THIS DAY - U2´S HISTORY: U2 support The Greedy Bastards / U2 billed as UR / aggressive fan / a girl in trouble in the crowd / Claudia and Sophia sing background vocals / U2 manager Paul McGuinness on The Joshua Tree / No Ordinary Song (Edge recalls of the origins of 'Rise Up', 'Desert of our Love' and 'Beautiful Ghost')! 

Early Ireland - december 1978 - Dublin / Ireland - The Stardust. U2 play as support to The Greedy Bastards, a band made up of members of Thin Lizzy and The Sex Pistols. U2´s set is uninspired and marred by technical problems.

"London Club" tour - december 11, 1979 - U2 perform in Canning Town, University at the Bridge House. Melody Maker, which days earlier had billed U2 as "V2", bill the band as "UR".

"Boy" tour - december 11, 1980 - U2 perform in New York, New York at the Mudd Club.

"October" tour - december 11, 1981 - U2 perform in Washington D.C., at Ontario Theater. Support is "Bow Wow Wow".

"Pre-War" tour - december 11, 1982 - U2 perform in Deinze, Belgium at Brielpoort. Bono shouts down an aggressive fan at the front of the crowd, "Listen you, if you don't stop using violence, I can have some people throw you out! I come from a country where people use violence...and it's real, so don't pretend. Do you know what that is?(Bono points at the white flags on stage) This is a white flag which means peace!" Support is "Angry Voices" -- during their set, someone throws a smokebomb on stage.

"The Unforgettable Fire" tour - december 11, 1984 - U2 perform in Chicago, Illinois at the Aragon Ballroom. "Gloria" is stopped when Bono sees a girl in trouble in the crowd. He pulls her out of the crowd and gets two roadies to help her backstage. Bono urges the crowd during "40" to sing for the Chicago Peace Museum, where the "Unforgettable Fire" exhibit is still on display. Support is "The Waterboys".

"The Joshua Tree" tour - december 11, 1987 - U2 perform in Hampton, Virginia at the Coliseum.

"LoveTown" tour - december 11, 1989 - U2 perform in Paris, France at the Palais Omnisports De Bercy. The first shows of the second leg of the "LoveTown" tour start off on a sour note when one of the lighting trusses falls down, taking Steve Witmer, a rigger along with it. He falls fourty feet onto concrete and fractures his pelvis. On the first night's performance at the beginning of "Bad", Bono sings "Help" to a completely different melody. During the encore songs of "When Love Comes To Town", "Love Rescue Me", and "Angel of Harlem" two female backup singers named Claudia and Sophia sing background vocals. They will do so for the rest of the tour. Support is B.B. King.

U2 manager Paul McGuinness on The Joshua Tree - December 11, 2007 - On the 20th anniversary of the release of the Joshua tree, U2's manger Paul McGuinness talks to Phantom 105.2's John Caddell about the album that is widely regarded as one of the best rock albums of all time. Spirit of pursuit alive in phantom

No Ordinary Song (Edge recalls of the origins of 'Rise Up', 'Desert of our Love' and 'Beautiful Ghost') - December 11, 2007 -  'A mix of reggae and gospel it was never going to be an ordinary song.' Edge recalls the origins of 'Rise Up', 'Desert of our Love' and 'Beautiful Ghost', three of the tracks on the bonus CD of the remastered Joshua Tree. The remastered edition of The Joshua Tree comes with a bonus CD of b-sides and rare tracks along with a hardback book with contributions from band members as well as Brian Eno, Danny Lanois and Bill Flanagan. In this extract from the liner notes, Edge recalls the origins of three of those tracks from the bonus CD. 'Rise Up was an ultra optimistic piece that could only have come out of a session at the beginning of the process of making a record, when everyone still believes that it will be easy, when the sharpness of many days and nights of work has not yet arrived. Danesmote is all over this recording sonically. It was a contender for a while but never had the substance. 'Desert Of Our Love, aka Weather Girls, which ultimately became I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was the first breakthrough of the record. A mix of reggae and gospel rhythms it was never going to be an ordinary song. This is its earliest incarnation still showing its traditional roots, I played piano for the backing track. We held onto the drums, and maybe the bass, but everything else got replaced. 'Beautiful Ghost was a song that started out as an experimental demo which we finished later, recorded in STS studios with Paul Barrett, in what is now known as the Temple Bar district of Dublin city. It's always interesting to hear where we started from, and then to hear where we ended up. This and other early demos show how much of the musical identity of the final record came into focus along the way...' U2.com