When U2 released their DVD document of the hugely successful Elevation 2001 World Tour, fans both rejoiced and then revolted. Elevation: Live From Boston was taped on the second night of a four night stand in June of 2001. The problems, though, were many. Bono's voice was just about shot for the first two shows, and while they recovered for the final two shows (both of which I attended, along with the first show), the document in no way lets you know this. In addition, the Boston show was the culmination in a somewhat shortened setlist the band had been playing for about 2 weeks leading up to the filming of the Boston show. What the Boston DVD lacked in performance (mostly Bono's voice), it was made up for in spirit and in extras.

But alas, the internet struck again, and rumors began circulating in late 2002 that the band's homecoming shows at Slane Castle in Ireland had been filmed, and that a DVD would be forthcoming. It took a while to get here (no doubt to give The Best of 1990-2000 CD's and DVD's time to sell), but in November, the band finally released a second document of the Elevation tour, subtitled Go Home: Live From Sland Castle, Ireland.

Let's not kid ourselves here: there are plenty of similarities between the discs, namely in the setlist. The show still opens with Elevation, it still ends with Walk On, and most of the songs in between remain the same. There is a higher concentration of older material though, as songs such as Out of Control and Pride (In the Name of Love) replace New York (thank God for that) and Gone.

With that being said, if the Boston DVD was supposed to represent the band reconquering the American marketplace that first embraced them, then Slane is a whole different sort of homecoming.

The difference in energy is obvious from the opening notes of Elevation, as 80,000 strong bounce in unison to the powerful and exuberant chords. The Boston show saw the people inside the heart shaped catwalk bouncing, but no one else doing so. This is an entirely different story, and the sight is one that is pretty breathtaking.

One of the main drawbacks about U2 and their larger than life shows is that due to the music at times taking a backseat to the visuals or the performance, the setlist doesn't change much, and certain things remain the same at every single show. While Elevation was supposed to be a scaled down U2 show (with the heart shaped catwalk being considered "scaled down"), there is still plenty of lighting effects, not to mention the four screens above the stage keying in on one of the four members of the band each. If you saw the Boston DVD but went to another show on the tour (for example, Denver), you may have been pretty bummed out to see The Edge and Bono do their little duel during Until The End of the World. Well, you basically get a step for step reincarnation of that here, and that is the type of problem I'm talking about. If you went to the Denver show and saw that, you may have thought it wasn't planned out, that it was just Bono and Edge being as theatrical as possible, and that you were seeing something kind of special, or, at the very least, unique. But upon watching the two Elevation DVD's, you quickly realize that very little about U2's stage patter on the catwalk is either special or unique to one particular show.

But true enough, Go Home is more about Ireland and their roots than the band as performers. Bono's father, Bob Hewson, had died only a week and a half before this second Slane performance (amazingly, no shows were canceled so Bono could have time to grieve...he took time in between shows to do what needed to be done. The first Slane performance came the day after his father's funeral).

During Angel of Harlem (which became a full band number again on the European leg of the tour after being an acoustic duet between Bono and Edge on the first leg of the American portion), Bono eggs the crowd to sing along, while also changing the lyrics to represent the special night (see title to this review). And before All I Want Is You, he dedicates the song to his wife Ali, and he seems to pour every part of his being into this rendition. He even seems to be looking off to the sidestage as if he's singing to her. Gorgeous.

But perhaps the most telling moment comes just before Kite, which Bono dedicates to his father. He tells a story of how he remembers his dad and The Edge's dad walking down Madison Avenue in New York at 1am, "p*ssed as farts" and singing a song together.

For a band that has for so long tried to be larger than life, it is that type of small, personal and intimate moment that accomplishes that feat better than something like ZooTV or PopMart could ever hope to.

Bonus features include a "bonus" song, Mysterious Ways, which is basically just whacked out of the setlist and placed outside of the actual performance. Why? Bono himself probably only knows. There's also the excellent documentary on the making of the band's landmark 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire at the same Slane Castle. That documentary is a MUST WATCH for any fan of that era of the band. There are also various DVD-ROM features, but since I don't have a DVD-ROM, I can't very well review them in any detail.

While the Boston DVD remains special in my heart, if only because it captured a small piece of a week that was extremely memorable in my musical life, it is clear that Go Home is the better performance. Diehard U2 fans probably want both, but more casual fans should choose this.



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8