RedRocksU2
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"Hidden" Members of U2
- Thread starter Jon Seidman
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
This has been confirmed by 36 Plebans
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LarryMullenFan
Acrobat
I thought that too. Lawless indeed. He played onstage with OOTS some times and afaik he did some occasional keys on Walk on.Raid?
Thought that was Lawless..could be wrong, I suppose..
Most songs work with backing tracks (or sequencers if you like). There's a good example of that on youtube somewhere, where you can here One Tree Hill from Bono's IEM. You can clearly hear the clicktrack, count-ins and the sequencer.
edit: found it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmnq8TdOFV4
blueeyedgirl
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Does it play keyboards?
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
Thought that was Lawless..could be wrong, I suppose..
Yea you're right, how did I ever type Raid there.
No clue.
greety
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
ok, I don't want to sound stupid
but does Bono hear all those count-in and all (even mid-song)??I guess he does, but I wonder if that is not distracting, listening and singing (or talking over it at the beginning) at the same time (although he should be used to it by now)
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
I don't know anything about backing tracks or such, but I have the Saitama show on my mp3 walkman (btw, it's one of the best shows out there) and I've always felt the IEM's help Bono (and the other ones) to get into the song and to stay in tune, because apparently without these things they cannot hear anything on stage. I guess they're used to that.
The Sad Punk
Blue Crack Addict
That WOWY in the Paris DVD pretty clearly has a backing track because it keeps on doing to the sparkly dudunadududunadududunadu thing in the background when Bono is doing his WAITAMINUTE IS THARE SOOME TEAR GAYSE HOOTENANNY GOING OAWN IN MAH ALL AMERICAINE CONSERRT bit.
The Sad Punk
Blue Crack Addict
Only 36? I guess the 70,300 others weren't Plebans.
The whole backing tracks/hidden musicians thing used to really bother me and my purist post-punk mindset, but not so much anymore. Really, there are relatively few moments at a U2 show where it is just four guys creating live music. They've been doing it since the UF tour - over two decades.
I always wondered why Edge didn't play that Whammy pedal part on Gone live. I guess it didn't seem full enough with Bono handling the rhythm part. But wouldn't it be less obvious to have a backing part handle the big guitar chord so Edge could play the in-your-face lead part? Hmmm.
I always wondered why Edge didn't play that Whammy pedal part on Gone live. I guess it didn't seem full enough with Bono handling the rhythm part. But wouldn't it be less obvious to have a backing part handle the big guitar chord so Edge could play the in-your-face lead part? Hmmm.
discothequeLP
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
from what i've heard about the 747 guitar part, they just turned on a bunch of distortion pedals at once, and the tone was extremely difficult to keep under control without going feedback-crazy. so i think it makes sense that Edge leaves that in the backing track: it's more of a loop than a guitar part.
gvox
Ghost of Love
You're right, altho I would say it is a sequenced loop of something like a marimba or something Maorian/New Zealandish. I was just using the two most commonly played songs as example. OTH just came back after 20 years. But you're right, all the same.
gvox
Ghost of Love
ok, I don't want to sound stupid
I guess he does, but I wonder if that is not distracting, listening and singing (or talking over it at the beginning) at the same time (although he should be used to it by now)
Yes he did, but not for every seqeuenced song. OTH is an exception, likely to make sure they nailed it after not having played it so long (and with limited rehearsal time)
gvox
Ghost of Love
I'd say Terry plays alot more than people think. And alot of songs, both Terry and a track. Basically anything 'keys' like strings, pianos, ambient stuff, low midi basslines during Streets, WOWY, Bad, Sometimes, maybe even LAPOE (altho that last one could be all track) etc, that's Terry Lawless. Loops like the WOWY, Bad, OTH, Walk On and Mysterious Ways percussives, the slight guitar riff in One verses etc etc, that's obviously part of the track as its highly repetitive, percussive and affects the timing of the song.
Get good reference monitors and you'll hear everything
PolarCamel
The Fly
I think terry does a lot, but more cuing and launching loops and sequencers than actual live playing. as for Gone, on POPmart they had the whammy line from the album as a backing track, on Elevation, as a part of the more stripped down atitude, they kept it as a cue for the intro and pre-verse instrumental refrains (high pitch B-D-E B-D-E) only, and instead Bono played a simple 3-note line in the end wired through wah-wah, the pedal he uses is set right next to his amp, so that's why he plays that part with his back to the crowd, as he uses the pedal.
apart from that they used Bruce Brody for onstage keys on Please on the Elevation tour, and on Popmart, up to the concert in Israel, Howie B would play with the sound and tweak it occasionaly while they were playing, thus performing live-remix-live-production of sorts, this is evident on the Tel Aviv bootleg, especially during Discotheque (echoing and phasing bono before the second verse) and Bullet (tickling Larry and Adam with synth bass drum kicks), unfortunately Howie B stopped touring with them after he was busted with heaps of marijuana at Toronto airport right before the 3rd leg, and supposedly banned from North America (at least for a while).
