U2 - Zoo TV Live from Sydney [VHS]

Boring video of a cool gig
OK, a real quick run down to explain my title. And to give some food for thought for those thinking of picking this up. A) This gig was pretty cool. My wife and I were at the gig the night before this one and were, like, six rows from the front amidst a sea of 45 000 dead keen fans who created a great atmosphere. This is one of the reasons why I really wanted to get this as soon as it came out because our collective memories of the event were so good. We figured that with the great views you'd get from an officially sanctioned live video it would be really cool. B) We didn't count however on the fact that not a speck of the atmosphere of the gig we were at was captured here. Sure, this was filmed on the 2nd night of the bands Sydney visit, but surely the second gig couldn't of been this dead? The word that springs to mind is boring. A scary proposition when you think of the enormity of the tour and hideous cost of putting on such massive shows in the worlds megadomes, a cost and task the band would visibly shy away from after this tour. C) The performances by the band are good musically assuming there aren't that many overdubs. And let's face it while their music is often extremely infectious it's not exactly up there with Mozart, so you'd think that after all the years of playing some of these songs they didn't need many overdubs. But the stage presence of the band members is so small, perhaps the show really was too big, too inhuman for such a band of fiercely humanistic performers to stamp their authority on proceedings. D) As far as production values this tour was rightly lauded at the time for it's hugeness, if I can use such a non word. And the camera angles are perhaps not quite what you'd get in later years but they aren't limited either, it's just that none of the emotion, energy or even gritty sweat comes across to the viewer. Not being much of a U2 fan my attendance at the previous nights gig was a bit of a revelation for me. It confirmed for me I'd never be one of the bands innumerable minions but it gave me a respect for them as entertainers and as a more interesting proposition than I'd previously given them credit for. But this live video just doesn't cut it as a live documentation of the tour. For diehard fans, well, you'll probably ignore my words anyway, but the casual fan should save their cash. But note that this is a review for the VHS release which has no special features, it's out on DVD nowadays and maybe there are special features that would increase my opinion of it on that version.

Date of DVD release?
I've never actually seen the concert but I taped it from a radio rebroadcast. I've listed to the taped so many times that it finally stretched out. I am anxiously waiting the DVD release so I can finally see what I've heard for years. It sounded like a 5 star concert to me. Does anyone know what date in Septemeber it will be released?

Finally a DVD release!!!
U2.com is reporting the DVD is due out in september with very sweet bonus features including tryin to throw your arms around the world and desire from yankee stadium and the confessions video...looking forward to the dvd...the sound quality should be amazing

Shame the DVD was cancelled
This was one of the first DVDs scheduled to be released, way back when the DVD format debuted in 1997. It was all ready to go, but Polygram scrapped it for some reason. If you are a hardcore U2ophile, you can buy the "Four Weddings and a Funeral" DVD from 1997 and see a preview of it. This show is, however, available on out-of-print laserdisc, which is sort of rare nowadays.

U2's best live performance
I currenlty own most of U2's live performances that have been released... "Rattle and hum" (1988)... ZooTV (1993) ...Elevation Tour 2001 live from Boston... Vertigo Tour 2005 Live from Chicago. And while they are ALL awsome, i think that musically speaking, this is their best. There are so many amazing moments in this video, its mind blowing. The more conservative U2 fans will probably be a lil weirded out by some of Bono's stunts... I foud myself wondering what he was doing at times too... But no need to worry, after doing some research i found out that the band's beliefs were the same as they are today. When bono does something "questionable" he is usually making fun of someone, not embracing it. But back to the music.... U2's 1991 realase called "Achtung baby" is by far my favorite album ever, and thankfully U2 performs most of the album here (Except for a couple of songs like "So cruel", "Acrobat and "Whos gonna ride your wild horses".. which they RARELY perform live). This video has the best live version ive heard of MANY songs, such as "mysterious ways" , "the fly" , "Even better than the real thing" , "one" , "until the end of the world", "New years day" , "Bullet the blue sky", "Running to stand still". (Although i gotta say, the elevation tour version of until the end of the world is just as good). Theres only one performance here that isnt as good as another verions ive heard, and that one song is "where the streets have no name" (one of my favorite songs) its still VERY VERY good.. But "where the streets have no name" on the elevation tour was nothing short of PERFECTION. one word, WOW. If you are a fan of this era of U2, this is a no brainer, you will watch this everyday.... Like i do.