U2 - Eight 5 7 9 Baby Second Homecoming (1992) Bootleg

(Irish 1976 - Present)
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It is May, 1987 in the U.S.A. and U2 are on the covers of Time, Musician, and Rolling Stone.  The Joshua Tree has become America's best selling album. "With or Without You" is the  best selling single. Night after night U2 are playing live to capacity houses, embracing the American audiences, as the American audiences embrace them.

This is a band approaching the heights of acclaim. Everything they've worked for during  the long tours of the early Eighties is finally happening. Before they ever touched the shores of America, Bono was cheekily bracketing U2 with Elvis, The Beatles and The Stones. Now it's everyone else that's doing the New Beatles talk.
Television commentators chatter breezily about a a return of Sixties social concern. A New York ticket vendor compares the appetite of his customers with that of "Beatlemaniacs".

The Joshua Tree Tour

The accolade of Time's front cover puts them up there with The Beatles, The Band and The Who.
The Joshua Tree album seems set in an essentially American landscape, having completed the first leg of their Joshua Tree Tour.  The second leg takes place in European arenas and outdoor stadiums running from late May through to early August, starting at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome on 27 May. The final show of the European leg is at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork on 8 August.

'The Joshua Tree Tour' sold out stadiums around the world, the first time the band had consistently played venues of that size. The Joshua Tree and its singles had become huge hits and the band had reached a new height in their popularity. Tickets for shows were often very hard to get, especially on the first American leg when they only played in arenas.

This bootleg was recorded on July 10, 1987 at Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Netherlands and is one of the best audience recordings available from this tour.

Feyenoord Football Stadium

This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my KTS CD (#2 in a set of 3) and is tagged as being an audience recording.  There is certainly evidence of audience participation in the background (clapping, singing and the occasional dialogue) but the quality of the recording is close to Soundboard quality.  Full album artwork and concert/tour related photos are also included.
The track listing is nothing short of being a Best Of U2 featuring all of my favourite tracks - Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride, New Years Day and Bullet In The Sky. It's a pity whoever designed the back cover couldn't spell Bullet (Bullit) but I guess it is a bootleg.
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Tracklist
01 - Where The Streets Have No Name 6:11
02 - I Will Follow 3:53
03 - I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For 5:31
04 - M.L.K. 2:16
05 - The Unforgettable Fire 4:35
06 - Sunday Bloody Sunday 5:52
07 - Exit  4:29
08 - In God’s Country 2:45
09 - The Electric Co.  4:10
10 - Help! 1:49
11 - Bad 7:44
12 - October 2:02
13 - New Year’s Day  5:09
14 - Pride (In The Name Of Love) 3:53
15 - Bullet The Blue Sky 5:10
16 - Running To Stand Still 4:25
17 - Party Girl   4:10
18 - “40” 5:15
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U2 Second Homecoming (172Mb) New Link 04/01/2024
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U2: EIGHT 5 7 9 Baby -The Flame And The Fire (1992) Bootleg

(Irish 1976 - Present)
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What better way to celebrate New Year's Day, than to post a Concert by U2, who had a mega hit with a song of the same name back in 1983. It was released as the lead single from the album "War." It was U2’s first international hit and altered their career trajectory forever. "New Year's Day" stormed the United Kingdom charts, hitting number 10 and was the band's first song to be featured on the United States Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone magazine also featured it among its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

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Although it is one of U2's best known tunes, many fans don’t realize that the song's lyrics are actually about the Polish Solidarity movement.   The lyrics, refer to the persecuted leader of the Polish Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa. Coincidentally, after the song was released Poland's Communist government announced that they would abolish martial law.  In 1980 the Solidarity movement in Poland, under the leadership of future Nobel Peace Prize winner and president Lech Walesa, challenged the oppressive rule of the Polish government. In December 1981, the Solidarity movement was outlawed and Walesa, together with the other leaders of the movement, was arrested and put in jail.

It is believed that "New Year’s Day" initially started out as a love song, dedicated to Bono’s high-school sweetheart, Ali, whom he had recently married, but this changed.
Bono told the Rolling Stone he made the lyrics up on the spot, as he often does. He said, "We improvise, and the things that came out; I let them come out."
"I must have been thinking about Lech Walesa being interned. Then, when we'd recorded the song, they announced that martial law would be lifted in Poland on New Year's Day. Incredible."

"New Year's Day" is U2's seventh most frequently performed live song, with the Edge switching back and forth between piano and guitar during the song. It has been a standard on every U2 tour since its debut on 1 December 1982 at the first  show of the War Tour's Pre-Tour, however the recent Innocence + Experience tour only featured three performances of the song for the entire tour. During the 1980s, the Edge used a Fender Stratocaster to perform this song, along with a Yamaha CP70 electric grand piano.

Here’s the beginning of the song:

"All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
On New Year's Day.
I will be with you again
As the song continues, it further documents the growing movement of people clamoring for freedom and justice throughout Eastern Europe in the early 1980s.
"Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers say it's true
It's true
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one."

