opinion. And I'm still flying high off of last night's show which, as I said, is quite possibly the best over-all show I've seen them put on in 30+ years of seeing them live.

    Anyway, I have about 200 or so photos from last night I need to upload for y'all, so I'll stop rambling now and get on to doing that
    --
    Paul
  4. Okay, I've sync'ed my phone to my laptop and copied all my photos into a Google Drive folder.

    Here's the link for anyone interested in them. They are free to use, since, IMO, photos of U2 with an iPhone do not constitute any professional or artistic talent that should be copyrighted. I share these with all of you here under the same code of honor with which we share bootlegs. Free for personal use, feel free to share them with friends, but please do not sell them (why anyone would pay money for photos of this quality is beyond me anyway

    Enjoy. Here's the link: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxviDjIVq5IuZTNyYUVPR0tBcUU&usp=sharing
  5. Thank you for the pics and your summary of the show. You are so right, there is nothing like being there but even listening along last night you could hear it was a special night. I thought nothing could beat Montreal 2 but I think this has. The shows seem to be getting better as the tour moves along.

    What a band - incredible to think they are putting on their best shows after 30+ years.
  6. Originally posted by pllsaph:Someone was mentioning being unsurprised, or sleeping through the show. I've listened to almost every show on this tour that we've got bootlegs from so far. And while the setlist was mostly unsurprising, I've got say that bootlegs, no matter how great the quality, do no justice to seeing these guys live!

    I can't remember how many times I've seen them, but I STILL get goosebumps when Bono walks out on the stage and the show begins. And this time, when Power to the People came on, I could feel it start. And then Bono walked out on to the 'e' stage, and there I was, 17 again, at the Worcester Centrum, for my first ever U2 show on the JT tour.

    They did not fail to deliver. I got all my favorites, Sunday Bloody Sunday (the very first video I saw of theirs that got me hooked in the early '80s), Even Better Than the Real Thing (which, I think has shown the most improvement of all songs ion this show, Larry's drumming is UN-EFFING-BELIEVABLE on this!), Elevation, One, With or Without You, Pride, and, of course, my 2 all-time favorites, Bad and 40.

    Boston has always been a special place for them, and I've always felt extremely lucky to live here and see them here on most every tour. Last night was no exception, and they played for 2 hours, 45 minutes. I don't think they've ever played much past 90 minutes when I've seen them in the past. This tour, without an opening act (also completely unprecedented for them) is allowing them to play longer, which I love, and I'd like to think that last night's Boston opener was a little longer than average (though the stats will prove me wrong, I'm sure because it was Boston, and their home-away-from-home in the States.

    As for Bad & 40 being special, I couldn't agree more. They are, in my opinion, the 2 best songs. Bad, because is such a great song, and 40, because of what Dennis made it into; a crowd participation that rings out the show and the fans can carry out into the streets. I will never forget seeing them that first time on the JT tour and how they ended all shows back then. Personally, I wish they had never stopped. Shows seemed to lose just a little bit of magic when 40 doesn't end the show.

    And, while EBTtRT has gotten so much incredibly better, and Larry really shows off his drumming chops on that song, I can't help but feel that Bad has gotten just a little bit more mundane when they do play it. Last night's performance of Bad was okay. But it was a long way from the days when Maggie's Farm made an appearance and they would make that song last 10-15 minutes with ramblings through Maggie's Farm, Sympathy for the Devil, Ramajam, etc. And that makes me a bit sad. Bad used to be THE quintessential "Bono's going on a tangent" song. And now he's barely doing snippets of other songs in random other places. In other words, what used to make Bad so special isn't there any more.

    Of course, this is all just my opinion. And I'm still flying high off of last night's show which, as I said, is quite possibly the best over-all show I've seen them put on in 30+ years of seeing them live.

    Anyway, I have about 200 or so photos from last night I need to upload for y'all, so I'll stop rambling now and get on to doing that
    --
    Paul
    Great to hear your thoughts on the show. Thanks for sharing. I can't believe I'm a week away from MSG 1. Seems like a bought tickets ages ago lol
  7. Ahhhh..Bad was played..I was hoping they would save it for Wednesday !!

    Geting fired up..going to Salem first on Monday to see the witches , then off to Boston !!
  8. Just reviewing some of the photos now, and there are several that are fairly blurry. Sorry for that. This the reason I threw them up on my Google Drive rather than upload them directly to U2Start.com. Most of them aren't worthy

    I'll go through as I have time tonight and flag the good ones for upload directly here.

    I'm glad you enjoyed my thoughts on the show. Like many of you I'm sure, this band has been with me since childhood. I've noticed that, as an album, this time in their lives is one of reflection on the past. The tour, and setlist obviously reflect this as well. What has surprised me is how much this tour has resulted in my own reflection on my own past with this group. They have quite literally been with me since I was about the same age Bono was when he lost his Mum. I've been fortunate enough to grow up in the Boston area, so Carter Alan and WBCN have both played a very prominent place in my life. I can remember hearing Gloria and New Year's Day on the radio long before U2 was a household name. I didn't really discover them until after the Red Rocks show, however, when I first saw the Sunday Bloody Sunday video. That was a major turning point in my life, and I very vividly remember that video coming on MTv that day and being blown away. It quite literally changed my life, as I've been an obsessive fan ever since.

    This tour has brought back scores of old memories for me. All good, all related to U2. They have been a band to see me through ups and downs in life, and they have been there for every occasion. But, to bring this back to reflecting on the past, one thing I've found fascinating with this tour is the setlist and how they juxtapose old songs with new about the same period in their lives that they're reflecting on. The most blatantly obvious example of this is Sunday Bloody Sunday followed by Raised By Wolves. 2 very, very powerful songs with extremely vivid imagery (made even more so by the big screen on this tour) about the same exact event. The first is about anger, anger towards those who committed such a violent, senseless act, and of confusion, not understanding why or how someone could do this. The latter, about the same, but wondering also how, after 30+ years, there's been no closure on this event, and though Ireland has found peace, the rest of the world seems no closer to it. I didn't quite get what Raised By Wolves was all about until last night. It hit me, and it hit hard. I'm not one to really focus on lyrics, I'm much more about the intensity and passion of song as a whole and the ideas the song is all about (which is why Bad is my favorite and such an important song) rather than the actual words being sung.

    Anyway, that's a few more thoughts about them, the show, and this tour. I'm actually quite surprised at the emotions last night's show has stirred up in me. All good, some very nostalgic. I'd love to hear others' thoughts about their experiences as well. Especially if you were there last night, but from any other show as well, Boston or otherwise.
    --
    Paul
  10. The floor looks really empty!
  11. Originally posted by EDDMB:Ahhhh..Bad was played..I was hoping they would save it for Wednesday !!

    Geting fired up..going to Salem first on Monday to see the witches , then off to Boston !!


    We'll get it at MSG!! Can't wait to meet up next Saturday! I'm going solo. Bad seats all the way up top. Hoping to sneak down to u!
  12. anybody think u2 are starting to loose their touch alittle