Nineteen years ago, U2 played a New Year’s show in their hometown of Dublin, Ireland. This show was broadcast around the world, and I was able to record it onto a cassette tape. I remember that night well… a bunch of friends and I sat around, celebrating the New Year, listening to this show and wondering why the hell we weren’t able to travel to Dublin on a whim.
Probably because we were broke. Yeah, that usually ruins travel plans.
Anyhow, after years of searching, I was finally able to get a copy of this bootleg (thanks, Robert!), and it sounds just as great today as it did twenty years ago. So now for this New Year’s day 2009, here is the first half of the concert… I will post the second half tomorrow.
One thing that bothers me about this particular bootleg is where the tracks were cut. There are too many separate tracks… some of the selections transition into each other… for example, right at the start, “Intro” actually goes straight into “Where the Streets Have No Name.” If your mp3 player doesn’t roll from song to song, this can get quite annoying. I apologize for this.
On a side note, this is my favorite period of U2. Everything pre-Zooropa is great, but the years from 1987 – 1991 is, in my humble opinion, where they were at their peak. Bono sounds amazing during these years, and their songs were far superior to anything they’ve written since. I also think they LOOKED the best during this era… the whole band had a style that was incredibly unique, especially for the 80′s.
I look forward to their new release in 2009, “No Line on the Horizon,” and I hope it floors me… in an interview for the Boston Herald, producer Daniel Lanois stated, “I believe, well, rock ’n’ roll has been reinvented one more time. (Laughs)”
Frankly, I don’t care what’s been reinvented or what hasn’t… all I care about is if the SONGS are any good. Stop “reinventing,” and just WRITE GOOD SONGS.
Ok. I’ll get off my soapbox. Make sure you check back here tomorrow, as I’ll have the second half of the show posted!
Happy New Year!
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Your Dig-It Downloads:
U2 Live at Point Depot, Dublin, Ireland (12-31-89)
Download: Intro
Download: Where the Streets Have No Name
Download: I Will Follow
Download: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Download: Exodus
Download: MLK
Download: One Tree Hill
Download: Gloria
Download: God Part II
Download: Desire
Download: All Along the Watchtower
Download: All I Want Is You
Download: Bad
Download: Van Dieman’s Land
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