Rare U2 A Sort Of Homecoming Live 1987 Ponitac

[Komicklepto]

Well, apparently in 2001 when they were performing at Slane Castle, Bono invited a member of the audience onto the stage to play a song with them. The audience member began playing this song but Bono completyely forgot the words to it so it was a mess. Since then they have shyed away from this song, which is a great shame :(

[Robcatist]

its when you hear older recordings like this you realise how much Bonos voice has changed.

[lebarosky]

The longer I live the more I become convinced that this is the enduring U2 song.

[DwAuN21]

This is great, and recorded in Michigan no less. I wish they would have played this song at the recent show in East Lansing.

[jlouisseverson]

the best u2 right there

[YouGenie]

:)

[77sld77]

Amazing song. They seem to rarely ever do it... Sadly.. Pearl Jam made a rather lame attempt at a cover... but it was simply beyond them...specifically, the vocals... Bono never really gets credit as a stellar vocalist... But this song is proof positive. Doing it in a studio is one thing,.. Doing it live is something else again.. Bono nails it !!!!

[gweflj]

@77sld77 I think you need to listen to more Pearl Jam. Try searching 'Black live'. Then search 'U2 Unforgetable Fire live Paris' and watch Bono struggle.

[77sld77]

@gweflj Easy, killer,..easy.. Am a huge PJ fan, and have seen them a few times live. Always great shows... They are one of my personal favorites live.. Might even get a chance this summer for the 20th @ Alpine Valley in WI... Maybe...

It's possible, I just saw a clip of them on a bad night, or when they were first trying to play the song.. Sometimes it takes a while...

[gweflj]

@77sld77 I'm not a massive fan of either. Early U2 was good (like the above) but then Bono's head exploded to the size of the Jupiter. Pearl Jam have wrote some solid stuff but a load of mediocre crap too. Apologies for my short fuse, I'll get back to Radiohead.... :-)

[77sld77]

@gweflj No problem.:)... Always like hearing a new perspective....  Radiohead eh?? Only heard their "best of" Deserves a bit more research eh??? Take care, and have a great summer !!!!!!

[bhoskins69]

Wow is all I can say!! We camped out for a couple days for these tickets are were just a couple rows back for this show. I had seen them on the Unfogetable Fire tour at the Fox and have been a fan ever since

[njlace]

love this song :)

[Damoes]

Oh my god, i just totally forgot how beautiful this song is.

[CardiffBoy1927]

@conniek76 - Yeh, Bono's de man !!! Especially when he moved U2's financial affairs to Holland to escape paying income tax ! Rock n Roll !! Woooh !!

[earlymtv]

the best version of this song live by far is the wide awake in america version...

[djjaidee]

This was my first ever U2 concert, life changing!

[basehead617]

i hope this video never gets lost.. it's the only video of them performing it that i know of

[QuiqueBaeza]

IMPRESIONANT!!!

[3jjjetplane]

I saw u2 perform this song at the fox theater in detroit in 84 it was crazy going from about 2500 fans to 45000 fans the next time i saw them.I have an audio disk of that fox theater show does anybody know if any live footage from that show exists?hard to believe that was almost 25 years to the day dec. 8 1984 i was 21 I have seen them 14 times total

[ukp571]

I saw them 2 months later at wembley..The ticket was the best birthday present i ever received, i lost myself for a day immersed in a brilliant band....

[PatongTed]

I saw U2 perform this song live at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. on December 5th, 1984 during their Unforgettable Fire Tour. Breathtaking! I was 24 then -same age as Bono was as well.

[mustangbruce]

ohhh s*** yes!! i am going to see U2 on the 360 tour in East Lansing, MIchigan on June 30, 2010!! I just ordered my tickets I'm so geeked! : )

[tvdandy]

me too daddio me too

[KingGeorgeBand]

like a time machine...great stuff...hope they play this next year

[mustangbruce]

Okay I can't resist sharing this - I found my ticket to this concert! It was $16.50 plus tax. Section 125, Row 3, Seat 24. Thursday 8pm, April 30, 1987. I also remember standing in line at WhereHouse Records to get the tickets - a line was way out the door. Music just isn't the same today, it just isn't! They are coming to Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan in summer 2010 and I would so love to be there. These guys have been together getting it done for more than 30 years!

[keithm940]

@mustangbruce But the t-shirts were outrageously expensive. I was working two jobs at the time while living at home so I I didn't mind. Too much.

[mustangbruce]

WOW...I was at this concert.  I was all of 20 and here I am at 43 today. I have always loved this band. The Silverdome could hold 80,000 for a Lions game, but I believe it was more like 46,000 for this concert. I remember the enormity of it all, and how just a few weeks earlier the first single from Joshua Tree, "With or Without You" was hitting the airwaves. I heard that song for the first time driving back from spring break in Daytona Beach with my girlfriend..goshhhh the memories!

