POPDREAM BELIEVER FIRST NIGHT IN EUROPE

Manufacturer: Unknown
Catalog: UNL 97-A/B
Matrix: Disc 1: UNL 97-A
Disc 2: UNL 97-B
Barcode: None
Complete Show: Yes
Format: 2-CD
Released: 1997
Disc 1 : (71:24)
Disc 2 : (70:10)

Disc 1:
1. Pop Muzik Intro. [3:46]
2. Mofo [4:32]
3. I Will Follow [2:51]
4. Gone [5:12]
5. Even Better Than The Real Thing [3:53]
6. Last Night On Earth [6:28]
7. Until The End Of The World [4:54]
8. New Year's Day [4:56]
9. Pride (In The Name Of Love) [3:39]
10. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For [6:39]
11. All I Want Is You [3:09]
12. Staring At The Sun [5:53]
13. I Love You Love [3:05]
14. Miami [6:02]
15. Bullet The Blue Sky [6:12]

Disc 2:
1. Please [6:59]
2. Where The Streets Have No Name [8:15]
3. Lemon (Perfecto Mix) Intermission. [4:41]
4. Discotheque [6:03]
5. If You Wear That Velvet Dress [2:32]
6. With Or Without You [6:51]
7. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me [5:38]
8. Mysterious Ways [6:07]
9. One [5:25]
10. MLK [2:28]
11. Rain [3:06]
12. Radar Love [3:53]
13. Black Betty / Whole Lotta Love [2:53]
14. Daydream Believer [2:37]
15. Stand By Me [1:07]
16. Unchained Melody [1:22]

Source:
Disc 1, Disc 2 (1-11): July 18, 1997. Rotterdam, Holland. Feyenoord
Stadium.
Disc 2 (12, 13): July 25, 1997. Werchter, Belgium. Festival Grounds.
Disc 2 (14): July 27, 1997. Cologne, Germany. Butzweiler Hof.
Disc 2 (15, 16): July 19, 1997. Rotterdam, Holland. Feyenoord Stadium.

Sound Quality:
Excellent audience (from DAT).

Comments:
This was the first European PopMart show, but this 2-CD set covers both
the entire Rotterdam Show and some highlights of other European PopMart
shows. The PopMart logo is printed on both CDs. On the both the front
and inside covers, there are pictures of out boys taken from the printed
PopMart tour program (which was sold at the concerts). Both CDs feature
excellent audience recording and are very dynamic. The person(s) who
recorded this show were in extremely good position. The sound quality is
much better than an average audience recording ("Discotheque," for
example, sounds very clear). Occasionally, you can hear someone talking,
but it is not very obvious at all. The show itself was great. According
to the bootlegger himself, this was the best available sound recording
that was available at the time of pressing. It was apparently recorded
in "stereo," with two microphones in different locations, on a DAT
recorder(s). It's not soundboard quality, but it's very good. Those
folks in Rotterdam don't seem to miss a U2 beat, as further confirmed by
this fine release. This recording appears to be from a digital audience
source (or sources). What's remarkable, however, is that there is almost
no crowd noise (a good example of this is at the end of "Pride (In The
Name Of Love)"). There are certainly no annoying conversations going on
in the foreground, as is the case on some other unfortunate recordings.
The overall balance is very good also. The bass element is more
prominent than the high-end, but I think this is due more to arena audio
acoustics than to poor recording technique. The band's "Pop Muzik"
entrance sounds simply "arena-pounding" and massive. Depending on your
stereo setup, you might need to turn the bass down a little. It is not
distorted, but it is very powerful. Then again, if you don't mind
replacing windows, let it rip. The acoustic version of "Staring At The
Sun," complete with delightful Edge harmonies, is just plain fantastic.
Such delicate songs rarely succeed in "boomy" stadium settings, so either
U2's sound engineer should get a raise, or whoever recorded this deserves
a cigar. My current sentiment is that perhaps both should be commended.
The bonus tracks are also good quality. Disc 1, Track 1 and Disc 2,
Tracks 12 and 14 are The Edge singing karaoke versions of songs made
famous by Gary Glitter, Golden Earring, and The Monkeys (respectively).
Especially notable is the cover of Golden Earring's "Radar Love" recorded
on July 25, 1997 at the Werchter, Belgium Festival Grounds. The
"driving" bass on this track is really outstanding. And even more
special is the fact that Edge is on vocals. A true treat. Overall,
the sound quality of this set is not quite as good as the legendary June
11, 1992, Stockholm, Sweden Globen recording, but POPDREAM BELIEVER FIRST
NIGHT IN EUROPE does not disappoint. Overall, this is a great
masterpiece! For anyone who is looking for a good bootleg of the
European shows, I don't think they'll get any better than this! It is
simply the one of the best U2 audience recordings available. The
crowd noise only comes in when necessary. The sound quality deteriorates
only slightly somewhere on Disc 2 (I heard that the rain started to
pour). Bono's voice is in top shape for this concert and he has no
problem hitting the high notes. Highlights are "I Still Haven't Found
What I'm Looking For," "All I Want Is You," and "Staring At The Sun."
The bonus tracks aren't of much significance although "Daydream Believer"
has good sound quality. Jeroen te Rijdt, Jovi Neri
contributed to this review.
This is the original pressing on this label.