I guess that a lot of the lines Edge chooses to play from backing tracks identical to studio versions or to change them altogether are just guitar lines that were played on tape by Lanois, and naturally, Edge's wouldn't try to recreate them live, for respect of Dan and will to try his own creative approach on a live setting. Such lines are the bluesy loop during One (backing track on concert), the minimalist honking-car-two-note solo on Love is Blindness before the last verse (changed altogether for concerts), and the Keith Richards-style licks on In a Little While (omitted live).
apart from that they used Bruce Brody for onstage keys on Please on the Elevation tour, and on Popmart, up to the concert in Israel, Howie B would play with the sound and tweak it occasionaly while they were playing, thus performing live-remix-live-production of sorts, this is evident on the Tel Aviv bootleg, especially during Discotheque (echoing and phasing bono before the second verse) and Bullet (tickling Larry and Adam with synth bass drum kicks), unfortunately Howie B stopped touring with them after he was busted with heaps of marijuana at Toronto airport right before the 3rd leg, and supposedly banned from North America (at least for a while).
I guess that a lot of the lines Edge chooses to play from backing tracks identical to studio versions or to change them altogether are just guitar lines that were played on tape by Lanois, and naturally, Edge's wouldn't try to recreate them live, for respect of Dan and will to try his own creative approach on a live setting. Such lines are the bluesy loop during One (backing track on concert), the minimalist honking-car-two-note solo on Love is Blindness before the last verse (changed altogether for concerts), and the Keith Richards-style licks on In a Little While (omitted live).
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
U2Fanatic4ever
Blue Crack Addict
naw... they come out of edge's nose..
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
it's a machine under Edge's beanie. That's why he never takes it off. The other sounds come from Bono's shades.
StaySafeTonight
The Fly
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2005
- Messages
- 128
It used to be that way for wowy. Since Popmart though, Edge has had his infinite guitars run through a delay, a slow attack, and a whammy to produce a sound that is a little behind the guitar and is a couple octaves higher. I stole that trick from him.
BBC - Imagine: The Story of the Guitar - Video - The Edge: Gibson Explorer
at 2:45 of that video is where he puts the volume pedal down so the signal of the whammy comes through. Personally I think it sounds better than the keyboards they used in the 80s and early 90s.
Also check out COBL (studio version) and Tower of song with Leonard Cohen because Edge uses those same effects on the guitar parts.
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
The more I look at this thread title, the more the term "hidden members" is starting to mean something totally different to me.
LarryMullenFan
Acrobat
I hate to break it to ya, but that's not a whammy, it's Edge's shimmer. Basically a multidelay/octaver. It's a patch in And, he has been using that since 1985 or something.
U2's The Edge Shimmer Effects - Guitarist article - Shanzuguitars.com
OP
OP
Jon Seidman
The Fly
with all the backing tracks, external musicians, etc... going on, I wonder what a U2 concert would sound like if they never picked up their instruments?
dal975
The Fly
One of the reasons I find the Elevation Miami dress rehearsal fascinating is because there are minimal lyrics from bono and the sequencers are very prevalent and able to be easily isolated...if i recall correctly a good example of that is Mysterious Ways where bono drops out entirely for most of the song. Because edge's guitar is minimal during the verses, it's basically rhythm section and sustained synth notes until the chorus. I think it is similar on parts of Streets as well. I'll try to dig up the link for convenience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZgXHsC_0dM
karaoke.
Ronnie269
Refugee
I know this is a bit off topic, but I think it would be better to post here rather than start another thread,
I was just wondering how everyone feels about Lanois, Eno & Terry Lawless having a musical input in U2's music?,
As in they actually write and play various instruments on several recorded U2 songs.
I was just wondering how everyone feels about Lanois, Eno & Terry Lawless having a musical input in U2's music?,
As in they actually write and play various instruments on several recorded U2 songs.
StaySafeTonight
The Fly
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2005
- Messages
- 128
Yeah that's right. I just call it whammy because on the multi effects pedal I use live for effects like that doesn't really have a name for the "shimmer" so I just always called it an 'active' whammy or something. It sounds really cool when you add a ping delay to it. It sounds like a string quartet playing along with you!
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