The themes of understanding in a time of global unrest were a focal point for the album "War," the title of which was inspired by the various conflicts around the world at the time. "War" raced up the charts and became a huge commercial success, in the process knocking Michael Jackson's "Thriller" from the top of the charts. It became U2's first number-one album in the UK.

So, next time you hear "New Year’s Day" being played in a bar around the end of the year, you’ll know the real story behind the song. [extract from irishcentral.com.  Thanks to Kate Hickey]
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Concert Review
Recorded during the U2 Unforgettable Fire Tour
5th Leg: North America, 21st March 1985
University Of Illinois, Chicago Pavillion - Chicago, Illinois, USA

Thursday's show got off to a good start with a performance by the Red Rockers, who share with U2 a sense of social commitment. The band is perhaps best known for their updated version of Barry McGuire's 1965 hit, "Eve of Destruction," a  highlight of the Rockers' entertaining set.

The last time Irish band U2 played Chicago was a scant three months ago, when the group headlined a show at the Aragon Ballroom. Thursday night, the quartet returned to Chicago, this time for the first of two concerts at the vastly larger Pavilion. This is a band that has come a long way in a relatively short time, in part due to the success of their recent hit single, "(Pride) In the Name of Love," and a current million-selling album, "The Unforgettable Fire."

U2 is suddenly hot--and its creative fire gives every evidence of being the enduring kind. A band to whom music and its potential as a medium for social message clearly matter, the group is known for its positive spirit and life-affirming stance. And while U2 is reluctant to categorize themselves as a "Christian band," their lyrics frequently reflect their strong religious beliefs and a moving version of "Amazing Grace" now figures in the band's shows. So do several anti-drug songs, at least one number about Northern Ireland's ongoing religious wars ("Sunday Bloody Sunday") and, in the case of the single, "Pride," a tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King. Noble sentiment, of course, can take a band only so far. Too much of it, in fact, can be a real turnoff if things get too preachy. But U2 does not preach.

The messages are there, both implicit and explicit, an integral part of the band's approach. But it's U2's guitar-driven sound that is initially appealing--soaring, anthemic rock and roll that is both distinctive and exhilarating. Lead singer Paul "Bono Vox" Hewson tends to use his voice as an instrument, his keening, evocative vocals riding atop the thick waves of sound turned out by guitarist Dave "The Edge" Evans, who occasionally doubles on keyboards, and a rhythm section composed of drummer Larry Mullen and bassist Adam Clayton. The results are both dance-able and downright inspirational.


Staging for the band's shows this time around is spare and clean, with occasional special lighting about all there is in the way of theatrical effects. Bono, a small, intense figure in black leather pants, black shirt and black boots, possesses a certain brooding charm, though refreshingly enough neither he nor other members of the band attempt to capitalize on any inherent sexiness; a female fan who made it onto the stage was sent on her way with a friendly, brotherly hug.

(Earlier, Bono helped a surprised television cameraman up on stage so that he could film the audience.) For those who find the values espoused by many of today's rock groups to be shallow and spiritually impoverished, U2 provides a powerful alternative.

Media Review by Chicago Tribune (Lynn Van Matre 03/23/1985)
'Irish Band U2 Brings Noble Message to Its Music' - March 23, 1985

This post consists of MP3's (320) ripped from my rare Italian Bootleg CD (released by Kiss The Stone records, this is CD1 from a 3CD set) and includes full album artwork and other ''Tour' related photos. (Alt bootleg release by Arriba shown below).
The recording itself is soundboard quality, although the mixing is a little inconsistent with varying volume levels. Irrespective, this is a great concert and highlight tracks are "New Year's Day" and the rare inclusion of "Knocking On Heaven's Door" as an encore.
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Setlist

01 - 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
02 - I Will Follow
03 - Seconds
04 - MLK
05 - The Unforgettable Fire
06 - Wire / Give Me Some Truth (snippet)
07 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
08 - The Cry / The Electric Co. / Amazing Grace (snippet)
09 - A Sort Of Homecoming
10 - Bad / Ruby Tuesday (snippet) / Sympathy For The Devil (snippet)
11 - October
12 - New Year's Day
13 - Pride (In the Name of Love)
encore(s):
14 - Knockin' on Heaven's Door
15 - Gloria
16 - 40

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U2 The Flame And The Fire Link (163Mb) New Link 03/09/2025

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U2 - Lemon: Unauthorised Live (1993) Bootleg

(Irish 1976 - Present)
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The cover says "Live In Seattle" but from the research I've done (see U2 Gigs), U2 didn't play Seattle on their Zoo TV tour. Because this is an Australian bootleg, and "Dirty Day" was only first played during the Australasian section of the Zoo TV tour, I'm thinking that this recording is from one of their Zoomerang concerts. In fact, I reckon it is from their 2nd Sydney Concert held on 27th November, 1993 due to the similar track listing and because this particular concert was recorded on Video: Zoo TV: Live from Sydney.and broadcast live on FM Radio, making it easy pickings for the bootleggers
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One interesting side note is that the Sydney show from the previous night is infamous as being the only U2 concert to be missed by a member of the band. Adam Clayton was so severely hung over that he could not take the stage, and the show could not be postponed as it was a necessary rehearsal for the videotaping of the next night's concert (which, as well as being recorded for official video release, was also to be broadcast live). Adam's bass technician, Stuart Morgan, filled in on the bass, and Bono informed the crowd that Adam was "sick".
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The following is an extract taken from 'U2: The Rolling Stone Files' by editors of Rolling Stone magazine, Sidgwick & Jackson Publishers, 1994. p215-216, where Bono discusses the changes that they had made to their setlist during the later stages of the Zooropa '93 concerts.