[schureman99]

I was at this show too! 19 at the time. Still one of the best concerts I've ever seen! We road tripped 5-6 hours from Indiana for this show.

[CastletoKarma]

Blue Angel Flyer, the Unforgettable Fire made a comeback of sorts on this current 360 tour. Proof that the old stuff still stands up in among the current stuff. Look at the Joshua Tree material still sounding great live.

[kellykinsel]

Funny how they don't play this but play the  garbage like Elevation Boots, breathe, Beautiful day

[marianahewson1995]

garbage LOL

[drummerhere]

@kellykinsel the fuck is wrong with you?

[callummcphail]

the 1st 2 slane gigs in 2001, they only played 2, and they never fuckin played this

[brocoliticks]

LOL I like Elvis Presley and America too! You're right people don't get that song because they don't get what Bono's saying and they think he's trying too hard to make a statement. That song's not about the lyrics, it's about the soundscape that surrounds them. I think they should've broken up after Joshua Tree or Rattle and Hum. Bono's voice hasn't been the same since those albums and is the reason why they changed their sound on Achtung Baby IMO

[Adrain30]

Saw U@ last night in Oklahoma City..>They Did the unforgettable fire...but I was hoping for a sort of homecoming. By the way..the studio version of this song doesn't compare to the wide awake in America..there is an energy in the live recording that isn't in the studio..just my opinion.

[brocoliticks]

The version that is on The Wide Awake in America isn't even live. It was recorded at a soundcheck and the chanting crowd was added in later from a concert that night. I appear to be in the minority liking the studio version over the live version. I have a bootleg from early in the Joshua Tree tour and I think it may be better than any U2 album I own, but I still perfer the studio versision of this song.

[Adrain30]

"live" refers to the band recording at one time and one take...live at a sound check is a valid as live in front of a crowd. During the album making process they track instrument parts and vocals track...making a better sounding recording but lacking in energy

[brocoliticks]

Yes I have and I still prefer the studio version. I actually heard the live version first and thought it was good, not great. The studio version however blew me away. It's more textured and washes over you before Bono comes in with one of his best vocal performances from that era. He sings with a restraint that isn't found on other songs from their early albums and doesn't do any unnecessary shouting like on One Tree Hill for instance.

[brocoliticks]

This is one of the few live U2 songs that is inferior to the studio version

[folly13]

this was my first u2 concert...indescribable

[domusaimports]

remembers

[torpol]

I was here up in the nose bleed seats - it was the first concert I had ever been to - it was awesome. Went with a group of friends from school. Still one of my all time favorite bands.

[Uncledonut153]

We were in the 8th row for this show. Camped out all night to get the tickets. And then all the years went by.  It was great fun.

[lausytimes]

Was at this show....can't believe it was more than 20 years ago....what a blast

[tfloodgate]

Beautiful! I was at this show too, as a very impressionable 16 year old. Still love these guys.

[normanmadrid0076]

My favorite U2 song,

I hope they resurrect this song for the 360 tour!

[nanduca0707]

@normanmadrid0076 I hope this sooo much!!!

[SpammerOvTheGods]

i was at this show!!! :D

#@!

[TchockDr]

This is one of the best U2 songs. It's so underrated...

[sylmjk]

Agree 100%

[katkan68]

That is the song I was looking for, my Ex-Friend was singing it for me, lon time ago, now he is paraliesd, of corse an bad accident, I am so sad!

[5eddie16]

wow that is all i can say

[Ehkh98]

This is THE song that made me believe music can change the world.

I'd love to see it on the next tour.

[351WindsorStang]

I think they don't play this anymore,mainly because Bono can't sing it anymore,i wish they would bring back Unforgettable Fire ,i want to see that live in my lifetime.

[JoRu94]

I don't think that's the problem, even though it might be hard to sing. It's more that Bono has screwed up the words on this one several times and they decided to drop it.

[Thanksandy]

I agree, I think Bono has the capability of singing this song again, particularly now his voice has recovered quite a bit,and they have played songs like Bad on the last tour. The Unforgettable Fire might be more difficult and it's one of my favourite songs, I would amazed if they played above any other song.

[Komicklepto]

Apparently, on the Elevation tour, a crowd member was brought up on stage to start playing a song with them. He started playing this song but Bono had forgotten the words and the performance was a complete shambles, and the band have never performed it since.

[SpammerOvTheGods]

they did this song at the first of the two Slane shows in 2001 and nailed it.

#@!

