The greatest rock band of all time.
Unfortunately, I think time has taken its toll on Bono’s voice; there’s a bit of 2004 Pedro Martinez in watching someone who is very good but once was phenomenal:
This week on Letterman:
Two decades ago, in Rattle and Hum:
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Bono (and U2) have always benefited disproportionately from a favorable audio mix… that is not meant to detract from their live performances, but rather to point out that their shows have often overcome Bono’s free-wheeling improvisations and missed notes. It would be easy for one to dismiss a clip from R&H (a feature length film that was remixed for weeks) as an unfair point of comparison to a taped performance from Letterman. In recognition of that fact I respectfully submit the following bootlegged clip from a 1987 show…
That is a very good point on the difference between attending a live performance and watching it on TV; it is the reason that so few concerts are broadcast live.
However, I would note that Letterman itself is not broadcast live, and I would expect that many of the five hours between taping and the east coast broadcast were spent fine-tuning the audio mix. It was hugely important to Letterman that he have a strong week, given the changes going on at NBC, and he would surely do anything he could to help the band that was going to bat for him.