The U2 MANAGEMENT crew, friends and hangers-on pile on a bus that will travel from Sydney Football Stadium to a 5 star Hotel in Sydney, about a half-hour trip. It's about 1:30 A.M., the 2nd show ended a few hours ago, and only four shows remain until the end of the Australasian leg of Zooropa '93. It feels like the last week of school.
Bottles of wine are being passed around and someone shouts for music. Someone else pops a cassette in the deck. Over the speakers comes the fanfare that begins "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car," on Zooropa. An instant collective drunken groan: "Oh, nooooo!"

The Zoo TV show, which starts out so explosively, fades out on a far more ambiguous, introspective note. A desperately searching "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" is followed by an equally desperate, equally searching "Love Is Blindness." Then comes Bono's eerie, falsetto rendering of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love." "Elvis is still in the building," Bono says softly, as U2 exits the building and Elvis' own version of the song comes up on the PA. Through all this Bono is dressed as the devil.
What's the meaning of all that Elvis business at the end of the show?

THE EDGE: Well, we wanted to move away from the well-established and longstanding tradition of ending on "40" [laughs]. It seemed like the only way to make sure we didn't have to.
Really, who else but Elvis could have made that possible? You have to call in the big guns, it always comes down to that.
I think at this stage, yeah. People still start singing "40" at the end of the set. I guess it'll be a while before we can lay that one to rest. People come to the shows who have seen U2 before, and you're constantly having to deal with their expectations as opposed to what you're trying to do. I know there are a lot of people who come away disappointed from the Zooropa show because we didn't play "Sunday Bloody Sunday" or whatever other old song they wanted to hear.
But you dose the set proper with "Pride." How does a song as emotionally direct as that fit in with all the irony and media chicanery in the rest of the show?
At the beginning we weren't sure if that was going to work. I think it does work. It may be a bit of a jump to go from something as ironic as Bono as MacPhisto or the Hy and yet pull off "Pride," complete with Martin Luther King on the video screen. But it comes at a part of the concert where to make a connection like that is important. Amid the uncertainty there are certain ideas that are so powerful and so right that you can hold onto them no matter how screwed up everything else is.

Bono as 'MacPhisto'

"Everybody wants a long life. Longevity has its place. But I don't care about that now. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land!"( Passage spoken by Martin Luther King on the videowall during 1/2 V version of "Pride")
There's a really theatrical element to that MacPhisto character.
BONO: The cabaret aspect ... I was called by a tabloid photographer, who said, "You know, the fellow you do in the fin-ah-lay" [laughs]. I thought, "Oh, wow."
It's great, your singing an Elvis song in the fin-ah-lay, too.
For me, MacPhisto is sort of sad, bad, not so funny but might be. It's like taking the rock jerk that the Fly is and—if you're going to play him—take him to his logical conclusion, which is when he's fat and playing Las Vegas. It's a bookend to the funky and fucked-up swagger of the Fly.
It's rather poignant. Also, whoever he is now—Jesus or whoever—Elvis once was the devil.
The "devil's music"—that was the thing, wasn't it? The beat. The sadness of that last song, though, that child's voice, that falsetto as the song ends, is the most poignant moment of the show, because, in among all those fucked-up qualities, there's just that little childlike voice. That voice to me is the cover of Boy. If you study those films of Elvis—and I have—there were some very powerful moments as he was in decline. Maybe more powerful than when he was the svelte pop hero.
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my Grapefruit Bootleg CD and includes full album artwork as per usual. I've also included artwork associated with an alternative release of this amazing concert - 'Zoomerang Live Down Under' & the first half of the concert which was released under the title 'Mysterious Ways' by the same Australian bootlegger.
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Track Listing
01 - Dirty day
02 - Bad - You've got to hide your love away -All I want is you
03 - Bullet the blue sky
04 - Running to stand still
05 - Where the streets have no name
06 - Pride (in the name of love)
07 - I still haven't found what I'm looking for
08 - Stand by me
09 - Desire
10 - Help! - Ultra violet (light my way)
11 - Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
12 - Lemon
13 - With or without you
14 - Live is blindness
15 - Can't help falling in love
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U2 Lemon Link (172Mb)  New Link 15/01/2023

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U2 Live - Not Authorised Vol 1 (1993) Bootleg

