**The Offical U2 Fan Thread**

[Neenie]

I've heard some people say the lie referenced here is Judas, and considering the album The Fly appeared on, I'd be inclined to agree ... I mean, we do have UTEOTW, a monologue from Judas to Jesus!

Seems to be a lot of theories about The Fly flying around (no pun intended) - some say it's a man who's been condemned to Hell ... but he likes it there. Others have said it's a man who's been condemned and he's divulging his findings over a 25c phone call (kind of like Screwtape to Wormwood in TSL, I believe). Further others have just said it's religious imagery intertwined with commentary on society today. I think it's a very interesting song, I have no definite opinion formed.

OK i'll have to read the screwtape letters. I saw him reading them in the HTKKM video , And about he universe exploding 'cos-a one man's lie bit. I thought he was referring to the Antichrist, because the world believes his lie. IMO. But yeah... Interesting song.

 

[Axver]

Hmm ... yes, could be the Antichrist indeed. Depends upon how you view it, really. I think both views have supporting evidence. For Judas: UTEOTW, it's an obvious AB theme. For the AC: "I spent the eighties playing God, now I'll spend the nineties playing the Devil." - Bono on Mister MacPhisto, who, as I said, came from The Fly. I do have a file filled with song meanings that I found ... I'll have to try to find it, see what I have on The Fly.

The Screwtape Letters: http://g.irisz.hu/~leto/scan/scifi/C.S.Lewis/TheScrewtapeLetters.html

 

[Axver]

Just thought I'd post to encourage all U2 fans to go vote in the first semifinal of the Battle Of The Bands - if U2 could get up over The Beatles, that'd be incredible! Pink Floyd's going to waste Metallica in the other semi, and if U2 won, that'd mean my two favourite bands will be up against each other in the final. That'd be rather awesome, and prove CF members have taste.

 

[nadroj1985]

Just thought I'd post to encourage all U2 fans to go vote in the first semifinal of the Battle Of The Bands - if U2 could get up over The Beatles, that'd be incredible! Pink Floyd's going to waste Metallica in the other semi, and if U2 won, that'd mean my two favourite bands will be up against each other in the final. That'd be rather awesome, and prove CF members have taste.

Nah, they'd have proved taste by putting Radiohead over U2

 

[maestro876]

I'm new to the forum, just thought I'd stop by and check in with fellow U2 fans. From browsing through the posts in this thread a little, seems like not many people care much for Achtung Baby. That one happens to be my favorite album, and Zoo TV is my favorite tour. I've got 5 different concert soundtracks from ZooTV shows and two different concert videos. Best tour of all, IMO.

 

[Axver]

I'm new to the forum, just thought I'd stop by and check in with fellow U2 fans. From browsing through the posts in this thread a little, seems like not many people care much for Achtung Baby. That one happens to be my favorite album, and Zoo TV is my favorite tour. I've got 5 different concert soundtracks from ZooTV shows and two different concert videos. Best tour of all, IMO.

Hey, always cool to have another U2 fan around. Personally, I love Achtung Baby, it's my third favourite U2 album, though I feel that Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World should have been a b-side. ZooTV ... great tour, I adore the stage setup, but the tremendous lack of variety in setlists is rather unappealling ... then again, Popmart's my favourite tour and it had even less variety, so ...

From ZooTV, I have a few concerts, mostly in mp3 format though. What ones do you have?

 

[maestro876]

I have:

Sydney Australia, November 27, 1993. That's the "ZooTV Live from Sydney" VHS.

It was the first ZooTV show I saw/heard, and caused me to fall in love with that period of U2's history. After listening to others, it's not my favorite one, but I think it has the best version of Where the Streets Have No Name I have ever seen.

Washington DC, August 16, 1992. This is probably my favorite ZooTV show. I have the soundtrack on CD, and the video of the concert on DVD. The video is a pro-shot, but not as well done as the Sydney one (it's too dark and there are almost no wide-angle shots). The music is top-notch, and the Mirrorball Man showing at the end is pure gold (silver? ). The renditions of Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Ultraviolet, and With or Without You defy description.

