U2 – The House Of Rain (Apocalypse Sound AS 204)

The House Of Rain (Apocalypse Sound AS 204)

Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England – June 24th, 2011

Even Better Than The Real Thing, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Until the End of the World, One, Where the Streets Have No Name, I Will Follow, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Stay (Faraway So Close), Beautiful Day, Elevation, Get On Your Boots, Vertigo, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bad, Pride (In The Name Of Love), With or Without You, Yellow / Moment of Surrender, Out of Control, after show interview

The House Of Rain is an amazing document of U2’s appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in June, 2011.  It is their first appearance at that festival and their first festival set since, according to Bono, Live Aid in 1985.  (Forgetting their set at Live 8 in 2005).  Apocalypse Sound use an perfect dub off of the BBC telecast.  Both audio and video are professional quality and offer the perfect document for the historic event. 

Their appearance elicited several interesting responses.  The band were protested by Art Uncut for their decision to move their commercial interest to the Netherlands where there is no tax. 

But the British press, who have been targeting the band for vicious attacks over the past couple years, have also softened a bit in their assessment of the band with an article observing that “U2’s performance at the Glastonbury Festival attracted protesters, but Bono and co proved they are the world’s top rock stars – and we should learn to cherish them, says William Langley.”

U2 deliver a dramatic nineteen song set in the pouring rain.  The BBC cameras pick up many memorable shots of Bono singing with rain on his glasses, the band audience singing along, and the many flags set up in the crowd specifically for the band.  

During the set Bono sings the opening stanza of the ultra-British hymn “Jerusalem” several times throughout the show. “The Fly” includes the full Zoo TV tour visuals, as do “Mysterious Ways” and “One.”

Throughout the concert Bono references other tunes by Coldplay and even Englebert Humperdink.  

Astronaut Mark Kelly appears on video before “Beautiful Day” as he’s done on the 360° tour and, in acknowledgement of the rain, Bono sings several lines of The Beatles’ “Rain.”

They also revisit Live Aid, playing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Bad” together and follow with “Pride (In The Name Of Love), the song they were supposed to play at Live Aid.

U2, especially Bono, gives this performance everything, and the crowd responds in kind.  It is one of the most startling U2 performances in recent memory.  The disc ends with an interview on the BBC after their set where they discuss various topic regarding the show and their career.  

The House Of Rain is packaged in a digipack with various photographs from the event on the artwork.  Overall, given the performance and presentation, this is a great U2 DVD to have.