(Irish 1976 - Present)
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This Bootleg CD released by AMCOS captures U2 live at the Hammersmith Palais on December 6, 1982, during the very limited “Pre-War” tour. All of the classic early U2 live staples are present, as well as some of the best tracks from their soon-to-be-released War album at the time. The encore even contained a very rare live performance of the 1982 single “A Celebration,” and that alone makes this bootleg a must for any U2 fan. Note: I sourced this additional track from the web, as it was not included on this AMCOS release.
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Concert Review
This was the first gig I went to - a gangly 14 year old clutching a ticket that says "over 18s only". I put on a jacket that made me look, oh, 15 easily, but they never even gave me a glance at the door. I was in.
I'd not heard of support act 'The Alarm' - a dreary band playing to an indifferent crowd. After an interminable wait, U2 appeared (or at least I thought) and the place erupted like the Brixton riots. I was getting trashed in the mosh pit, mostly facing the wrong way... eventually I realised that I didn't even recognise the song, and they looked and sounded different. Escaping upstairs to the balcony, I eventually figured it out - THIS was The Alarm (already with a mysteriously huge fanbase) and the dreary band before had been the unbilled Zerra 1.
"If this is how the crowd are for The Alarm", I thought, "what on earth are U2 gonna be like?"

Eventually I got my answer. It was indescribable (he said, before trying to describe it). From the balcony, the entire floor below bounced as one from the first note to the last. I remember New Year's Day for the first time, the spotlight on The Edge for his solo. Gloria... I Will Follow... no, it's no good I can't describe it. For a first gig, for a 14 year old, it was complete overload.

Needless to say, it was the best gig I'd ever seen, as time has subsequently proved. Nothing beats the first time, I guess, but even so. I saw U2 again a few months later at the Odeon, 5 minutes walk away, and it was a pale imitation, with its raked seating. The Hammersmith Palais remains holy ground to me, despite all the clear evidence to the contrary.

Footnote 1: The gig was recorded and broadcast by Radio 1 for their In Session series. Radio London used to simulcast Radio 1 in the evenings, so I got a good quality stereo recording (fantastic mix too, really captured it), which I played to death until I left my bag on the train one day losing both Walkman (whatever) and Cassette (nooooo!). A few tracks made their way onto the October Special Edition CD... one day I might get hold of the full hour again, you never know.

Footnote 2: 18 years later I was working for the BBC on Top Of The Pops. U2 were on in the studio, the first time since I'd worked there, playing Beautiful Day. I couldn't help myself. I hung around and managed to barge in for a quick chat with Bono. I told him about the first and greatest gig of my life - he asked the date and venue, and said "oh YEAH, that was rockin'!" Who knows if he really remembered, but it was enough for me. Incidentally, Bono had asked me who else was on the show that day and I told him - Doves "Oh wow!" and a new band called Coldplay (I'd played Yellow obsessively) - "oh, Edge really likes them", he said. Later I told Chris Martin, who was watching U2 rehearse... he looked at me bug eyed and blurted out "you're shitting me?!!!".

Always been proud to have been the person that told Coldplay that U2 liked them. Sorta. [Review by Guy Rowland]
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The full set list for this concert was:
    -Out Of Control
   - Twilight
    -Surrender
    -I Threw A Brick Through A Window
   - A Day Without Me
    -An Cat Dubh
    -Into The Heart
    -Sunday Bloody Sunday
    -The Cry
    -The Electric Co. / Send In The Clowns
    -I Fall Down
    -October
    -New Year's Day
    -Gloria
    -I Will Follo
    encore(s):
    -Fire
    -A Celebration
    -11 O'Clock Tick Tock / We Wish You A Merry Christmas (snippet)
    -The Ocean
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This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from an AMCOS CD release and includes full album artwork for both Vinyl and CD releases of this bootleg.  Note: Golden Stars (Italian bootleg) released this concert on vinyl (with a distinctive red cover) in 1991 as a double LP set and copies of this bootleg have recently fetched $150 +
This concert has also been released under the title of 'Live At Hammersmith 1981 - Bloody London ' with an obvious 'year release' error in its title, and by Mainline Music under the title 'U2 Live Unlicensed'.
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Track Listing
01. Surrender
02. I Threw A Brick Through A Window
03. A Day Without Me
04. An Cat Dubh
05. Sunday Bloody Sunday
06. I Fall Down *
07. The Electric Co
08. October
09. New Year's Day
10. Gloria
11. I Will Follow
12. Fire
13. A Celebration (Bonus Track)
* Track 6 is mislabeled "I'm A Believer" on the cover
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U2 Live Not Authorised Vol.1 (135Mb)  New Link 12/12/2019
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U2 - Not Authorised Live Vol 3 (1993) Bootleg

(Irish 1976 - Present)
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The following sources place this concert from the Lovetown Tour, 2nd Leg Europe, Dublin, 26th Dec 1989
* Recorded live Dublin, 26.12.89  (Part.2)
* U2 - 'Desire' (Vol. 2)

The Lovetown Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, which took place in late 1989 and early 1990 following the release of their 'Rattle and Hum' album. It was documented by noted rock'n'roll film director Richard Lowenstein in the "LoveTown" documentary.
The tour's opening night was on 21 September 1989 at the Entertainment Centre in Perth, Australia. The first leg took place over the next 10 weeks in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. A brief second leg hit four countries in Europe for four weeks, ending on 10 January 1990 at the Sport Paleis Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Of the tour's 47 concerts, 23 were played in Australia.

