U2
1989-12-30
The Point Depot
Dublin, Ireland
Soundboard Recording
320 kbps
Artwork Included
01. The Star Spangled Banner
02. Bullet The Blue Sky
03. Running To Stand Still > Dirty Old Town
04. God Part II
05. Desire
06. All Along The Watchtower
07. All I want Is You
08. Where The Streets Have No Name
09. I Will Follow
10. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
11. M.L.K.
12. One Tree Hill
13. Van Dieman's Land
14. Out Of Control
15. New Year's Day
16. Pride
17. She's A Mystery To Me
18. Angel Of Harlem
19. When Loves Comes To Town*
20. Love Rescue Me*
21. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
22. With Or Without You
*With BB King
U2 - Back To Back 1989 - #1: Here is our 2nd back to back set featuring U2 in December 1989. The years 1987 to 1989 were a whirlwind for U2, as the former new wavers became “rock’s hottest ticket” in the words of Time, which made the band just the 4th rock act to be featured on the magazine’s cover. The Joshua Tree, released in March 1987, topped the Billboard charts for 9 weeks, and won 2 Grammys for the band. Two singles from the disc, With or Without You and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, both went to number 1. Great success, however, usually does not come without a price. U2 began to pay the piper about a year later, with the release of the documentary Rattle and Hum, which featured footage from the Joshua Tree tour. The movie, and the accompanying double album soundtrack of the same name, received mixed reviews from film and record critics, a far cry from the outpouring of praise for The Joshua Tree. Backlash in the US was the strongest, with the band often being called pretentious, grandiose, over-earnest, self righteous and self indulgent. U2 felt the sting from the critics, and to some degree, may have agreed. When their 1989 Love Town tour, which intentionally avoided the US, arrived in Dublin for 4 shows to end 1989, U2 realized it was time for a change. At their 3rd Dublin show, on December 30, 1989, 28 years ago today, Bono announced “This is just the end of something for U2. And that's why we're playing these concerts – we're throwing a party for ourselves and you. It's no big deal, it's just – we have to go away and dream it all up again." This soundboard captures the band on that historic night, as they neared the end of one chapter in their storied career and prepared to go places no one ever dreamed, as would become apparent with the release of Actung Baby in 1991. Download this one, then come back tomorrow for part 2 of this back to back set.
