Bavarian Schnaps (Godfather Records GR 495/496)
Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany – July 21st, 1987
Disc 1 (73:22): Where the Streets Have No Name, I Will Follow, Trip Through Your Wires, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / Exodus, MLK, The Unforgettable Fire, Bullet The Blue Sky, Running to Stand Still, Exit / Riders On The Storm / Gloria, In God’s Country, Sunday Bloody Sunday, People Get Ready, Bad / Candle In The Wind, October, New Year’s Day
Disc 2 (79:49): Pride (In The Name Of Love), Party Girl, Spanish Eyes, With or Without You / Shine Like Stars / Love Will Tear Us Apart, 40. Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany – July 22nd, 1987: Stand By Me, C’Mon Everybody, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / Exodus, Exit / Riders On The Storm / Gloria, Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Electric Co. / Break On Through, Help, Bad / Norwegian Wood / Walk On The Wild Side, Bullet The Blue Sky / The Battle Hymn Of The Republic, Running To Stand Still, With Or Without You / Shine Like Stars
Bavarian Shnaps present the entire July 21st, 1987 Munich show from the Olympiahalle during the European leg of U2’s Joshua Tree tour with bonus tracks from the following night in the same venue. This is the first silver title to contain any material from Munich during this time. The tape is an excellent audience recording capturing the atmosphere of the event very well.
Joshua Tree is when U2 became legends and the stage presentation is their most grave. Serving as a critique of late 80’s Reaganite conservatism, the words and music were meant to represent a protest and commentary of the times. As impressive an achievement as this was, this is also U2 at their most preachy bloated self-righteous.
Despite Bono’s claim in the show that they are only a rock and roll band, everything about this show is a protest against that. The speeches between songs, the mention of political hot-spots in South American, and even choosing to cover Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” are aimed at pressing home a point.
Nevertheless it’s a very good show to enjoy for the U2 fan with impressive versions of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Exit” which references The Doors’ “Riders On The Storm,” and “Bad” with a bit of Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind.”
The bonus material is from another excellent audience recording the following night in Munich where they changed their setlist to reflect their Beatle mood. The show began with the John Lennon cover of “Stand By Me” which Bono and the rest of the band coming in. During the show they also cover “Help” and “Norwegian Wood” as part of the “Bad” medley.
Bavarian Schnaps gets its name from a long story Bono tells in the July 21st show, speaking about how the band drank too much one night when they first visited Munich. Godfather have been producing impressive U2 titles and this is another excellent production from the label and is recommended.
