Description
The Japanese leg of the historic and legendary album-recreation tour, “THE JOSHUA TREE Tour 2019,” is now available as a 2CD set featuring the first-ever in-ear monitor recording, offering a completely official-quality sound experience. This release permanently preserves the “December 5, 2019: Saitama Super Arena performance,” an IEM recording provided by an overseas U2 researcher. While several IEM recordings of the Japanese performances appeared around 2019, this is a completely different and exceptional release. It’s a stunning album with perfect stability and balance, on par with an official release. The legendary album-recreation tour took place from 2017 to 2019, a somewhat irregular period with other activities interspersed throughout. Let’s first take a look at the overview of their activities at that time to understand the position of this release. 2017: “JOSHUA TREE Tour 2017” – May 12th – July 1st: North America #1 (21 shows) ← *CHICAGO 2017 and others – July 8th – August 1st: Europe (12 shows) ← *TWICKENHAM STADIUM 2017 and others – September 3rd – October 4th: North America #2 (10 shows) – October 7th – 25th: South America (8 shows) ← *SAO PAULO 2017 1ST NIGHT IEM MATRIX 2018: “EXPERIENCE + INNOCENCE Tour” – May 2nd – November 13th (60 shows) 2019: “JOSHUA TREE Tour 2019” – November 8th – 27th: Oceania (8 shows) ← *MELBOURNE November 30th + December 1st, 2019: Singapore (2 shows) December 4th + 5th: Japan (2 shows) ←★HERE★ December 8th-15th: Asia (3 shows) Fully official quality! Bono + Edge’s multiple IEM This is U2 from 2017-2019. The tour recreating the masterpiece album “THE JOSHUA TREE” initially started as a special project in 2017 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the album’s release. After receiving rave reviews in North and South America and Europe, the second installment was held in 2019 after the “EXPERIENCE + INNOCENCE TOUR”. Finally, it expanded to Asia/Oceania, and the long-awaited Japanese performances were realized. This product delivers those Japanese performances directly into your brain. It’s not just an IEM, but a “multiple IEM” that mixes Bono and Edge’s IEMs. IEMs are monitor audio sent to earphones used by band members on stage. Typically, IEM recordings capture the individual monitor mixes of each band member, resulting in biases that make them unsuitable for listening, such as the member’s instrument being excessively loud or the click track or count being irritating. However, this album mixes the IEMs of the two main members, avoiding any bias where any particular instrument stands out. The entire ensemble is recorded with a balanced harmony, and there are no staff instructions, counts, or click sounds whatsoever. It is an extremely high-quality musical work. Moreover, the sound is superb. The vocals are so vivid you can almost hear the breath, and the guitar’s delay and picking details are incredibly clear. The bassline and drums are vividly rendered, from the attack to the decay of each note, yet the overall balance remains intact. It’s raw and unprocessed, yet it sounds as polished as if you were listening to an official release. This sense of quality is only possible because the IEMs of Bono and The Edge, the two pillars of the band, were mixed together. This full-length show goes beyond just The Joshua Tree, recreating history with a completely official-quality sound. It’s a full show where the legendary album is brought back to life with live performance. However, in reality, it was more than just a “recreation of a masterpiece.” To help you remember the meaning, let’s organize the setlist here: Opening – Sunday Bloody Sunday Chronological Section Irish October: Gloria (★) WAR: New Year’s Day Flame: Bad/Pride (In The Name Of Love) Joshua Tree (all songs): Where the Streets Have No Name/I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For/With or Without You/Bullet the Blue Sky/Running to Stand Still/Red Hill Mining Town/In God’s Country/Trip Through Your Wires/One Tree Hill/Exit/Mothers of the Disappeared Soul’s Cry: Desire Encore Actung Baby: Even Better Than The Real Thing/Ultraviolet (Light My Way)/One Others: Elevation/Vertigo/You’re the Best Thing About Me (★)/Beautiful Day/Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way *Note: The “★” mark indicates a song that was not played on the first day in Saitama and was played on a rotating basis. …And so it goes. The highlight of the main set was the complete performance of “THE JOSHUA TREE” placed in the middle. However, what’s great about U2 is that they don’t just end it with a complete performance of their masterpiece. The parts before and after the album performance are also conceptually constructed, and the entire show expresses the golden history of U2. The key point is the chronological order. The opening is “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” but after that they play killer songs from “OCTOBER” → “WAR” → “THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE” in chronological order. They give a digest of the journey leading up to the masterpiece “THE JOSHUA TREE.” And after the complete performance of the album, “Desire” from the next album “RATTLE AND HUM” is inserted, and the entire main set brilliantly recreates “the journey of U2 in the 80s.” And the encore is “U2 after that.” While not strictly chronological, this tour culminates in a grand finale with a selection of hits from “Achtung Baby” to their then-latest album, “Songs of Experience.” The complete recreation of “The Joshua Tree” is historic in itself, but it’s enveloped in a concentrated blend of the golden 80s, and the encore brings together the next 30 years. This tour wasn’t just a nostalgia recap; it was a grand spectacle spanning U2’s entire career. This album is a live recording that allows you to fully experience that Japanese performance with official-quality sound. A masterpiece that should have been officially produced, serving as a “substitute for the official release.” Multiple IEM recording of the “The Joshua Tree” recreation tour in Japan, “December 5, 2019: Saitama Super Arena performance.” Completely new audio provided by an overseas U2 researcher, mixed from Bono and The Edge’s IEMs. With no click tracks or counts whatsoever, this album delivers a raw, live feel while maintaining a perfect balance, resulting in a completely official-quality sound that allows you to enjoy a historical full show centered around faithful reproductions of classic albums. This is the definitive alternative to official releases. Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan 5th December 2019 It claims to be a “premium stereo soundboard with a perfectly balanced mix of uncompressed in-ear monitor recordings used by Bono and The Edge onstage”.Whatever it is… it sounds superb! Disc:1 (71:07) 1. Intro / The Whole of the Moon (The Waterboys song) 2. Sunday Bloody Sunday 3. Gloria 4. New Year’s Day 5. Bad 6. Pride (In the Name of Love) 7. Where the Streets Have No Name 8. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For 9. With or Without You10. Bullet the Blue Sky 11. Running to Stand Still 12. Red Hill Mining Town 13. In God’s Country Disc:2 (76:22) 1. MC 2. Trip Through Your Wires 3. One Tree Hill 4. Exit 5. Mothers of the Disappeared 6. Desire 7. Elevation 8. Vertigo 9. Band Introductions 10. Even Better Than the Real Thing 11. You’re the Best Thing About Me 12. Beautiful Day 13. Ultraviolet (Light My Way) 14. Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way 15. One
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