Las Vegas 12-April-1987

Thomas & Mack Arena

Las Vegas (Nevada), USA.

12 - April - 1987.

Attendance: 8.673 (capacity: 9.700) - Support: Lone Justice

Disc 1 (41:54)

01. Where the Streets Have No Name

02. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

03. I Will Follow

04. Bullet the Blue Sky

05. Running to Stand Still

06. MLK

07. The Unforgettable Fire

08. Sunday Bloody Sunday

09. Exit

Disc 2 (54:08)

01. In God's Country

02. Gloria

03. Bad

04. October

05. With or Without You

06. New Year's Day

07. Pride (In the Name of Love)

08. Trip Through Your Wires

09. People Get Ready

10. "40"

Recording Equipment - History

Analog 1st (JEMS) > Nakamichi CR-7A azimuth-adjusted transfer > Peak 5.2 > FLAC

Transfer: JEMS

Additional comments (JEMS): With time off last week I traveled north and had the chance to spend an afternoon in the full JEMS archive (not just the piece of the collection I have with me in LA). Inside one of the U2 drawers were two Maxell XL-II cassettes with handwritten notes that read "Las Vegas 4/12/87." J and I were sampling various tapes and when we hit play on this one we were pleasantly surprised by the quality.

J did not recognize the handwriting and could not remember where the tapes had come from, but he did recall that it might have come from someone in LA who drove to the show (the other source for the LA '87s that Brother KM did not record?). Back in those days, Jared traded with tapers, not traders, and he was confident he had gotten this from the source. Quality is quite good, perhaps one step below KM's Tempe tape. It has power and punch, maybe even pushing the levels to the breaking point in a couple of spots.

Comments

Great recording that sounds quite clear and powerful. Sound is really full, sharp, and crowd interference is minimal and relegated to the background. Streets begins with high-end distortion due to recording levels set too hot, but taper corrects it very fast.

Quoting the book U2-Live (by Pimm Jal de la Parra and Caroline van Oosten - published by Omnibus Press / 2003): "It's the first time the band play this city and this is the only show of the Spring leg of the tour that doesn't sell out. Afterwards the band film the promotional video clip for I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, miming the words while they talk around neon-lit casino-filled streets".