Dublin, August 27, 1993. This is another really good show. I have the soundtrack on CD. It's similar to the Slane Castle show from a couple years ago--kinda like their homecoming, as they had just been on their biggest tour ever and hadn't once played in Ireland. It's a soundboard recording, so the sound is great, but Edge's guitar is kinda soft. The Macphisto bit at the end is classic.

Houston, October 14, 1992. This is very good for an audience recording, but not quite up to the level of the previous recordings. The phone call is awesome, as he's calling Bush from his home state.

Birmingham, October 7, 1992. I got this one along with the Houston recording, so I haven't actually listened to it yet. It's an audience one, so again not as high wuality sound as the soundboards.

 

[indigo tree]

Heya meastro, welcome! Like Axver said, always nice to have some new zootopian blood around here....I really liked Achtung baby myself (hmm..now were did I place it in my favorites?), but Joshua Tree beats all for me. I adore that album.

Pardon my ignorance, but where do you guys get all these MP3's from? Whats a good place I can get some?

Screwtape Letters...now theres a book I've been wanting to read for quite some time. Next time I visit the library, I'll pick it up.

 

[maestro876]

Mine aren't mp3s, they are CDs, DVDs (in the case of the Washington DC one), and a VHS (in the case of Sydney). The Sydney one is the only "official" ZooTV recording available, and you can find it on amazon.com used (like I did) or Ebay always has several copies up for auction. The others are bootleg recordings I've picked up, which you can get any number of places, from record stores to Ebay to guys online who trade them exclusively.

 

[Axver]

The others are bootleg recordings I've picked up, which you can get any number of places ... to guys online who trade them exclusively.

Like myself. I'm a trader and I abhor the practice of people making money off bootlegs. It's legal as long as it's a 1:1 trade, B&P, or if it's one-way and the sender makes no gain.

My trading website: www.geocities.com/u2axver

My ZooTV boots (non-mp3 sourced);

- 1 December 1993, Auckland, New Zealand
- 4 December 1993, Christchurch, New Zealand, INCOMPLETE VCD
- 4 December 1993, Christchurch, New Zealand, COMPLETE audio (and I'm quite aware this is a rare item, I've only ever seen it on one other trading site)

I also have the Sydney ZooTV video on VCD but it's untradeable because I can't get the discs to work on my computer. Janine from here is also sending me some stuff that includes ZooTV.

My ZooTV boots (mp3 sourced, I plan to eventually replace all my mp3-sourced boots with proper ones);

- 5 March 1992, Atlanta, USA: awesome Bullet The Blue Sky, With Or Without You, and Love Is Blindness
- 6 August 1992, Hershey, USA: The Hershey Tapes, recording of U2 practicing before the Outside Broadcast leg of ZooTV
- 10 May 1993, Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Bono's birthday party
- 27 August 1993, Dublin, Ireland: you're right, MacPhisto's call is awesome!
- 28 August 1993, Dublin, Ireland: one of the best-sounding boots EVER
- 27 November 1993, Sydney, Australia: full, uncut audio

I think that's it ...

Indigo Tree, I get a lot of my mp3-sourced stuff online. The forum at U2Star.com has a boot every week, but you need 30 posts there to access it. You don't need any posts at Electrical Storms, just you need to register, and it's at http://babyface.mymws.co.uk/phpBB2/ and has roughly five concerts a week. I also use the ReliveTheConcert FTP but it's hard to get onto and for free users, transfer times are painfully slow. At both U2Star and Electrical Storms, there are threads where people have posted links to other sites.

Oh, and register at the audio section of U2Rome.com - heaps of stuff there, I adore the 17 March 1982, New York boot (don't be fooled by the label saying it's 1983).

 

[maestro876]

On a related note, my favorite character is the Fly. I love the attitude, the egomania, the enthusiasm, the charisma, and black leather outfit, and especially the sunglasses. A while back I tried to recreate the Fly's outfit, and I found a source for sunglasses, but I could never find a jacket that matched exactly.

Hey, none of you would happen to have any idea where I could find a jacket exactly like the Fly's would you?

 

[Axver]

Oh, The Fly! Mister MacPhisto he isn't - look at what you've done to me! - but he's awesomeness. I loved Mirrorball Man too. I wish I could help you with finding a Fly jacket ... if I knew where you could get one, I'd have my own one by now already!

