Artist: U2

Date: 1987-04-04

Location: Tempe, AZ - ASU Activity Center

Medium: SHN

Equipment / Source: CM-30 / D3

Infofile:

U2
Arizona State University Activities Center, Tempe, AZ
April 4, 1987
Second night of the Joshua Tree tour

Recorded from the fourth row by "Brother" KM in association with JEMS

Aiwa CM-30 > Sony WM-D3 Pro Walkman

Analog Master Cassette transferred Nakamichi CR-7A>TC Finalizer (JEMS remaster) > Marantz CDR-610

That CD-R>FLAC here

Disc One
1. Stand By Me intro/Where the Streets Have No Name
2. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
3. Gloria
4. I Will Follow
5. Bullet the Blue Sky
6. Running to Stand Still
7. Exit
8. In God's Country
9. A Sort of Homecoming

Disc Two
1. Sunday Bloody Sunday
2. Maggie's Farm
3. Bad
4. October
5. With or Without You (first ever version)
6. New Year's Day
7. Pride (In the Name of Love)
8. MLK
9. The Unforgettable Fire
10. People Get Ready (cuts/restarts)

As noted, the second night of the tour and Bono's voice is failing him, but instead of holding back the malady propels him and the band to an inspired performance. Hard to believe such a "rig" could yield this recording but it did; the remaster was mostly for levels and a touch of sharpening. The show sounds gloriously wide open, translucent and every bit as good as what's being done on this year's tour if not better. Don't let the bit of crowd at the start fool you.

There was a crowd surge to the stage during "People Get Ready" that accidentally shut off the deck, but Brother KM did get most of the song and restarted in time to catch the ending.

The transfer/remaster was done by me a few years ago and some U2 collectors may have this version indirectly (the circulating version appears to be called Back in the Desert), but I see many many inferior versions on lists out there (from the bootlegs Joshua Tree in Flames and Governor Mecham & MLK). This is the real thing from the master cassette and the original remastered CD-R made from it.

No cover available for this show.