U2 On Screen

While we live in hope of a U2: Live At The Baggot Inn release, the history of U2 on DVD and Blu-Ray, and VHS before that, has been one of big gigs from big tours. The acknowledged masters, alongside Springsteen, of the stadium show, they differ from the Boss in their embrace of the latest performance enhancing technologies, although they’ve never allowed any smoke and mirrors to dim a show’s emotional power. There have been retrospective releases, such as the Live From Paris DVD included with The Joshua Tree 20th Anniversary edition, but we’ll stick to their original live “filmography”, in order of release. It’s a musical journey…

U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky
Marvel at how young they look, gasp in wonder at the hairstyles we used to get away with in the eighties, but the thing that really impresses about this performance is the power. Filmed, against the odds in abysmal weather, which only adds to the atmosphere, this was a gig that very nearly didn’t happen. With everything in the bank riding on it, manager Paul McGuinness was forced to plead with the local crew to keep going in the face of genuinely dangerous conditions. Despite all this, it’s an unqualified success, establishing the band in America, as McGuinness had hoped. The image of Bono waving the white flag during ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, heavily “rotated” on the then nascent MTV, defines U2 Mk 1. Apparently, the performance helped convince Brian Eno that U2 were not just another “uninteresting rock band”, paving the way for their next great leap forward.

Rattle & Hum
Much maligned, then and now, there’s still a lot to admire here. Yes, their Dylan and Beatles covers are far from their finest moments, providing ammunition to detractors who saw the whole enterprise as U2’s attempt to force their way into the pantheon, and some of the interviews leave a bit to be, eh, desired, but the footage, mostly shot in black and white for the simple reason that it looks cooler, is fantastic. ‘Desire’, hot of the presses, shot in the old, old Point Depot still excites, you can see how thrilled the band are to be recording ‘Angel Of Harlem’ in Sun Studios, to share a stage with B.B. King, and to be bowled over by the New Voices of Freedom. When the colour is gloriously brought back up for ‘Where The Streets…’ in Sun Devil Stadium, Arizona, it all makes sense. Bonus points to Larry Mullen for redeeming himself after the Spinal Tap Elvis moment by telling The Edge that if he had a head like his, he would “bleedin’ bury it”.

Zoo TV: Live From Sydney
The info-overload-intro proves we are definitely not in Kansas anymore. Leni Riefenstahl, Reagan, Lenin, The Simpsons, and Bobby Moore all flash by, before a much changed Bono shows up with his best drunken goose stepping Dr. Strangelove dance in front of a presciently disintegrating European flag. The band members are now Day-Glo cartoon rock stars, drop kicking the earnest Rattle and Hum prospector look into history’s dustbin. The multiple screens, the floating Trabants, the belly dancing, a virtual Lou Reed, Mr. MacPhisto on the blower - all combine with the Achtung/Zooropa material in devastating fashion. Adam Clayton missed the show the night before with a bad head, so the possibly apocryphal story goes that Bono felt this might be their last performance, and accordingly gave it everything. No amount of face paint can disguise the emotion coursing through performances like ‘Love Is Blindness’. The heart may be wearing shades, but it’s still there.

Popmart: Live From Mexico City
The aesthetic, K-Mart reimagined through the eyes of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein, presented under the golden arch (singular, our learned friends are ever vigilant), with added lemon and mirrorball, hasn’t aged as well as it might have. The outfits - Bono’s bubble pants and muscle shirt, Edge channeling the Village People, Clayton dressed as some sort of nuclear accident support technician – seem very odd at this remove. Mullen, of course, still manages to look cool, it’s hard to imagine how ugly the magic painting he no doubt keeps under lock and key somewhere must be at this stage. Mind you, it’s far from a total wash out, ‘If You Wear That Velvet Dress’ is beautiful, Batman theme ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me’ rocks like a bastard, and ‘Please’, one of the highlights of the “unfinished”, their word not mine, Pop album, has never sounded better, Clayton’s busy bass in particular.

Elevation 2001: Live From Boston
Billed as a back to basics jaunt after the visual excesses of the two previous spins, the Elevation Tour was documented with two separate DVD releases. The first, recorded, indoor for a change, at the Fleet Centre in Boston, takes advantage of the medium’s potential with alternative viewing angle options – fan cam, director cam, even, if you can find it, Bonocam. The performance itself is beautifully shot, and brimming with confidence. No props, no silly outfits, just a great band at the top of their game. The best of the new material – ‘Stuck In A Moment’, ‘New York – fits in seamlessly with the older classics. It’s a slick, well-oiled show, although the Edge seems to break from the script at the end of ‘Gone’, kicking a guitar that just won’t do what it’s told in to touch, but as a DVD release, it’s overshadowed by what came next.