 

[indigo tree]

Thanks for the link Ax, I'll definetly check it out.Hmm..the sunglasses. Its like that man was born to wear them. Stick them on any other face, and they look out of place. But on his they mold perfectly well.

 

[indigo tree]

Hey Ax, I finally got Under A Blood Red Sky yesterday! It was really hard to choose between thta and The Slane Castled album, but I really wanted to hear 11 O'clock Tick Tock, so I got that one. I really haven't had much time to listen to it, so I'll let ya know way I think of it later.

 

[Neenie]

Cool indigo tree, you got Under A Blood Red Sky yesterday, you'll love it!! my favorite part is Gloria, though i personally would of chosen Slane.

And Axver your Cd's have been sent last week on Thursday, so you will receive them anytime soon, I've just been busy ect. I got my flatmate to send them out. Once you get them, please send me a PM so i'm sure that you have received them. I'm sure you will love the Torino video, thats my favorite. i prefer it over the slane DVD for some odd reason.

btw. Any U2 news? or is it same old rumors?

Well thats all have to say.

C ya

 

[Axver]

Hey Ax, I finally got Under A Blood Red Sky yesterday! It was really hard to choose between thta and The Slane Castled album, but I really wanted to hear 11 O'clock Tick Tock, so I got that one. I really haven't had much time to listen to it, so I'll let ya know way I think of it later.

D'you mean the UABRS CD? Don't let that fool you - 11 O'clock Tick Tock's good on there, but it's nothing great, and let me tell you this: after hearing the unedited copy of that song from the same performance, I simply can't go back to the official CD, the edit sucks all the emotion out of it. UABRS is an incredible CD though - The Electric Co. is incredible, Gloria's brilliant, and if you've ever heard a live Sunday Bloody Sunday on the radio, that's it (I used to a few years ago). I hope you enjoy it!

And Slane Castle CD? Unless someone's selling a bootleg, that's NOT a CD, despite how some shops may market it. It's the DVD in a CD case.

And Axver your Cd's have been sent last week on Thursday, so you will receive them anytime soon, I've just been busy ect. I got my flatmate to send them out. Once you get them, please send me a PM so i'm sure that you have received them.

Yes, I'll definitely PM you when I get them ... I think they might have arrived, because I have a little form sitting right here on my desk telling me I have a package to pick up from the post office, and what you sent is what it most likely is. I'll hopefully be able to pick it up after school tomorrow.

I'm sure you will love the Torino video, thats my favorite.

I hear that's awesome, I'm looking forward to receiving it. I read on one Italian website about how someone's making a new Turino DVD utilising seven cameras. That'll be awesome.

Today I received in the mail the Popmart Santiago and Buenos Aires VCDs ... I've watched Buenos Aires already, and it's awesome. Santiago's on now, and the sound quality is INCREDIBLE, it's BETTER than Slane. I'm loving it.

Sadly there's no new album news ... not even any real rumours to report, it's quite dead at the moment. Though the talk that U2 will be doing a song for a superhero film now suggests that instead of being for Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow (or something like that), it'll be for ... oh, I can't remember now! Superman or Spiderman, one of the two. Whichever has a movie coming out sometime this year!

 

[indigo tree]

Thats news to me, Axver. Because every store I've gone to that sells cds have been selling Slane Castle in CD format as well as the DVD.

So Far I really like UABRS. I have to listen to 11 O'clock a couple more times to get a real feel for it, though so far I like it. I really need to look into getting the DVD's of these concerts.

 

[Axver]

Yeah? I've heard of a lot of shops mistakenly selling it as a CD ... if I had the money, I'd go out and buy it, take it home, try and play it, and then take it back to the shop and demand to know why they gave me a DVD! Hehe.

UABRS is my favourite CD. I love it. The tape of the concert is even better. The audio bootleg of the whole concert is the most amazing thing. I love the videos U2Star.com have put up on their site, some unofficial videos from that concert. All of the UABRS concert is out on video, officially or unofficially, apart from I Fall Down. However, there's a chance the whole concert could come out on DVD ... I hope so!

And Janine ... just about to send you a PM.

 

[User Name]

You are way to obsessed with U2 man Im sorry

 

[obuchiteck]

U2 is one of my greatest influences..

War- my favorite album
Refugee - my favorite song..