My favorite U2 concert that begins with ‘H‘ could be none other than the ZooTv Rehearsal concert in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This show started the ZooTv Outside Broadcast Tour. In the summer of 1992, U2 ditched arenas for stadiums to take their ZooTv Tour outside. I went to the first five shows and another one a month later. Living in Maryland made it easy to travel to most of the East Coast shows. Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York were all within a 3 hours drive. Plus U2 usually played two nights in each city. It was on this leg of the tour that I started meeting U2 fans and touring around with them.

Originally U2 wanted to rehearse for the ZooTv Outside Broadcast Tour at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland – my home town! They would have been here for a week, and I could have heard U2 nightly just a short drive away. This would have brought lots of jobs for the community, but the neighbors of Memorial Stadium protested having U2 in their backyard because of the noise and drugs that sort of music would bring. U2 decided on to rehears for the tour in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which was less than a two-hour drive away. I went up to Hershey a couple of nights and sat outside the stadium to listen to the rehearsals, but never actually saw U2. I did get to hear “Acrobat” and “So Cruel” though.

At the end of the week, U2 played a rehearsal show on August 7, 1992 at Hershey Park Stadium. Tickets were only $15 and went to local charities. My seat was way in the back, the furthest away I’ve ever been at a U2 show. It didn’t matter though because it was a great show, truly one of a kind. Instead of starting off the show with “Zoo Station” like all the other shows, U2 began with “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “New Year’s Day,” and “Pride” before going into their regular set list starting with “Zoo Station.” This was the first time I heard “New Year’s Day” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” since they were not played on the first leg of the ZooTv Tour. “Pride” was played again before the encore. Edge sang “Van Dieman’s Land,” the first and only time I have heard it live. This show was the day before Edge’s birthday, so Bono led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday.”

ZooTv Outside Broadcast Rehearsal show Set List (8.7.92 Hershey): Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year’s Day, Pride, Zoo Station, The Fly, Even Better Than The Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, One-Unchained Melody, Until The End Of The World, Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Van Diemen’s Land, Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World, Angel of Harlem, When Love Comes To Town, All I Want Is You, Bullet The Blue Sky, Running to Stand Still, Where the Streets Have no Name , Pride, Desire, Ultraviolet (Light My Way), With or Without You, Love Is Blindness. 

This is part of my Blogging from A to Z Challenge about ‘My U2 Concerts A to Z.’ Thanks for stopping by. Please come back tomorrow as I write about my favorite ‘I’ U2 show.