Customer Reviews

Elevation Tour 2001: U2 Live from Boston

5 star:		(145)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Chris NYC,USA

First of all I must say I agree 100% with Michael Behuniak from Seattle, WA USA who wrote an excellent review here.

I attended three of the shows during this tour and must admit that this DVD fails to capture the spirit, intimacy and intensity of the tour.

My big problem with this DVD it's direction and editing is annoying, distracting and just plain poorly done.
There seems to be a single mindedness of the director's part here to focus only on BONO the entire show.

We are all sick of the rapid fire disorienting style of editing that MTV has made so popular. This is not a MTV video! The director obviously didn't know his audience too well. U2 fans in general are patient people with normal attention spans who enjoying being able to focus on a shot and enjoy the music.

The best editing is when the viewer is not aware of it. It should be seemless and flow naturally. For example, if the viewer hears a guitar solo they expect to also see the guitarist playing it. Don't make us crawl in our seats with agitation waiting and hoping to see the guitarist! This also is applicable to any band member. If the song opens with a bass line, show us the bass player etc.

The best filmed concert video without question was U2 LIVE AT RED ROCKS. It captured it all and didn't miss a beat or a shot. It should be a textbook course in "HOW TO FILM A ROCK CONCERT". It beyond comprehension why this concert is not availble on DVD? What is u2 thinking? I hope that when they finally do release Red Rock on DVD they don't blow that opportunity by not packaging it correctly. The correct way would be to release it as a FULL-LENGTH concert with the originally deleted songs, "Two Hearts,An Cat Dubh, Twilight, Into the Heart etc.

Also, for extras it might be cool to package it using the seperate fixed camera angles. For example it would be awesome to have a concert with a camera angle for each band member. How about an Edge cam, Adam cam, Larry cam. Believe it or not people do find it fascinating to watch them play the music. It can get boring just watching Bono all the time.

But the most disturbing part of this DVD is the fact the Director had the NERVE to put himself on it!!! This is what really got me upset, it then became quite clear that he likes to stroke his own HUGE ego. What a waste of disc space! And I'm sure like most of you reading this you couldn't have cared less to watch this guy calling camera shots while he danced around like a dork in the control room. This space could have been used for more usefull stuff. How about an interview with Edge , or a soundcheck by the band, or an Edge CAM angle I could go on and on..anything but the director himself. Shame on him.

Now I'll just sit and wait and pray that they release "Under A Blood Red Sky" soon.

'Elevation 2001- Live From Boston' was shot on June 6th at the Boston Fleet Centre with 20 cameras under director Hamish Hamilton. The quality and content of the release is set to create a landmark in the history of music DVDs.

Disc 1 contains the 1 hour 47 minute full show featuring classics such as Beautiful Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where The Streets Have No Name and With Or Without You.

Disc 2 contains Another Perspective - the full show again but this time with an 'alternate camera' feature in which viewers can compare and contrast the view from the 'Bono cam', the 'fan cam' or the 'Director cam'.

This second disc also features 'Road Movie' - a 5 minute time lapse sequence showing the staging of a rock and roll concert from empty arena to a full arena and back to an empty arena again.

And there are also three bonus tracks including Beautiful Day (live from the Clarence Hotel, Dublin September 2000) and Elevation (live from Miami, opening night of the Elevation Tour, March 2001)

Please note that this is a review of the region 2 disc (...)

This DVD contains one concert of U2's Elevation 2001 tour, filmed in Boston on June 6th, 2001 at the Fleetcenter, Boston, Massachusetts. It does not contain the entire concert; the tracks "Mysterious Ways", "People Get Ready", "Pride", and "One" are missing (...).

The concert is shot in 4:3 aspect ratio (so no widescreen unfortunately) and the video quality is quite good. Of course, audio quality is more important for a concert registration. As written above, audio is either PCM or DD5.1 on my disc. Both tracks sound very good altough there is mainly only audience to be heard in the rear channels.

Even without the missing tracks, DTS audio, and widescreen video, it is a great registration of the Elevation 2001 tour. A chance to re-experience the concerts you have been to, or should have been to (altough it does differ a bit from the three concerts in Arnhem, the Netherlands). Some of the highlights of this particular show: Bono & the Edge duelling during UTEOTW, Edge kicking his guitar after Gone, a very touching version of Stay, the flashing lights during WTSHNN, Bono giving a girl the day of her life during WOWY, and the visually superb ending of the Fly.

(...) NBC-TV has aired WHTSHNN live and Elevation on tape during their NBA Finals coverage, so if you have seen that, you have a pretty good idea of what this DVD is like.

This is a must-have DVD for all U2 fans owning a DVD player and a reason to buy one for those who don't. I always thought that Rattle & Hum was worth buying, even if only for the great version of WOWY (containing the extra verse). That's still true, but the same holds for this DVD. This version of WOWY does not contain the extra verse, but it is very very emotional. You have to see and hear this for yourself!