Many songs performed on the tour would not be performed again for many years, if ever, as the band subsequently shifted its sound dramatically on the album Achtung Baby with tours in the 1990s that featured more choreographed performances and largely emphasized newer material. The tour marked the end of the band's long-time practice of concluding nearly every concert with the song "40", which featured the band leaving the stage one-by-one and the audience chanting the chorus. This practice was not resurrected until 15 years later, during the Vertigo Tour. Notably absent from the tour was the song Sunday Bloody Sunday, which had been a live staple and which would be featured in all subsequent tours.
The tour name, possibly a contraction of the Rattle and Hum song "When Love Comes to Town", was the first not to be named for the band's then-current album; as of 2009, all of their subsequent tours have also had different names from any album.
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U2 played four concerts in Dublin towards the end of the tour, from 26th December until New Years Eve, 1989. The 31 December 1989 Dublin concert was broadcast on RTE and BBC radio around the world, giving many fans their only taste of the tour; it was widely bootlegged and ultimately officially released in digital form in 2004 as 'Live from the Point Depot'.
Therefore, I am a little skeptical about the origin of this bootleg being from the 26th Dec. It is more likely that it is a re-release of the Bootleg New Years Concert held on the 31st December. Perhaps someone might be able to clarify if this is the case. Unofficial releases from an artist’s beginnings and endings are the most interesting to hear.  It illuminates a band’s decision and U2 went through a major change in the beginning of the new decade.  Through the eighties they established an aesthetic based upon a dramatic interpretation of new wave tinged with overtly political themes.  It was by the time they hit the Lovetown tour that they decided a change in direction to their sound was necessary for the new decade.
The four shows in Dublin during the holiday season represent a swan song of sorts and, after four shows in Rotterdam in January, U2 would never be the same.  This is the ending of the serious U2 focused upon political themes in their hometown to a global awareness and a deeper address to other forms of media manipulation.
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U2 & B.B King
Meeting veteran blues player B. B. King, a Memphis man whose recording career began before Elvis's, provided another opportunity for U2 to experiment with the blues.
The relationship between B.B. King and U2 began in Dublin back in the early part of 1986. They met up whilst B.B. King was working in Ireland, and had talked about doing some writing and recording together at some unspecified point in the future.
The band wrote "When Love Comes to Town" for him, Bono only finishing the lyrics an hour before he met him in Fort Worth, Texas.
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B.B.'s response after reading the paper Bono had given him was to say "How old are you? They're heavy lyrics... heavy lyrics."
"Seeing him that close was great," says The Edge, newly an admirer of blues guitarists from Howlin'Wolf to Jimi Hendrix. "I loved his style and it was good to meet the man."
B.B. and his band opened for U2 in Texas, which U2 looked upon as a great honour. The sequence in the movie was filmed during soundcheck and the gig at the'Tarrant County Arena in Fort Worth, and on this one occasion only When "Love Comes to Town" was performed live by the two bands as a special encore.
"We discovered a common bond between us and some of these older artists like B.B.King. When we met him there was a whole world of understanding and nothing needed to be said. That has been the pay-off of working ten years to get into this position. We no longer have to prove ourselves. It's in the music and people can hear it." Adam. [extract from U2 Rattle & Hum, Pyramid by Peter Williams & Steve Turner, 1988. p31]
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This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from a 1993 Australian Bootleg CD and includes full album artwork, along with other bootleg covers for the same concert. The quality of the recording is exceptional which makes me even more adamant that this is the 2nd half of the RTE and BBC radio broadcast from the New Years Eve concert.  Either way, you won't be disappointed with this one.
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Note:  Track 5 (Love Rescue Me) ends with 4 minutes of audience applause and screams of encore - so I have taken the liberty of including an edited version of this track which you can substitute for better enjoyment.
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Track Listing 
01 - New Year's Day
02 - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
03 - Angel Of Harlem/Suspicious Minds
04 - When Love Comes To Town
05 - Love Rescue Me
06 - With Or Without You
07 - 40

Band Members:
Bono (vocals and guitar)
The Edge (guitar, keyboards and vocals)
Adam Clayton (bass guitar)
Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion)
Guest appearance by B.B King on "When Love Comes To Town"
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U2 Live Vol 3 Link (100Mb) New Link 04/01/2024
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U2 - Rock's Hottest Ticket (1987) - Ex. Bootleg

(Irish 1976-Present)
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Dubbed by Rolling Stone magazine as 'the band of the 80's' and the 'rock's hottest ticket' by TIME magazine, U2 entered domineeringly among the world rock stars
Their album 'Joshua Tree' topped Billboard's album chart for 11 weeks with two No.1 singles ("With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For") and another Top 15 ("Where The Streets Have No Name")
As for their 18-month world Tour, U2 sold tickets faster than Springsteen did on his record-setting 'Born In The USA' tour of 1984/85.
This incredible success cannot be explained only by a reached maturity of the band and by the mythical fame of their live concerts.

