After almost 37 years, Gay Byrne presented his final broadcast of ‘The Late Late Show’ on 21 May 1999. Over the five decades since it began in 1962, the world’s longest-running chat show has brought many topics deemed taboo by elements of Irish society into a public forum for discussion. On Byrne’s last show U2 members Bono and Larry Mullen surprised him with the gift of a Harley Davidson.

Here’s If You Wear that Velvet Dress and With Or Without You from PopMart in Sao Paulo back in ’98.

Enjoy.

Buy I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight – No Line On the Horizon on itunes.

Video of I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (David O’Reilly Video) [David O'Reilly Video] – U2 available on itunes.

By Pete Vonder Haar Tue., Jan. 31 2012 at 11:01 AM

What was the last great U2 album?

Now, before you go and get your snotty Henry Rollins quotes lined up, recall that there was a period in the mid- to late 1980s when the Dublin foursome were both the biggest and most critically acclaimed band on the planet before veering off into sonic experimentation and retreating somewhat from the public eye.

In my opinion, one can make valid “greatness” arguments for four of their albums. Some prefer the anthemic, clarion calling of War, others the muted melancholy of The Unforgettable Fire, while many would argue that 1987′s The Johsua Tree was the band’s perfect fusion of the earnest and the cynical.

But for some, myself included, U2′s high point was achieved by the album that was both a response to post-Joshua Tree backlash and precursor to their millennial experimental forays into pop and house music: Achtung Baby.

When U2 played Glastonbury last year, their set largely consisted of cuts from Achtung Baby, which makes a certain amount of sense, considering the album was celebrating its 20th anniversary. To prepare, U2 began rehearsals in Winnipeg. At the same time, filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (Waiting for Superman, An Inconvenient Truth) was commissioned to make a movie commemorating the album.

Guggenheim was given wide access to U2′s archives, including previously unreleased footage from Rattle and Hum, Phil Joanou’s ill-received 1988 documentary film of the Joshua Tree tour. Meanwhile the band returned to Hansa Studios in Berlin to “revive and rethink” the album.

From the Sky Down spends a lot of time on the band’s early (like, pre-Boy) years, which is nice and all (did you Bono gave future wife Ali Kraftwerk’s Man-Machine for her 15th birthday?). But for a movie billed as “the story of the making of U2′s Achtung Baby,” it takes them quite a while to get to the album itself.

More interesting, to me, was how the band addressed their public perception in the wake of the Joshua Tree’s success. To hear them tell it, Rattle and Hum did a poor job at capturing the band’s insecurity and self-deprecation, and Joanou’s exclusion of anything humorous led to critics and audiences viewing them as pretentious. This was especially true of their love of blues music, where people took guest appearances by B.B. King as Bono having the audacity to act like he’d discovered him.

After seeing the footage Guggenheim includes, I’m inclined to give the boys the benefit of the doubt. And I say this as one who spent half of R&H’s running time cringing in the theater. That said, you might come across as less of an asshole if you took your mirror shades off during indoor interviews, Adam Clayton.

[Side note: Some of the unearthed footage included a surprise gig the band played with SRV and T-Bone Burnett at Antone's the Monday night after their 1987 show at the Frank Erwin Center. I was supposed to go to Antone's that night with my friend Sarah and ended up wimping out. She's never forgiven me.]

Read the full article on http://blogs.houstonpress.com

U2: From the Sky Down (Director’s Cut)

This video of U2 performing A Sort Of Homecoming is taken from The Unforgettable Fire Collection. Initially a VHS release back in 1985. This 51 minute compilation contained the albums music videos and also a 30-minute documentary on the making of of the album and it was Produced By James Morris and Directed by Barry Devlin.

The video featured five song videos -

1: “The Unforgettable Fire” – directed by Meiert Avis
2: “Bad (Live Video)” – directed by Barry Devlin
3: “Pride (In the Name of Love) (Sepia Version)” – directed by Donald Cammell
4: “A Sort of Homecoming” (Live Video) – directed by Barry Devlin
5: “Pride (In The Name Of Love) (Slane Castle Version)” – directed by Barry Devlin

U2 – The Unforgettable Fire Collection [VHS]

U2 singer Bono performing on the Super Bowl XXXVI - Halftime Show at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA.

One thing loved about the Super Bowl is it’s half-time show. Did you know that big name acts only started appearing there since about 1991, although the Super Bowl is in its 46th year. Then New Kids on the Block had the honour of performing.

Metro.us lists its top 5 Super Bowl half time shows and no surprises here but U2 are in at No.1.

U2 performed at Super Bowl XXXVI in Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, back in 2002. Their performance there was a Tribute to the victims of 9/11 and consisted of a three song set which included “Beautiful Day”, “MLK” and “Where The Streets Have No Name”. The band performed on a heart shaped stage.

U2′s moving tribute to the victims brought tears to many in attendance and to many viewers watching in from around the world.

As an the intro to ‘Streets’ U2 played ‘MLK’ and a 200-foot screen appeared behind the band and began scrolling the names of all those who perished in the attacks. Near the end of the song the screen collapsed, and Bono cupped his hands in a hear shape across his chest and moments later he opened his jacket to reveal the Stars and Stripes lining on the inside of it. I still get emotional when I watch it.