What's your favorite U2 tour and why?

[Smee]

My fave tour was The Joshua Tree Tour. Quite simply put, it had the best set of u2 songs to tour with. No fancy stages, it was all about the songs, just as i like it to be

[Zoost]

The touring they did before the Boy album was released. If it wasn't any good, they would never have gotten that record deal.

My top 3 tours.

1. Zoo TV (indoor leg - never will be bettered)
2. The War Tour - first leg (very energetic tour with a great set list. Tomorrow live was awesome with Edge playing the Tin Whistle)
3. LoveTown (set list rotation at its best)

[boom boom]

Unforgettable Fire Tour-My First U2 concert, simply the most powerful performance I've seen from them.  Band and audience were great.  What can you say 11' O'Clock Tick Tock, Seconds, UF, Wire, Two Hearts Beat as One, A Sort of Homecoming, Bad, Electric Co. all in the same set and  all performed by U2 in their prime.

[imaginary friend]

Popmart, no question...followed by Vertigo and Zoo TV.

[JTBaby]

The only tour I haven't seen is Lovetown, so:

1. ZooTV Indoor
2. JT Indoor
3. Popmart

Last. 360.

[Chip]

Of the three I attended (Popmart, Elevation, 360), 360 wins because I think it allowed the band to bring together their visually creative flair that only strongly gets expressed in stadium shows with themes that obviously mean a lot to at least Bono (e.g., hope for those who despair, space exploration as reflective of humanity's search for the divine, a sort-of victory lap for ONE [the last one at least in DC]).

Of those tours I've only seen on video, I'd have to say Zoo TV. 

[Tumbling Dice]

Zoo TV
PopMart
Elevation

[Domenico of Lovetown]

1.  Lovetown
2.  Zoo TV
3.  The Joshua Tree

[Borack]

My fave tour was The Joshua Tree Tour. Quite simply put, it had the best set of u2 songs to tour with. No fancy stages, it was all about the songs, just as i like it to be

1. The Joshua Tree - raw, honest, straigtforward with few gimmicks.
2. Elevation - a great show, enhanced in significance due to Hamish Hamilton's artistry.
3. 360 - due to the scale and spectactle
4. Vertigo - also great, and I've ranked it above Popmart and ZooTV because I missed seeing those tours. Had I seen Pop, I'd likely have it 4th instead, despite the sheer number of gimmicks and distractions.

I know its old fashioned, but I prefer to see a concert first and then a staged performance second. Ever since Bowie's Glass Spider tour and much of the Madonna events, many big concerts seem more like scripted Broadway productions (i.e. canned and contrived - with little spontaneity) rather than ragged, jagged musical performances.  IMHO, the kitsch of Pop seemed to weaken the impact of the show, even though it was theatrical. A great day to all even though many will disagree.

[nocode156]

Without a doubt…Zoo TV’s “Outside Broadcast” I saw U2 during this Tour in 1992 at Legion Field in Birmingham, AL…Public Enemy opened…Awesome concert…This was my first U2 concert…I had to travel 4 hours to see them…the atmosphere, it was an election year…the crank calls to the WH…etc…

The second time I saw U2 was in 2009 during their 360 Tour down in Norman, OK…that was great too…that show was more intimate regarding how the stage was designed…seems like I could see the band better than I could during their Zoo TV Tour…

[John Goessens]

360 Tour. Why? In Gelsenkirchen Germany on 3rd August 2009 I was very near to the stage. Bono reached for me to shake hands, but he was a couple 1-2 meter too far away...Such a pity. Did anyone take a picture of that incident?

[shorne]

ZOO TV Outside Broadcast... it just blew my mind like no other concert before or since.  It was like seeing U2 reborn into something cooler yet still earnest as ever and without them looking like they were trying too hard.  It came off natural and just so cool. They will never be able to pull off that many new songs at the front end of a show that way again. It was just, in a word, awesome.

[connorfin22]

Im going to make a list of my top 5

1. ZOO TV
2. Elevation
3. 360
4. Joshua Tree
5. PopMart (Yes. PopMart)

[HyperU2]

Zoo.   Thankfully I don't have to explain why.

[hrsan]

I've only been to the Joshua Tree, Elevation and Vertigo tours.
Joshua Tree was marred by bad sound and very cold weather.
I liked the Vertigo setlist more, but I was lucky enough to have gone to one of the New York post-9/11 Elevation shows.