LIV
Active topics
  1. Originally posted by ap5:It’s all relative, but I think the San Diego JT17 show was the weakest U2 show I’ve ever attended. Rote performance of the album and then an abomination of an attempt at an acoustic version Best Thing.

    Overall I found the JT17 tour below average by U2 standards, but SD was particularly uninspiring.
    During the first leg of JT17 I had similar feelings, but then we went to the shows in Rome and Barcelona and those were some of the best we ever saw!
  2. Berlin 2 was one of the best until Bono lost his voice. After that, it went from very good to "one of the worst".

    For full nights, sometimes the band just can't catch the fire. First nights of tours are notoriously hesitant. After that, in terms of mid-tour shows, I've not seen a bad performance. Some shows have bad crowds, and similar, but bad shows go in runs as they get better, rather than one-off terrible shows.
  3. For me personally it was Arnhem 2001 .
    Traffic issues meant we arrived late so was way back in GA, boiling hot indoor arena (big one) , woeful acoustics, we left after an hour and went to the pub.
  4. I think a lot of the time it is about what is going on personally as to how a show hits you. South Bend 2001 was definately not one of them for me. Not the best show I have seen but one of the better shows of the Elevation tour that I saw (and I saw all 6 Chicago shows). Small venue, completely different setlist order. It was like seeing U2 in a theater on a new tour. But if I had a bad day or wasn't feeling well I could see where it could hit you differently.

    If I had to pick one it would be May 7, 2005 Chicago. A lot of it was personal (bad day/night) but the band were just flat that night also. Coming off a week break they were just not in sync. Dropped Electric Co. They spent the whole soundcheck that day working on Zoo Station visuals and and a couple other songs and rehearsed nothing else. The rust/hangover showed. They clearly thought so also because the rest of the Chicago stint they did VERY long soundchecks and worked on both obscure and warhorse songs.

    I can see where a lot of people might say the 1st leg of the JT 2017 tour. I did not think it was bad or the worst, it just had a weird vibe to it. I think maybe they did not have a grip quite yet as to what they were doing with no new album and a new production and figured it out as the tour went on. Third leg of the same was a good show without any odd vibe, at least the show I saw in Detroit (other than Patti Smith ruining Mothers!).
  5. Monday / Tuesday nights are always a bit tough
  6. I guess there’s 2 completely different categories of worst show. There’s the personal experience if you were there and didn’t enjoy it as much and there’s the performance on a technical level. The band could play great and someone could still think it was a below average experience because of various factors. I only really focus on the mistakes and energy (or maybe lack of) from the band when I think of a poor show, the band can only play there part on stage they can’t dictate other factors.
  7. Originally posted by jonno77:Dublin 3 for me on e&i, soaked to the bone and so hyped then the folk around me not even jumping for Gloria, elevation etc. Made it feel a bit flat.
    Where were you? Crowd was excellent at Adam's "side" around the central stage. I only felt like a freak during Dirty Day which virtually nobody around me knew or sung along to, but for the rest of it the crowd was superb.
  8. I find the crowd makes a big difference in the overall quality and vibe of a show. To me, flat crowds can hinder the experience. I’m not sure what U2’s worst show would be (maybe PopMart Las Vegas), but I remember being disappointed in the flat crowd in Montreal 2018. It’s just not as fun to me when people sit in their seats and cutting past you for a beer run. Sticking to GA from now on!
  9. The 'worst' might be a bit OTT but memorable for the wrong reason, for me, would be Birmingham 14/08/01. The previous day was when news about Bono's father being ill became public knowledge and how Bono had been flying home between gigs. The audience was quite subdued, almost apathetic.
  10. The show could be bad for some reasons.... but if the crowd is on fire... the set could be EPIC
    And you could have a good setlist and a flat crowd... then the show become lame as f***
  11. Boston 2 on e+i. I saw them the night before, and the show was so good that I impulse-bought a ticket for the next night in the middle of American Soul. Night 2, the crowd (at least in my section) was flat, and it was obvious that the band were trying to get the show over as quick as possible so they could see their families in NYC.
  12. No flat crowds In Portugal because When U2 comes, we know we have to party hard...seen U2 in the Netherlands, USA (Atlanta) and Dublin, and these all sem very quiet, including Croke Park 2 2009