I would like to finish with Danny Eccleston's (Editor, Q Magazine) words in the booklet of this DVD:

"U2's music lifts you up. It's big enough to do that. And in this turbulent year - where Hate has hit the headlines and Hope is in the small print - we've really needed it. Needed it all over the world. Enjoy U2's Boston show. It is a good thing, and right now we need all the good things we can get.".

What is it with concert videos? Why must every one be filmed using the same insipid music video cliches you'd expect to see in a MTV music awards broadcast? Why all the endless scene jumping every two seconds, zoom-in, zoom-out trick photography, gratuitous crowd shots, and, of course, the dreaded facial close-up; and where each flashing image is completely out of context with the one that proceeded it and the one that follows. Are concerts filmed this way because the director feels the need to display his talent with camera technology? Or does the director believe fast scene switches and facial close-ups are necessary to maintain our interest?

If you're a U2 fan, you will probably want to own the new `Elevation 2001 - U2 Live From Boston' DVD, but for my money, it is mostly disappointing, probably because my expectations were too high hoping it wouldn't be another predictable run-of-the-mill concert video.

Worst of all is fast-pace cutting and editing of the actual concert footage. Why must we suffer a jump cut every one to two seconds? Just when you start to enjoy a scene, you're off to see a super close up of someone - and that someone is typically Bono, Bono, and MORE Bono - all to the detriment of the other band members. There would be no U2 without The Edge, but he is seen mostly in split second flash-by's. At least during the guitar solo in `Bullet The Blue Sky' - The Edge's one brief moment to showcase his virtuosity - I expected the camera to stay focused on The Edge and his guitar, but no, just a quick flash, and then back to yet another facial close-up of Bono, or Bono running around the stage, like we might have forgotten about him during the two seconds the camera was pointing somewhere else.

Most incredulous is the `Director CAM Perspective' - talk about adding insult to injury - where we are treated to watching the director as he zealously applies his hatchet-work to this film. Who's brilliant idea was this?

MEMO TO THE DIRECTOR: You weren't filming a GAP Jeans commercial, or a sequel to `The Matrix'. Cool it with all the fast pace editing, clever camera gimmicks, and facial close-ups. The resulting effect does not create for the viewer the experience of actually being at the concert, it has the opposite effect: you just feel like you are sitting at home watching on T.V. a video heavily edited to create the artificial illusion that `you are really there'. Next time, just use THREE cameras (one from the center, and one from each side), ditch the zoom lens, and try to stay on a wide stage shot for more than ten seconds, ok? And keep the camera locked on the guitar player during the solos.

`Elevation 2001 - U2 Live From Boston' could have benefited from some other considerations: Why isn't it presented in Wide Screen format? Why are there no sub-titles? And why were `Mysterious Ways', 'Pride' and 'One' omitted? Seeing the new poignancy 'One' has taken on since the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the decision to not include `One' is particularly unfortunate.

No, it's not all woeful. This is U2, after all, and their performance here, of what was retained, is inspired and exhilarating. The live versions of `Kite' and `Walk Away' are especially compelling. And it's great to see `BAD', `Sunday Bloody Sunday', and `The Fly' back in the set list again. Ignoring the obnoxious camera work, the picture quality is clear and sharp. And the sound quality is also first rate.

Finally, if you don't mind Lo-Fi, bootleg quality audio, the `Fan Cam' perspective provides a terrific alternative for allowing you watch the concert as if you really were there, with none of the distracting camera hi-jinx of the main feature...this is definitely the best feature of this DVD - too bad it wasn't used for the main footage, even if it only includes 12 songs.

In any event, if you're a big fan of U2, you will still more than likely enjoy having this DVD in your collection. And if you were lucky enough to have attended one of the Elevation Tour shows like I was, you will be glad that something, anything, even this DVD, is now available as a concert momento - which is why it gets even 2 stars.

This is the DVD that started it all. The obsession, the admiration, the adoration, the motivation and the inspiration. I was a neutral U2 fan before. Loved the songs With or Without You, Stay, Staring at the Sun, but it ended there. When my sister received this DVD for her birthday, I was the first to watch it (Since I 'had nothing better to do, and I'm bored'. Anyone guess where that line's from?) and was hooked. I was floored, literally, since I was sitting on the floor when I was watching it.

The first thing that struck me was the amazing directing of the video. The scenes are so beautifully executed! The stretch of songs from Bad to With or Without you will leave you breathless. On the DVD, U2 werenn't merely a great rock band performing their greatest songs. They were the world's best rock band merging, blending, becoming one with their fans. The crowd interaction, the intensity of emotion, everything! The director and editors captured the moment perfectly, and I was stuck in the moment that I didn't want to get out of. And I've watched the concert through and through around 8 or so times. No other live concert comes close. (Not even the Led Zeppelin one I own) The DVD also comes with a documentary on the making and filming of the concert. Interesting stuff. The director seems ultra quirky and nervous but that probably added to his artistic brilliance in the creation of the footage.

