Decision ‘08

Ahh, Sweet Nostalgia!

One of the great moments of my life was seeing my favorite band U2 (sorry, Stones, you’re a strong number 2, but still number 2) on the 4th show of the Joshua Tree tour in Houston on April 7, 1987 (you can see the setlist here). What I remember more than anything was the total familiarity of the audience with the new songs. The band performed 8 of the album’s 11 tracks, and it felt like the songs were twenty years old already, so ingrained were they in our collective memories.

I’ve been reliving that remarkable album and tour on the occasion of the 20th anniversary deluxe remastered re-release of the Joshua Tree, along with an accompanying DVD of a show from Paris on July 4th, 1987. The show from Paris is great, but it leaves off two songs at the beginning, and the show, remarkably, didn’t open with the electifying “Where the Streets Have No Name” like most every show on the tour did.

Two YouTube clips in remembrance of those glorious days. The first, a nice Streets from Tampa Stadium that December:

…and the second, a mesmerizing Bad with an a cappella Help intro from Memorial Colisseum in L.A.:

Call it the return of Sunday fun!…

8 Responses to “Ahh, Sweet Nostalgia!”

1 Mark Says:
December 3rd, 2007 at 1:12 am
Oops, correction, Oakland Coliseum…the guy who posted it had it mislabeled…
2 Mark Says:
December 3rd, 2007 at 1:15 am
That is to say, Oakland-Alameda County Stadium…I’ll get it right!…
3 Andy Says:
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:27 am
Sweet indeed, even tho I missed that tour.
4 Russ Says:
December 29th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I too rememeber that show in Houston. It was great. We had a great time.
5 Mark Says:
December 29th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Hey, Russ, good to hear from you…Russ was my best friend growing up and my first roommate in college, though we seldom see each other these days, and an all-around great guy. Hope things are going well for you…
6 Mark Says:
December 29th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I just noticed a typo above - that’s obviously electrifying, not electifying - I would correct it, but these YouTube posts tend to screw up when you edit them…
7 Russ Says:
December 31st, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have an even better New Year.
8 emanon Says:
April 5th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
even though some of those bands came in before my time, i have to agree, those tours were quite tasty (awesome, sweet, etc..)