U2 360° At The Rose Bowl [DVD] [2010] [NTSC]

I have been a fan of this band for many years. Ive seen them play live on lots of occasions and I have enjoyed every one of those nights, they bring back happy memories.
I bought all the albums. I bought all the live material, in fact for some albums and live material I have purchased twice, as technology took us from tape to cd and vhs to dvd and so on.

This performance is good and I really enjoyed it. The dvd of the concert gets 4 stars, U2 doing what they do best and that is put on a great show with good songs. The picture and sound quality are very good. Simply put if you are a fan and like previous U2 concert releases you will enjoy this, there is no real reason for you not to buy it. There is no reason to go indepth with the review as its primarily fans will buy this release and not much is going to put them off doing so.

Now for the bone I have to pick. I have not yet viewed the extras, but there is one thing I did notice and it annoys me. 'Breathe', as far as I'm aware was the opening song for all of U2 360 tour dates so far. Well, as you can see, on the dvd its NOT the opening song. Even though it was the opening song on the night. The producers of this product have messed up. Just like when I bought POPMART live and discovered that both on vhs AND dvd the opening minutes are in black and white for no apparent reason and its a pain. Just like that the opening song of this concert is NOT the opening song for the dvd. 'Breathe' apperas as an 'extra'. We kick off on the 2nd song of the gig. This is minor gripe but I'm paying for this product and while I'm aware that there is probably some stupid reason for the start not being as it was on the night I would still like to see the gig in its entirety, from start to finish. I understand editing is required but NOT entire songs.
Still a great show and it reminds me of the night I went along to see U2 360. Worth a look and what a venue!

What is impressive about this concert is the amount of people that are there. In excess of 97,000 is a huge number and whilst this also is an impressive sight to behold, I couldn't help but think when watching the DVD that a crowd this size takes away a lot of the intimacy of the concert. As it is filmed in the round, you are aware at all times of the thousands of people in attendance, however, because of the darkness and the lack of audience close-ups etc, I felt when watching that because it always tends to focus on the band onstage, the interaction with the audience that is part of the atmosphere of a live concert, is lost.

The opening song on the DVD is the rousing 'Get On Your Boots', however, I felt immediately that maybe this had not been the opening song of the actual concert, as you do get the strong feeling that you are joining the show maybe one or two songs in. A quick check online after I finished watching the DVD, showed my feelings were correct. 'Get On Your Boots' had in fact been the second song, the opening song was 'Breathe' and it does not feature at all on this DVD. However, if you buy the deluxe version which has 2 discs, you will find 'Breathe' is included as an extra, which personally I find annoying. I would far rather have watched the concert from its opening song and seen the band come onstage etc.
Following 'Get On Your Boots' the band move swiftly on to 'Magnificent' another great track from 'No Line On The Horizon' which in my opinion is the best song they have came up with for a number of years and is up there with my other personal U2 favourites, such as 'The Unforgettable Fire' and 'One' which I am pleased to say both of these feature in this concert.

The sound quality is excellent throughout and the band deliver a polished, faultless performance. Bono sounds as good as ever vocally and I was impressed by his running around the entire circle of the stage. I am aware some people do not like Bono but I am judging him here entirely on his performance skills which are excellent. Like him or loathe him, you cannot deny the man has an 'aura' about him and is a great presence on stage. Indeed it is something that was noticeable back on their Live Aid performance in 1985 and has carried them through the years.
I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, the sound, the perfomance and the content I cannot fault. Yes there are one or two songs I would have liked to have seen included such as 'New Years Day' or 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own', but with such a massive back catalogue it is difficult to please everyone and I was really happy that they did include my all time favourite 'The Unforgettable Fire' so I am not disappointed.

The only thing that did disappoint me was that the concert does not begin with the actual opening track and also because of the way it is filmed and/or edited, you don't get to see much audience interaction which I feel would have improved the overall atmosphere of the concert for the viewer watching this DVD. For that reason, although it is a great performance, it seemed just a little lacking, as the true atmosphere does not come across when watching. Maybe I am being overly picky as the performances are faultless and as a fan of the band I loved listening to the songs played live, but just a little more atmosphere would have been the icing on the cake.
If you are a fan, you will enjoy this.

I became a fan of U2 after ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' and I, of course, wouldn't have missed this...

This DVD is absolutely FANTASTIC! And its not just for the hardcore fans but for the casual fans, like me! Its amazing starting from the interaction Bono has with the crowd, his jokes, his vocals (of course), the songs performed in this concert and of course the unbelievable ''monster'' that is the stage!!

Definitely worth buying even if you're not a die-hard fan...
This DVD does NOT include extras and bonus but the whole concert is fantastic in every meaning of the word!