Get this DVD. You must. It changed my life. Gave me renewed inspiration to carry on in my country's dead end music scene.

U2 forever!

First of all I must say I agree 100% with Michael Behuniak from Seattle, WA USA and Chris from NYC.
It would really really really be nice to watch the guitar player during guitar solos ..and be able to see the camera hold a steady shot of the whole band, performing as a group, instead of all dizzying, distracting, MTV style fast pace editing....other than that, the music is great...

THE GOOD - Packaging is very good, the set-list is very good, the sound quality is good, Bono's voice is solid and the extras are OK (views from a tiny camera in Bono's shades as well as the fancam were interesting ideas).

THE NOT-SO-GOOD - the shooting of the film was disappointing in that they switched views every couple seconds which made it look like a Nissan car commercial as opposed to a concert. Personally, I do not need to see a close up of Bono's face on every other shot and just when you get a good look at the entire band playing, it moves to...take a guess....another close up of Bono who also goes a little over the top with some of his theatrics. As for the others, was Adam even there?? the Edge and Larry get a little more exposure, but not much.

This review takes all the other reviews into consideration and agrees with them. It's a great DVD with some flaws, but worth having for a the most recent available history of the band. But the real story of this band and this tour is missing from the DVD. The CD, ATYCLB, released 10/31/00, was prophetic. It came out into one world for entertainment value and to place U2 back in the ranks of a great rock and roll band, but the tour to promote it took on a role of comforting a nation and restoring its hope after the Sept.11 events. The change from the Boston concert captured here and their late Fall shows is tremendous. On the DVD, is the typical Bono and the boys doing a show with fan interaction and political statements. However, as the tour passed through the country (my wife and kids, 10 and 7, caught them in Austin, Texas, in November) things had changed. A wounded country was hopeful, somewhat united, and optimistic about changing things and U2 had been singing the songs that mattered all along. Missing from the Boston DVD is the real story of this tour, how the songs "Beautiful Day" reminded us to see what's good along with the bad; how "Sunday, Bloody, Sunday" was shown to be a healing song to a nation that wept for the tragedy of Sept - captured in Bono's taking 2 American flags and wiping his eyes with them; "Please" was the plea is rid ourselves of the dangerous fanatics that destroy others when they make god obeyed their own interests; "Kite" is no longer a vague song about losing a "lover" etc., but a personal moment for Bono as he described the loss of his own father (he mentioned 2 months before) to cancer; "One" is gone from Boston, but it was the highlight from Austin and other sites when during the playing of the song, the names of those killed in New York were projected upon the walls and ceiling of the arena - no longer a song, it became a memorial and pledge to "carry each other"; and finally, "New York" which was originally a kind of throw away on the CD, stood as another memorial to what kind of city NY is and what kind of connection we have to it through the rest of the country. And then Bono's attitude of gratefulness for being able to tour and sing at this time in the country's history covered the rest of the show. No way the Boston show could have said all that the later shows have said. Too bad that a sequel to this one couldn't be produced. Then the real story of how powerful and meaningful this band is right now would be truly known.

If you were one of those unlucky people who didn't get to see U2 on their extensive tour, well, you get another chance! And if you're one of those (like me) who did get to see them at least once, then here's your chance to relive a great tour. Elevation was definitely the greatest concert I have been to, and I have already watched my DVD twice.

The set list is amazing. You can tell that U2 picked some of their best live songs, and they really rock. The concert opens just like all of them, with "Elevation," and there's that moment of almost pure joy when all the lights go down, then the stage lights come up and it's all U2 from there. There's not a bad song on the disc, but my favorite is definitely "Stay," when it's just Bono and The Edge alone on the heart. It ends beautifully with "Wake Up Dead Man" followed with "Walk On."

Also included are some awesome extras, such as the multi-camera angle, which allows you to choose between three different cameras throughout most of the concert. Be sure to watch the control room -- especially during "With or Without You" -- it's very amusing. The extra tracks and the road movie were nice additions as well.

If you're a lover of good concerts, buy this DVD. If you're a diehard U2 fan, or even just a casual one, buy this DVD. You won't regret it!

If you like U2, if you like rock concerts, if you like music, if you like well-made and entertaining DVD's, you MUST get this one.

Live in Boston is the vibrant, well-produced visual of U2's 2001 Elevation tour show at the Fleet Center. It is amazingly stripped down for a music DVD, so much so that it makes you feel like you are actually there at the concert, in the front row. The lighting and the sound work perfectly and it sounds and looks amazing...

The concert itself is probably one of the best I've seen caught on tape. U2 is on, having fun and playing a great show. The crowd is great and the unbelievable emotion and power of a live U2 show comes out in glorious display. If you've ever been to a U2 show, you know what I mean, and you need this DVD.

Even if you're not a big U2 fan this is still worth your while. It is the best music DVD I've ever seen.