mackemlad

The subject of Where The Streets Have No Name performances on the Vertigo tour Has been discussed on here many, many times. How they just didnt get it right. From the follow on from Pride, the African flags, no red screen and lack of blinding white lights.

Personally it is my favourite song, not just U2 but of any band or artist. So I was very dissapointed with what I saw at Manchester.

I was browsing You tube today and found some rehearsal videos filmed in Miami for the Elevation tour.

After watching a few i clicked on the WTSHNN link and watched that.

This is in grainy film, very poor quality and in an empty sports hall. But I still got the chill (you know what I mean) when the red screen came up from behind the stage.

This just slams it home to me how much they did get it wrong on Vertigo (imo). Lets hope 2009 brings back the Streets we all love.

Sorry I cant post the link but search "U2 Elevation rehearsals" and you will find it.

Peterrrrr

The version 2006-12-04 - Tokyo versions was in the right direction, Bono sang it better then in years.

I aslo hope that they use the red colour in the screens again.

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Jim

I find it hard to quantify really.. I for example loved the Zooropa Tour version of Streets best, but when I saw them on the Vertigo tour in Sydney it was quite simply the best version of the song I had ever seen.. I guess it depends on alot of other things like the crowd, how 'into it' the band are etc.

Thanks for pointing out these clips though I never saw them before. It's interesting to see how the originally intended to start the show with Elevation (lighting / stage).

cheers,
Jim

4U2Play

Here is the Tokyo 1 version:



I filmed this from the front row, so it's a bit shaky for the first 1:40 because the crowd was so packed in up there.

The red screen only appears at the end, but I loved the flags at the beginning for a change. The biggest cheer of the night at the Mexico City shows was when the South American (and Mexican) flags started cycling on the screens.

It'd get boring seeing the exact same lighting effects for Streets every time out. Hope they do something completely different next time, maybe put Larry in a flying drumkit.

VonBono

I've seen your vid last year 4U2Play, & I couldn't get over the Saitama stage setup....that would have been awesome...if you (as you were) in the front row! amazing....
Streets is never a let down, whichever tour it has been on.

Salome

I wouldn't call it a letdown
but Vertigo Streets wasn't the same rush for me the song usually is
it (relatively) lacked something in built up and release

but it's hard to blame the band (or whoever came up with the stage design for that one) for trying something for a change
20 years of the same red screen/bright light scenario also gets a bit much

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Galeongirl

With the vertigo version I miss the long intro... I hope with next tour they return with the JT/RH intro, organ, larry clicking, then Edge coming in, and then the song exploding...

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U2387

I have mixed feelings about Vertigo tour Streets. The African flags and lack of intro, and especially, the lights all coming up at the beginning took away from the song in my opinion. However, Bono's voice was so much better on Vertigo than it had been for Pop and Elevation, and as a result, the Japan performances referenced as well as other 5th leg Vertigo performances were easily the best since Bono's deep voice JT/LT days. The red screen at the end just does not give the same effect and going back to the way it was would be fine by me for next tour. It is old, I know, but it is one of those things that always works well and you do not get sick of. Bono's voice improving combined with a return to original lighting(maybe Streets opens the encore for the full effect) should make Streets incredible next tour. Not to say Vertigo was bad, it easily gets 5 stars in my book, with pop and elevation both at 4.5. I just want to go back to the 5+ star versions featured on JT, LT and Zoo TV.

COBL_04

i agree with the last two posters, and jim. i didn't really care about the flags, that was fine, the only things that took away from it were bono talking over the intro. otherwise, it was fucking incredible. it's the best sounding live streets I've heard, that's for sure.

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Muldfeld

I only have the DVD, but I thought the hanging flag visuals for "Streets" to Bono's African-like chant were great -- a nice bit of innovation. Very nice stuff. I also enjoyed the ending to "Bullet the Blue Sky" with Edge's guitar work and Bono segueing into "The Hands That Built America".

theu2fly

I wonder what 'Streets' will become in the next tour... I see 'City of Blinding Lights' replacing it, or segueing into it.

Things I liked, is that musically on Vertigo, 'Streets' returned to the sound as it was played on the Joshua Tree tour. I also liked how Bono, on the fifth leg sang "Burning down love" with a sort of twist to it... and the "It's all I can do" too.

I hope Streets adopts the classic introduction for the next tour, the crowd just loves it. Why mess with something that ain't broke?

luna_lovegood

Replacing it? Sacrilege! COBL is good, but never that good. Almost every other "war horse" could do with a tour off, but never Streets. That song never gets old for me. That build up brought me to genuine tears on the Vertigo tour.

Although I agree that the classic red light intro would be awesome next time round. Or something equally incredible. I really liked the spinning golden lights during Elevation tour. But with that much power, musically, the visuals don't actually really matter all that much. The music speaks for itself.

luna_lovegood

gman

What i never realised before until i saw that clip from japan is just how low the stage was and how close the people at the very front were to the band.

4U2Play

Yeah, we were seriously stoked to be there in Saitama on the front rail those three nights.

It was the best of both worlds, the outdoor stage in an indoor setting, with a very low main stage and mellow security. I walked in there with a backpack full of camera equipment, including a proper video camera, and they never checked it. Japan is great like that, they love cameras, as long as the band allows them.

I wish now that I had at least tried to use my video camera for a few songs, but the crowd was so rowdy that I probably would've ended up dropping it every minute.