the U 2 stuff

January 23, 1981 @ Queen's University, Belfast.

Finally got around to fixing this bootleg in my iTunes (because I’m an old fart).

Not sure how it happened, but some of the AAC files had an occasional skip at the track markers. It’s hyper-annoying to be rocking out to an amazing performance & then get pulled out by a skip between songs.

Birthday at The Sphere.

How many times can we sell you the same product in a slightly different package?

This is the new business model for the record industry. Normally, I’d pick up the Japanese release for bonus tracks and superior manufacturing but this I’m not feeling it for this “re-imagined” best-of compilation.

I used my fanclub discount for the Clear Vinyl & 4CD set. I’ll probably steal a download of a high-res audio version because this amount of double-dipping should be embarrassing for the band & the record label.

An Orange vinyl Amazon exclusive & a Green cassette tape recently popped up (there's also a Purple splatter vinyl, Blue HMV/Target exclusive, and an Indie retailer variant).

Finally made it back to Japan! It was a wonderful holiday, but so many stores relocated or closed it was hard to make my way around. Wound up at RECOfan in Shibuya and found a Japanese Lovetown tour program & couldn’t remember if I already had one.

So, for future reference, this is my collection of tour souvenir books/programs. My tour history is only 33 shows (34 if you count Bono's Book Tour), the first being nosebleed seats for ZooTV Lakeland on February 29, 1992.

UNFORGETTABLE FIRE - Europe & USA 1984 / USA 1985

LOVETOWN - Australia / Japan 1989

ZOOTV - USA 1992

OUTSIDE BROADCAST - USA 1992

ZOOMERANG, NEW ZOOLAND - 1993

POPMART - Europe & USA 1997 (R.O.W. 1998 no dates)

ELEVATION - USA 2001

VERTIGO - North America 2005

INNOCENCE+EXPERIENCE - North America 2015

1997 POPmart Lemon (deflated).

2019 seating price guide for Japan.

I chose the Red Zone for night one & a SS Seat for night two.

Japan is slightly different when it comes to a GA queue. You are assigned a number when you pick up your ticket based on when it was purchased & when you arrive to claim your ticket. Based on that number, that’s how you enter the venue after waiting outside (roughly in groups of 100). Once you’re inside, you’re still beholden to that number before you can enter the floor area.

The RZ queue was on the right side of the arena closest to the Train Station. There was a little park and some food stands which was great! I ended up having a quick bite at the cafe next to the elevator before getting in the queue, having taken a bathroom break next to Gold’s Gym on a higher floor of the arena.

We entered the arena and were corralled inside a not quite open concessions stand. Probably had a 20 minute wait inside before going further into the venue. At this point, they were calling out numbers to enter the floor area. We were being held at the corridor between the S & SS on the RZ side and then walked down the SS stairs to the floor to enter the RZ.

The RZ was packed to the gills like a Yamanote Train car during rush hour. I ended up against the barricade on the right side around the middle-rear (enough room to dance and breathe). If you saw pictures of Brad Pitt with the RZ in the background, chances are you can see me. I was still jet-lagged and probably should’ve done seating first than standing, but that is hindsight. I believe capacity was set at 43,225. 

Night two was much easier since I had a seat and didn’t have to queue. My seat was roughly 5 spots to the right and 20 rows up from my first night position. Plus, that selection of seat included a special tour gift. 

U2 iPod Commercial (120 seconds) 2004.

Found this on an old hard drive. Obviously, I’m still too lazy to get any pics/scans from my collection. Soon, I promise!

VIP night two. Night one was Red Zone near Brad Pitt.

Anyhow, I was chatting with another U2 fan and realized I only have a vague idea of what’s in my collection.

My Discogs account is somewhat current, but is missing things here and there. So, to jog this old man’s memory in 2021 I made this tumblr to catalog my U2 collection in similar fashion to my NIN tumblr.