U2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle
The only show on the list filmed before a home crowd, the combination of the passing of Bono’s father Bob Hewson, and Jason McAteer’s Dutch vanquishing goal, shown live on the big screen before the gig, made for an emotionally charged evening, to say the least. The Edge has referred to the energy of the crowd that day as astonishing, something that could be physically felt. The audience is indeed as much a part of this performance as the band, and Slane Castle itself will never look more beautiful. ‘Kite’, dedicated to Mr. Hewson, will leave you on the floor. Your correspondent, in the crowd that day, had only recently lost his own father and was a bit of a blubbering mess - it remains one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen. You really should have been there, but if you weren’t, this release somehow manages to capture it. Barry Devlin’s excellent Unforgettable Fire documentary from 1984 is also included as an extra in case you are still undecided. If you’re only going to buy one, then this is it.

Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago
A spectacular opening in front of a waterfall of light, combining new songs like ‘Vertigo’ with welcome Boy era material, sets out their stall in an impressive manner, although bringing a young lad on stage for ‘Into The Heart’ looks a bit awkward when viewed from the couch. ‘Miracle Drug’ and ‘City Of Blinding Lights’ stand out, but the visual highlight is probably the section that starts with “Love And Peace Or Else’ bathed in white light, a song that concludes with a head banded Bono out in front beating the bejaysus out of a floor tom, before crashing into ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and then a particularly dirty ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’. The Achtung Baby section is pretty funky too. A two-disc version was also made available with an added tour documentary, as well as songs recorded on different angles using remote cameras, if that’s your bag.

U2 360° at the Rose Bowl
Filmed in front of a record breaking crowd, the largest U.S. crowd for one headline act, beating their own previous record, the show was initially broadcast live on YouTube, 10 million streams, another record. The use of the Claw stage design, described as a spaceship on four legs, allowed for a truly “in the round “ experience. ‘In A Little While’, one of their great soul songs, has Bono crooning off a bridge over the crowd, before being joined live from the International Space Station by Commander De Winne. You don’t get much of that action at an Ed Sheeran show. Newer material like ‘Get On Your Boots’ will hardly see action again, but the Edge’s solo in ‘Unknown Caller’ remains one of his finer moments. As well as the regular release, there was a super deluxe box set, featuring DVDs, Blu-rays, a book, original drawings, vinyl, guitar picks, and “art prints” (postcards). Enough to ensure you didn’t have to leave the house until the next tour was announced.

Innocence + Experience: Live In Paris
Originally broadcast on HBO, before the eye popping HD of the DVD/Blu-ray release, this Paris arena show took place less than a month after the November 15 terrorist attacks in the city, which had forced the band to postpone two dates. ‘Vertigo’ and ‘I Will Follow’ are hard as nails, before the video wall, almost dividing the arena in two, takes over, allowing for their most visually arresting shows since Zoo TV. The images from Bono’s childhood in ‘Cedarwood Road’ and ‘Song For Someone’, a brilliantly stripped back ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ in front of a montage of sectarian imagery, which moves into a powerful ‘Raised By Wolves’, a giant Bono spitting water over a tiny Edge, before holding him in his hand during ‘Until The End Of The World’ are all jaw dropping. You wouldn’t want to be on the funny pills watching the electronic psychedelics on display during ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’ - you might never come back. Of course they don’t need any of these frills really, as a beautiful, unadorned ‘Every Broken Wave’ proves. The night ends with the band handing their instruments over to Eagles Of Death Metal, who were on stage as the Bataclan venue was attacked, which must have left a still shell shocked Parisian crowd in absolute emotional ribbons.

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There’ll be more of course, a document of the current Joshua Tree celebrating tour, a rock band performing against a live John Ford movie, will be with us as sure as Christmas, but for now go for the Slane show for the emotional wallop, and the Zoo TV and Innocence & Experience shows for the visuals. That being said, they all have something to offer. If U2 have ever recorded a bad show, and there’s little evidence to suggest they have, then we must presume it’s buried very deeply indeed, probably beside that Live At The Baggot movie.