In reality we can say that everything started with U2's performance at LIVE-AID in 1985. During that show, U2 showcased "Bad", a song dealing with the horrors of drug addiction. In front of millions of television viewers worldwide, Bono leapt into the huge audience, plucked two girls out of the crowd and embraced each one in a poignant symbol of affection for the crowd. It was that moment which gave rock audiences a strong impression the U2 had become a "band of the people" [Reviewed by JT Griffith, Rovi]
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Rock's Hottest Ticket is considered by some die-hard U2 fans to be the band's best unofficial live recording. Until the subsequent release of official live material such as Hasta la Vista Baby, Popmart, and Zoo TV: Live From Sydney, it was also the best way to get a solid full concert. Beware, however: There are two bootleg releases called Rock's Hottest Ticket. This version was recorded in Chicago, IL, on April 29, 1987, at Rosemont Horizon. The other (inferior version) is from Croke Park on June 27, 1987, in Dublin, Ireland. That version is often labeled as "Rock's Hottest Ticket, Vol. 1" or "Rock's Hottest Ticket, Vol. 2" and only contains about half of a show. Check the liner notes for recording location to be safe.
This concert from Chicago is one of the best audience recordings out there, and this performance is one of the band's best from the early Joshua Tree tour (which would stretch for 18 months). At shows later in the tour, Bono's interaction with the crowd seemed rote, like he has only an average connection with the audience. In this show, however, the band seems very excited to have recently landed on top of the world.
The show opens like many of their concerts with "Where The Streets Have No Name" and it slides fluently and emotionality along the lines followed by "Joshua Tree" touching most of the popular tunes of their career: "I Will Follow", "MLK", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Gloria" and their all time classic "Sunday Bloody Sunday". To be noticed is the rare execution of "Springhill Mining Disaster" by Peggy Seeger and of "Mothers Of The Disappeared" [taken from CD Linear Notes]
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Interview with Bono - Rolling Stone #413 Dec, 1987
.(This interview was conducted with Bono by ROLLING STONES David Breskin at Bono's home outside of Dublin. It was first published in RS41J on December 1987. Explosive sales of U2's "Joshua Tree" LP and the ensuing 'Out of our Tree' world tour had made the band superstars. In this excerpt, Bono grapples with his new role as rock-star spokesperson)
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"I'm on top of the world, it's just that something else is on top of me. I think maybe it should be said that a lot of artists never grow up," Bono says, laughing. "I think it's certainly true in rock & roll. Rock & Roll gives people a chance not to grow up — it puts them in a glass case and protects them from he real world of where they're gonna get their next meal. But n the end, I don't know if being a pop star is any less real than being a city clerk. Is suburbia the real world? Is the real world half the population of Africa that is starving? I haven't worked it out yet. I always wondered, 'What am I? Am I Protestant or Catholic? Am I working class or middle class?' I always felt like I was sitting on the fence." 
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You were the first funk in your class - haircut, pants, chain, etc. Did you really feel it, or was it just theatre?
.It was theatre. I had gotten interested in Patti Smith and then the Sex Pistols. And the great thing about the Ramones was you could play Ramones songs all in three chords — which was all I had then and, in fact, is about all I have now (laughs). Before that I was interested in Irish folk music. It was around my family. There was a lot of singsong. And my brother taught me those three chords. He used to play (the Kenny Rogers and the First edition classic) "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." I'm still fascinated by that song. And my old man was into opera, which as far as I was concerned, was just heavy metal. I like those bawdy opera songs; the king is unfaithful to the queen, then he gets the pox, they have a son, the sons grows up and turns into an alligator, and in the end they kill the alligator and make some shoes for the king. But because it's sung in Italian, people think it is very aloof. Not at all.
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You claim you're socially inept..
I'm very awkward. I'm not a very good pop star." (At this point, room service knocks. A young attendant brings in six Heinekens, and seeing Bono, he almost drops his tray. He nervously asks for an autograph and is obliged.)
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See, your regal presence totally disarmed this poor guy. You seem like a perfect pop star.
.Well, I don't feel like a pop star, and I don't think I look like one.
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What's a pop star supposed to feel like?
.Well I don't know. At the moment, actually, I 'm going for bastard lessons...........
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........In 1979 you said, "We're determined to achieve a position where we have artistic freedom and where we can affect people the way we want to affect them. That position derives from money and success, and we'll work very hard to get there." So you did and now you're here: pop stars.
.It's true. We did work long and hard to jet rid of the anonymity that we now need in order to live. It's an interesting irony. I can remember thinking back in '77 "Yeah, we are going to take this all the way." Do other people think those things? Was it blind faith or just stupidity? And if your dream comes true, is it dangerous to think that all your dreams will come true?
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Well, two things can happen: one is not to get what you want, and the other is to get what you want.
.Yeah. But we really haven't gotten what we want. You see, we live in a culture where the biggest is often equated with the best. And now people say we're the biggest band in the world. So what?
That means nothing to me. No, it must mean something. But our want is to be worthy of the position we've been put in. To be the best to make music that hasn't been made before. And I don't know that we'll get to that point.
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Can you assume it's even possible to get there, playing to crowds of 60,000 people? Aren't there limitations imposed on communicating to that many people contrary to the notion of experimentation? In this context you become a "product" no matter what your intentions.
.Well, live is not the place to experiment. U2 has always been a very different act live than in the studio. Part of rock & roll is about raw power, and that's what we are about live. In the studio we have experimented, and we will continue to. I suppose what we're looking for is a better synthesis of the two... I must say, there is a real thrill to being onstage in front of 50,000 or 6o,000 people. The event is much larger than the group and the audience. It's an amazing thing to see people in agreement even if only for an hour and a half.



