Time Machine: U2 - 12/20/87 - Tempe, AZ (Sun Devil Stadium)
Bono (Left) & The Edge (Right) of U2, re-enacting a memorable moment from their Documentary/Live Album, Rattle and Hum (1988)
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Starting off hot and introducing my first series on the blog. Welcome to the Time Machine! From time to time I’m going to throw up one of these and indulge myself in some good old-fashioned moments in time. Being a huge music guy my whole life, I’ve always said “If I had a time machine, I’d go back in time to see that show as it was happening”. Thus, the birth of this blog series. From time to time, I’m going to re-visit some of my favorite concerts that I never attended. The problem with my age is that I was born too late. I’ve missed so many incredible shows throughout the years because I was born into the wrong generation. But, I digress. Without further ado, my first Time Machine show: U2 @ Sun Devil Stadium - 12/20/1987
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I watched U2’s Rattle & Hum (available on YouTube for free!) tonight or erm, yesterday technically? I don’t know, it’s 1:22 AM and I have no idea what day it is. Anyways, yeah, I got that sweet thought again, which led me to launch my old blog back up and re-brand. This isn’t necessarily my first pick for a Time Machine show, but I’ve got U2 stuck fresh in my head. Given the new branding of the blog, it only made sense to pour out my thoughts about one of my favorite bands.
Listen, I want to address one other thing first… Yes, it was bullshit that they used Tim Cook and Apple’s ultimate cog machine to push out their first album post-hiatus onto everyone’s iPhone 6 so that every time we got the Aux in our friend’s car in college that stupid, no good, terrible, piece of shit album started playing. For me now, in 2023, this happens in my non-factory installed Apple Car Play, except it’s Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team” kinda the same thing though, woof. But I wanted to address that very large Red Elephant in the room (that was a pun for U2 superfans, and U2 superfans only).
Regardless of marketing campaigns gone awry, U2 still holds up as one of my favorite bands of all time. In High School for a Freshman year English class, we had to write a dream or a goal down on a piece of paper that would be given back to us on graduation day. Me being the studious, “don’t take it too seriously” type of course, I had to write down something music related. My real only dream at that point in life was to go to a concert. At the point of writing this thing down in that English class, I was obsessed with music, and specifically U2 apparently. I had finally gotten my first iPod (man, I’m really sounding like a brand Ambassador for Apple, Sup Tim Cook?) the summer before and was really starting to explore music in general. My Uncle had played me the Joshua Tree album over that summer and I just really fell in love with the music. Here I am, years later, still thinking about the first time I heard “Where the Streets Have No Name” or doing the air drums to “Bullet the Blue Sky”. So naturally I used this opportunity in English Class to write down that my dream was to see a U2 Concert with my Uncle A.J. - I think at the time that he and my aunt had just seen U2 on the 360 Tour at Gilette Stadium, another tour I would have killed to have seen the boys on.
Anyways, watching Rattle & Hum tonight the thought hit me straight in the face. Their 12/20/87 show at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ, where some of the live footage for Rattle & Hum was recorded and shot would be a Huge Time Machine show for me. They had just released, arguably, their best & 5th studio album (The Joshua Tree) earlier that year, touring for it extensively throughout 1987 and into 1988. They had blown up into a household name and ended the year filming footage for their upcoming rock documentary/live album (Rattle & Hum). The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when they kicked into Streets, something about the blood red background, Bono’s better than ever voice and Edge’s slick, echoey guitar licks. What I wouldn’t give to have been in the cheap seats that night. Even if you are a casual U2 fan… Think for a second about seeing your favorite (or one of them) band at literally the highest peak of their career coming off massive album success and fame on one of the most legendary rock tours of the decade. Full body chills.
As fate would have it, The Joshua Tree is turning 36 on March 9th, just two days from the time of penning this blog. It still stands the test of time and if you haven’t listened to it in while I highly suggest you put in some high-quality ear buds and listen cover to cover. I was fortunate enough to catch their 30th anniversary tour for the album in 2017 at Gilette Stadium and it was one hell of a show. Bono sounded incredible over the loud speakers in the stadium and can still move around the stage quite impressively for his growing age. The Lumineers opened the show too, which was a nice treat!
I’ll always have a special place in my heart for U2, one of my early favorite and still favorite bands. 12/20/87 is an example of that and if I haven’t sold you on U2 yet, you can check out the Rattle & Hum doc in it’s entirety here.
And, for tradition’s sake if you’re a setlist junkie like myself I’ve copied that below. Thank god for Setlist.fm!
U2 @ Sun Devil Stadium (Arizona State University) - Tempe, AZ - 12/20/87
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Will Follow
Trip Through Your Wires (Not played again until May 12, 2017!)
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
MLK
One Tree Hill
Gloria
Exit
In God’s Country
Helter Skelter (Beatles cover)
Help! (Beatles cover)
Bad
Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year’s Day
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Encore:
With or Without You
Mothers of the Disappeared
People Get Ready (The Impressions cover)
Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) - (Darlene Love cover)
40 —> Do They Know It’s Christmas Time —> We Are The World
(source: U2 Concert Setlist at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe on December 20, 1987 | setlist.fm)
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MJM
