THE WAR TOUR (1.12.1981 - 30.11.1983)
Saturday, 20 August 1983: WDR broadcasts the "Rockpalast" open air from the Loreley - with a singer in a black T-shirt, black jeans and a storm hairstyle, as if Elvis had been caught in the engine of a jumbo. A guy with insane charisma who sings hymnal songs about bloody workers' uprisings, gets a girl from the audience to dance on stage and marches through the rows of spectators with a white flag. In addition there is a guitarist who fires one staccatoriff after the other and an incredibly tight rhythm section.
At the last song "40" 14.000 people sing "how long to sing this song", although they probably never heard of U2 before. Although the band is under contract with a major label and released their third album "War" half a year ago, the news of the new pop sensation has not yet arrived in Germany. Why Bono & Co. - after tiny club gigs which they played in Hamburg, Berlin and Munich for the release of "Boy" (1980) and "October" (1981) - also avoid the FRG.
THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE TOUR (29.8.1984 - 25.7.1985)
One year later U2 with "The Unforgettable Fire" are on everyone's lips. In January 1985 they suddenly played 5000cc halls in Hamburg, Offenbach, Cologne, Mannheim and Munich. With a spartan production that is limited to slide projections and ascetic light. Because: U2 don't need a show, they are the show. An approach with which the Irish provide a counterweight to the colourful events of Prince, Michael Jackson and David Bowie. They compensate extravagance with down-to-earthness and hymnic pathos as well as with a set that is still strongly influenced by "War" and into which they only hesitantly integrate new pieces.
Because the spherical sound that Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois developed for "The Unforgettable Fire" can only be reproduced live with sequencers. But the band feels so uncomfortable with that that they only add a few new members, although "Bad" is better on stage by classes than on record. A few months later U2 are already co-headliners at the premiere of "Rock am Ring". Their final breakthrough came on 13 July 1985 at London's Wembley Stadium: they played one of their best ever concerts before the eyes and ears of the world. It'll only take 18 minutes.