But you clench your fist in a particular and all 60,000 will clench their fists accordingly. Is there not something within this gesture that gives you pause?
.When a Japanese man bows to another, and the other man bows in response that's nothing but a sign of consent. When people respond, or when they sing a song I've asked them to sing, they are just being part of a bigger theatrical event. The idea that they are moronically being lemmings, following Adam, Larry, Edge and Bono off the cliff's edge with their fists in the air, does not pay them enough respect.
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You've stated a number of times that the goal all U2 songs is to make people think for themselves
 To inspire people to think for themselves. But that's not why I'm in U2: I'm in U2 because it inspires me. I'm here because I couldn't find work anywhere else. And the real reasons to be in a rock roll band are probably much closer to ego, and to be onstage and have people look at you and think you're a great guy. Those arc the real reasons — at least when you're 15 and singing into a microphone.

.Let me play devil's advocate: its seems like standing among an audience of 60,000 people, all singing the same song, can in no way encourage one to think for oneself.
.I disagree. They do think for themselves is my point. But the problem is that in the world we live in, in the West, the doctrine of personal peace and prosperity prevails. If you've got a fridge, a car or two. a vacation once a year, you're okay. And you'll agree to anything, such as voting tor whoever can preserve this. People are subject to a lot of influences that attempt to send them to sleep. There is media People's reaction to violence onscreen: the difference between what is real on the news and what is surreal on Miami Vice has become blurred. We are in a big sleep, where I'm okay, you're okay. And we don't ask questions that have difficult answers. And if U2 is throwing some cold water over that kind of thinking and people are waking up ... that's fine. We're there because this is the way we feel about the world. And U2 is just one choice.
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Let's go back a few years. During the "War" tour, you said you thought rock ef roll was full of shit, and that you were fed up with it.
.And the question is do I still think it's full of shit? Yes, I do. For me, rock & roll has always been as black as a mine - but you could find a jewel down there that made it all worthwhile. At that time, we just didn't seem to fit in. I had to ask myself What is it about? Elvis Presley shooting at the television while reading his Bible; Jerry lee Lewis believing in God and playing the devil's music with his 14-year-old bride at his side; John Lennon at the peak of his success singing "Help". Rock & roll is almost about the confusion. So I see now that there is a place for my own confusion and my own contradictions — my own desire to do something relevant with my life, as well as my own enjoyment of driving down Park Avenue in a limousine.

.Do you feel lonely?
.More and more, over the last years. I feel cut off I used to go out the back of venues, and there would be some people hanging around, we'd chat, maybe sign some bits of paper and go back to their places and sleep on the floor, talk through the night. Or I'd have people come to my room. One time I had 13 people sleeping in my room, on the floor. Now I go out, and I don't know who 1 can talk to. I've got people who want to kill me, so they can sell their story to the newspapers, people who want to hate you or love you or take a bit of you. But I have fewer friends now than I did five years ago. I know more people. I'm a lot of people's best friend.
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Has this made you cynical?
.No, I don't want to be cynical. Maybe lesson number two in How to Become a Bastard will teach me to be cynical (laughs). I'm open.
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Have you ever felt dry? Like you were operating in a closed loop of your own devices and had nothing new to say or a way to say it?
.No. When I was at school, I remember we were talking about William Butler Yeats and the different periods in his life. And the teacher told us about a period when he felt he had nothing left to say, and how this often happens to poets. I said, "Yeah, but why didn't he write about the fact that he had nothing left to say?" And that is what 1 have always done, started with what I feel.
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You're never frustrated with your own limitations?
.I'm so undisciplined and untidy, and the everyday doings of my life are such a mess, that 1 get frustrated. I write on the bus, on the backs of cigarette packets or on the table mats in restaurants and lose them. 1 lost a song I wrote with Bob Dylan, in the early-morning hours after a gig in LA, during our last tour. I've got to own up to being a writer and just write. So now I'm trying to develop the craft of songwriting, so that what I do neither dries up nor blows up in my face.
And all of us are committed to thrashing about in the studio.

.Do you think you've gotten past shouting now and are finally a singer? 
I'm not a soul singer yet, but I've got soul. We are raw, but I think all I want is that soul. I'm not impressed with the jazz-man's technical ability, but rather impressed by the way he can use his skill to tell a story, to create a mood, to make me believe. That's the ability to reveal and not conceal, and that's what I want.

.Despite your interest in the band, are there other things you are interested in pursuing?
.I am writing a play with one of my best friends, Gavin Friday. We're writing a play called Melt Head. I'm interested in theater, in Irish theatre and Brechtian theatre and Kurt Weill's music. I also painted during the Joshua Tree. A friend and I are having a show together in a Dublin gallery. But instead of paintings, I am going to show some photos I took the last week I was in Ethiopia because I want to keep the awareness of that alive.
I'm interested in the mentality of violence. The idea that two IRA men were blown up because they stood too close to the bomb they had set because they wanted to see the carnage is beyond my understanding, and I'm fascinated by it. I am talking about the ability to knock on the door of a man's house in Belfast and when he answers the door, to shoot him 10 times in the head in front of his children. This is something that I would like to understand. I think I could play the part of a terrorist.