[u2retrobuff]

the only first leg fimed 87 show ever to be out there ......thier was a fully filmed joshua show from New jersey in may yet, it was filmed by u2's crew somewhere in a vault & has never surfaced be TOTALLY EXCELLENT if it did?? anyone who may have some amatuer film from New jersey be great seeing!!!!!

quite a while back heard that thier was a filmed chicago show from april 87 {who really knows if that actually exists out there}

[deyoungparker]

All the REAL U2 fans saw the first leg of the tour...with Lone Justice.

I remember my idiot cousin, who had never even heard of U2 the previous spring, telling me she was going to see them (with the Pretenders) in November.

I wanted to puke. I was like, "Um, yeah, the rest of us already saw them last April. Was it Time Magazine that turned you on?"

Would love to see more from this leg.

[durkbrown]

the wonder of Youtube. I was at this show. He did stop the show to yell at security. I weasled my way up to the front with a giant white bed sheet that had an MLK picture that I drew-Wonder if anyone saw me :) ?

[dundalk80ire]

one of their best songs.i dont know why they still dont play it

[38sv8100]

76steve76 talks total crap,most people that try to tare down u2 are failed mussos who are pissed off cos their not up there and never will be

[pando811]

one of my favourite songs ever....

[tommywm24]

I want this song to come back sooooooo bad next tour!

[endate2012]

that dome used to be the boundless woods and lake i played in when i was a kid. i grew up in herrington hills.

[olbigdik]

I'd like to see what you looked like in the 80s, that stinkin' clipboard holder on the love boat. Of course he can't sing like when he was 27, he's older now, but still rippin'.

[ANEMYLLAB]

He can sing it on the 2009 show in Dublin anytime he wants!!

[76steve76]

bulllshit if u know anything about u2 ud realise this is when they were at their peak ....in their prime... bonons voice immaculate...not selling out to every bullshit artist colaboration ...true time gets everyone and it got them after the zoo tv tour,,,,,they aint the same band

[atruelover123]

Well I don't look at physical things like you do, I look for passion, the thing that makes the songs.

[CEIVE4EVER]

The power of his voice it isn´t the same that in the 80´s. It´s too dificoult to sing this song as good as in Wide Awake in America, or as in The Unforgettable Fire.

[rankingjohnmajor]

Great post, love it!

[thekingofpainforever]

I don;t suppose you can post some more of this show? I've been looking for a good bootleg of it forever. Also this is a very hard song to sing since you have to be able to rapidly switch between high and low notes.

[keithm940]

I, too, would like to see more of that show. This is a much better view than the seats I had afforded me.

[HumGuitar]

Wow, I can't believe there is a video of this show. I was there too, and the seats I had were so far away that you needed binoculars. I got a speeding ticket on the way home that night, going down I-94. That radar detector that I borrowed that night didn't do me much good. I had to drive from the other side of the state to get to this show, but it was worth it.

[keithm940]

I'm trying to remember, is this the time when Bono stopped the show during "I still haven't found what ..." to yell at a security guard who was trying to get the crowd away from the stage?

[HumGuitar]

I don't remember that happening, but it was a long time ago. It's possible that it did. The stage was in one endzone and I was at the other end in the upper deck.

[StanOllie18]

Yes, I have a bootleg copy of the whole concert and he did stop during I.S.H.F.W.I.L.F. However, I don't think he was yelling at security. I think we was yelling at a photographer who was ushing past people to get closer to the stage.

[keithm940]

That is interesting. I had a clipping of a review of the show from the Detroit News that said Bono was yelling at security. However, I wonder who that photographer was working for and would the News want to admit that one of their photographers was roughing people up. Is that bootleg that you have available for sale somewhere?

[rhuxley1]

I remember this show like it was yesterday. Security was dragging someone away when Bono stopped and started to yell at him, the band stopped playing and Bono announced that they would not resume until all security left. I watched all the entrances and the security left their where you would enter from the concessions to the seating area.

[uggla03]

no way bono could sing it bono seemed to loose his vocal range early in the joshua tree tour sadly and never recovered still its on wide awake in america and the montreal soundboard bootleg in good quality

[exaltedchosenone]

This is really hard on Bono's voice, that's why they don't play it live very often.

[Vlaco84]

This is definitely one of my top 10 U2 songs....especially live.

[u2retrobuff]

the only known filmed show on the first leg of the Joshua tree .......that has ever surfaced thru the years! most scarcest footage seems to be the first leg stuff!! u2's first stadium gig as well 51,718  people

[u2ZOOTV]

It is better here than wide awake in america in my opinion

[frankdefoot]

Beautiful song. I don't know why they haven't been playing this song more often. They can play it live.

[Aftershock2K10]

This should've been played on every tour. It's such a great song live.

[ayajedi]

Wow

[RattleAndHum1988]

Weird seeing this on the JT tour.