Unforgettable Firecrackers

Sporthalle

Cologne, Germany.

31 - January - 1985.

Attendance: 8.000 (sellout) - Support: Belfegore

Disc 1 (59:16)

01. 4th of July (intro over PA) / 11 O'Clock Tick Tock

02. I Will Follow

03. Seconds

04. MLK

05. The Unforgettable Fire

06. Wire

07. Sunday Bloody Sunday

08. Cry / The Electric Co.

09. A Sort of Homecoming

10. Bad

11. October

12. New Year's Day

Disc 2 (37:14)

01. Pride (In the Name of Love)

02. Gloria

03. Party Girl

04. Two Hearts Beat As One

05. "40"

Recording Equipment - History

Aiwa walkman + stereo microphone > Analog Master (TDK SA C-90) > DAT > CDR    (unverified)

Taper: minimax

Location: recorded from a seat about 15 meters from the stage on the right side

Comments

Fantastic recording, with music and vocals coming through very powerful. The sound really comes very close, so it is quite clean, and it brings great clarity. A few minor edits can be found, with no loss of music. Crowd noise is certainly audible with clapping and cheering near the taper, but they are not too detracting. Both recordings I have from this show seem to come from only one source (taped by 'minimax'). So this recording, the so-called 'Unforgettable Firecrackers' has been mislabeled during the years, with a lineage of 'D6 master > DAT > CDR'. Now we know it was taped by 'minimax' using an 'Aiwa walkman and some stereo mic', as he stated at 'DimeADozen'. So now the right lineage for this recording remains unverified, although we know which gear was used to tape the concert.

This recording suffered some enhancing or remastering process below the line, and it sounds stronger than my other tape of this show. However, both offer excellent sound quality.

I didn't know the history of this recording when I received it, so I took it from Justin's U2 CDR Trading, run by Justin Cook. Here are his comments:

This recording features excellent overall sound. Both the music and the vocals come through very clearly. Audience noise is audible at times, but is largely limited to between songs. There are a few short dropouts at the beginning of "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" and "I Will Follow". Noticeable edits occur between "A Sort of Homecoming" and "Bad", and during Disc 2, Track 4 after "Two Heats Beat As One" is finished. Disc 2, Track 5 begins during a part of Bono's speech before "40" that is also included on the previous track.

Apparently the crowd's partying got a bit out of control near the end of the concert. During "40" Bono shouts "I don't want anybody throwing any more firecrackers into our people!". An incredibly long version of "40" is played, with the entire band returning to the stage after the song seems to be over. Bono then launches back into the song, including snippets of "Feed the World", etc. At approximately 13:00, the band stops again... only to resume after Bono says "Don't forget tonight. We won't forget tonight." In all, Disc 2, Track 5 is 16:45 long.