THE U2 COVERS: No. 14, “U2 Back In The USA”

June 4, 1987

This first leg of U2's American tour began in Tempe Arizona on April 1, 1987. Being the the most popular name in rock in America, U2 triggered off a mass-media landslide in the process.

The Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in the multi-purpose Civic Centre of Hartford, Connecticut was packed for the last of U2's three concerts in the Constitution State.

The huge arena is an ideal venue for a rock concert. Positioned three-quarters way down the arena, the stage, with the PA suspended in circular formation above it, is completely enclosed by seating that rises tier upon tier, offering perfect sound and vision to every member of the capacity 16,500 crowd.

U2's arrival on stage was low-key and casual. They opened by singing "Stand By Me" by the Ben E. King, followed by the familiar intro of The Edge. The whole arena were surging into "Pride (In The Name Of Love)".

The twenty-song set ranged in mood from rage ("Bullet The Blue Sky") through sadness ("Running Stand Still") to boisterous, good humour ("Trip Through Your Wires") to ("With Or Without You").

The Edge was well pleased with the tour life, "We're really into the swing of things," he said of their live performances to date. "Once it would have taken us a month - now it's happening in a week."

Naming the LA and Boston show as the highlights of the tour, the Edge said their performance with Bob Dylan in LA, where they played they performed both "Knockin'..." and "I Shall Be Released", was improvised on the spot.

Bono shared his thoughts on the audience of the shows, "There's a new audience there for U2 but the old audience is also there - the real fight is who's getting the tickets. But we never wanted to be an elitist group, we always wanted to play to as many people as we could. We set out to do that. I must say as we end this, that this has been some year for U2."

He continued, "We started off in 1977, I think it was September or October, just four people who couldn't play, just plugging into Adam's amp and I'm just amazed to see that ten years later, so much has happened to us that's been so good. So, thanks a lot for everything."

On Monday May the 11th, U2 play the first of five concerts in the Brendan Byrne Arena, better-known as Meadowlands, New Jersey.

This is a concert bursting with a wealth of great songs - including "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "In God's Country", "I Will Follow" and plenty more. "Bullet The Blue Sky" was played with such scalding intensity as the Edge channeled Jimi Hendrix, searing into the "Star Spangled Banner".

A deafening noise rocked the stadium when U2 left the stage, a combination of cheering and screaming, unlike anything you would have ever heard before at a rock concert, and which, incredibly, continued to rise in volume until the band returned for encores.

You can also see all of U2's Hot Press covers in the flesh as part of our 40th Birthday Exhibition in the National Photographic Archive in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin. Open seven days a week, admission free!