Are you ever at peace with yourself?.
I'm happy to be unhappy. I'll always be a bit restless, I suppose. I still haven't found what I'm looking for (laughs)
[Interview by David Breskin for Rolling Stone Magazine, 1987]
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This post consists of an MP3 (320kps) rip taken from CD and includes full album artwork and booklet. This is an absolute must for any U2 fan ! Ex. Soundboard.
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Track Listing
CD 1
01 - Where the Streets Have No Name
02 - I Will Follow
03 - Trip Through Your Wires
04 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
05 - MLK
06 - The Unforgettable Fire
07 - Bullet The Blue Sky
08 - Running To Stand Still
09 - Exit
10 - In God's Country
11 - Sunday Bloody Sunday

CD2
01 - Bad
02 - October
03 - Springhill Mining Disaster
04 - New Year's Day
05 - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
06 - Mothers Of The Disappeared
07 - With Or Without You
08 - Gloria
09 - 40
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Band Members:
Bono (vocals and guitar)
The Edge (guitar, keyboards and vocals)
Adam Clayton (bass guitar)
Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion)
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U2 Hottest Ticket Link (208Mb)  New Link 04/01/2024
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U2 - Live Unapproved (The Joshua Tree Tour 1987)

(Irish 1976-Present)
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Here is another U2 bootleg on the MOJO label, probably recorded during the 'Joshua Tree Tour' of 1987.
The Joshua Tree Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, which took place during 1987, in support of their album The Joshua Tree. The tour was depicted by the video and live album Live from Paris.
This tour's opening night was April 2 at Arizona State University's Activity Center in Tempe, Arizona. The first leg took place in American indoor arenas during April and May. The 29 concerts generated US$7,051,329 with a total of 465,452 tickets sold. 1,063 tickets from Las Vegas remained unsold equating to a 99.77% sellout for the 1st American leg. The first leg finished with 5 concerts at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford between 11 and 16 May.

The second leg in European arenas and outdoor stadiums ran from late May through to early August, starting at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome on 27 May. The final show of the European leg is at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork on 8 August.
The third leg returned to American and Canadian arenas and stadiums in the autumn. The tour ended on 20 December back where it started in Tempe, Arizona, but this time at Sun Devil Stadium.
On 30 April, the band played the Pontiac Silverdome, their first headlining stadium show in the United States. While the show's reviews were positive, they said that a video screen is necessary for people at the back. U2 production manager, Willie Williams, recalls the debate within the band about the use of screens and whether they would divide the audience's attention between the stage and the screen. A video screen was installed behind the lighting tower at the 20 September show at the RFK Stadium in Washington DC so the back half of the stadium could better see the band, and screens were used at most stadium shows for the rest of the tour.

The Joshua Tree Tour sold out stadiums around the world, the first time the band had consistently played venues of that size. The Joshua Tree and its singles had become huge hits and the band was at an apex of their popularity. Tickets for shows were often very hard to get, especially on the first American leg when they only played in arenas.
That first leg was also organised around multiple-night stands in centres of U2 fan-dome along the two U.S. coasts, with only a very few dates in the middle of the country. These multiple-night stands also featured an unusual set list twist. All but the last night would begin in conventional concert fashion with the rousing pair of "Where the Streets Have No Name" into "I Will Follow", but the last night in each city would begin with the house lights fully up and the band performing the early 1960s classic "Stand By Me", with The Edge singing one verse, all intended as a friendly, informal opening.

The house lights would then stay up for "Pride (In the Name of Love)", only going off at the end of it; the rest of the set list would be consequently scrambled from the norm.
The new level of fame, exposure and the frantic nature of the tour put the U2 organisation under a large amount of stress.
The 79 North American shows on the tour sold over 2 million tickets and grossed $35 million.[extract from wikipedia]
The post consists of a mp3 rip (320kps) taken from CD and includes album artwork (plain as it might be) and various photos of the band relevant to the Joshua Tree Tour. The recording is excellent, probably a soundboard, and the tracks on this bootleg are as powerful as those on the official tour album 'Rattle and Hum'. "Bullet The Blue Sky" is my favourite track - just love it!
Note: The back cover of this CD has some typos. Bullet is misspelt 'Bullit', Unforgettable is spelt 'Unforgetable' and Track 12 is not listed at all.
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Track Listing
01 - I Will Follow
02 - The Unforgettable Fire
03 - M.L.K
04 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
05 - God Part II
06 - Van Diemon's Land
07 - New Years Day
08 - Bullet The Blue Sky
09 - Running To Stand Still
10 - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
11 - With Or Without You
12 - 40
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Band Members:
Bono (vocals and guitar)
The Edge (guitar, keyboards and vocals)
Adam Clayton (bass guitar)
Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion)
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U2 Unapproved Live Link (103Mb)
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