U2 to headline Acoustic X-Mas

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If I try really hard, I can picture (the real) McPhisto with full make up and silly smile saying all those things, and it would be funny. Then he'll start singing something like Lemon and it would be great.

Yeah... I'll think of it that way.
 
BigMacPhisto said:
I would have no complaints really if U2 was just its own separate night...like a 90 minute show somewhere else. Let the other fans have a good time seeing the music they want and let the U2 fans specifically fight each other for tickets.

The band really is just using this for self-promotion...and perhaps more for the tour than to sell physical units of an album almost nobody is interested in paying for. Whereas the rest of the acts are there for the benefit/experience...not like Modest Mouse has really had much new material coming out in the last five years.

"Here guys, I booked you for a radio station halfway across the globe you visited a couple of times so you can needlessly promote your new album"
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I'm fully up for knocking the band when they make silly and or overtly self serving and arrogant marketing decisions...

...but for fucks sake. If KROQ didn't want them to be there, they wouldn't be there. It's not as if this concert is your iPhone and U2 just forced their way in there.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
I'm fully up for knocking the band when they make silly and or overtly self serving and arrogant marketing decisions...

...but for fucks sake. If KROQ didn't want them to be there, they wouldn't be there. It's not as if this concert is your iPhone and U2 just forced their way in there.
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Actually, Larry stormed KROQ and tied the station manager to a chair demanding that U2 be allowed to play. The manager endured cigarette burns but relented when threatened with injections of bulls blood, being fearful of mad cow and more than a little confused about the illness.

Is it me or is this U2 acoustic business the most experimental thing they've done since Rattle and Hum? I don't mean experimental in the sens of adventurous music, but experimental for them. It's so far outside of their natural inclination. Few rock bands are as effects driven as U2, and while I'd prefer them to be sonically adventurous, this acoustic stuff is pretty cool. They're definitely not coasting, and not playing to their strengths either, witch is admirable for a band of U2's stature.
 
Hollow Island said:
Actually, Larry stormed KROQ and tied the station manager to a chair demanding that U2 be allowed to play.
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9a9SXLg3Serao.gif
 
bono_212 said:
Festival event that has a very different fanbase from U2, that U2 fans will absolutely destroy? Yeah, pretty pissed about that.
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So you go to festivals that don't involve U2 and I imagine you enjoy them.

You're a U2 fan, which I'm assuming by the fact you're on the forum.

Do you ruin the festivals that you go to?

I guess I don't see U2 fans as the people that would ruin a festival. I mean are we jerks who are rude, dress in giant U2 costume heads, talk on the phone during shows or fight with people? My experience with U2 fans is that they are, for the most part, pretty mellow/average people that really enjoy concerts. I've not yet been to a U2 show where the fans sit even for one song, heck U2 shows often get people really into the show.

I guess I only see this as a great thing. The fact that it's a "different fan base" only makes it that much cooler that U2 is going outside their comfort zone.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
CosmoKramer said:
So you go to festivals that don't involve U2 and I imagine you enjoy them.

You're a U2 fan, which I'm assuming by the fact you're on the forum.

Do you ruin the festivals that you go to?

I guess I don't see U2 fans as the people that would ruin a festival. I mean are we jerks who are rude, dress in giant U2 costume heads, talk on the phone during shows or fight with people? My experience with U2 fans is that they are, for the most part, pretty mellow/average people that really enjoy concerts. I've not yet been to a U2 show where the fans sit even for one song, heck U2 shows often get people really into the show.

I guess I only see this as a great thing. The fact that it's a "different fan base" only makes it that much cooler that U2 is going outside their comfort zone.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
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Seriously.

It's not like we're Jimmy Buffett fans. Those guys are pricks.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
So don't go.
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I probably won't, thus why I'm pissed off. Been waiting for this fest all year.


And yeah, from what I've heard from others at festivals that U2 (or similarly large bands, this isn't unique to U2) have headlined, it just doesn't gel. This has nothing to do with U2 fans being bad people, or the fans of the other bands being bad people. The problem I (and others, let's be real here) have is that this festival has always been a rock show. This is the 25th anniversary. The idea of U2 coming out there and playing a half acoustic set (which, I would hope they're not going to do, but interview suggests it'll be the case) is absolutely maddeningly out of touch.
 
Just to continue down this path of conversation some more: If U2 were guaranteed going to play a "rock" show, I would be more on board, absolutely. It would still leave me fairly convinced that tickets/crowd is going to be a disaster. All too often, at certain fests with incongruous headliners, you hear about the fans showing up early, pushing their way to the front, and then sitting there for the remainder.

Now, I'm not saying U2 fans aren't Smashing Pumpkins fans or Tears for Fears fans, that's not what I'm saying at all. What I am saying, though, is that this is a festival that sells out very quickly each year, as is, so getting there will be hard. Then, there's the U2 fan GA BS that we all know and "love". Not too sure how that's going to work out, so, another situation I'd like to avoid. It's just that there are a few negatives that a U2 show bring with it, and that, combined with an already quickly sold out show, and I'm not saying it'll be a disaster, but I do think you're going to get a bit of a clash, and some irked feelings.

It just really bugs me that KROQ's 25th anniversary show is going to be about as ridiculous as Lollapalooza's 20th anniversary show. I know that KROQ's shouting to high heaven that they've been dying to get U2 for years, but sometimes, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.
 
bono_212 said:
I probably won't, thus why I'm pissed off. Been waiting for this fest all year.


And yeah, from what I've heard from others at festivals that U2 (or similarly large bands, this isn't unique to U2) have headlined, it just doesn't gel. This has nothing to do with U2 fans being bad people, or the fans of the other bands being bad people. The problem I (and others, let's be real here) have is that this festival has always been a rock show. This is the 25th anniversary. The idea of U2 coming out there and playing a half acoustic set (which, I would hope they're not going to do, but interview suggests it'll be the case) is absolutely maddeningly out of touch.
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OK, so you like U2 and you were planning to go to a festival that U2 are playing but you're not going to go now because U2 are there...

That doesn't make any sense. Your arugments as to why U2 playing it is bad are complete bullshit. Sorry to be so blunt, but you're making a problem out of nothing. Go to the gig or stop whining.
 
bono_212 said:
I probably won't, thus why I'm pissed off. Been waiting for this fest all year.


And yeah, from what I've heard from others at festivals that U2 (or similarly large bands, this isn't unique to U2) have headlined, it just doesn't gel. This has nothing to do with U2 fans being bad people, or the fans of the other bands being bad people. The problem I (and others, let's be real here) have is that this festival has always been a rock show. This is the 25th anniversary. The idea of U2 coming out there and playing a half acoustic set (which, I would hope they're not going to do, but interview suggests it'll be the case) is absolutely maddeningly out of touch.
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Sorry man, but you are crazy.

The only night that U2 fans will be there will be night 2. The first night looks absolutely brutally horrible (sorry)
But the second night is made up entirely of bands that are in the same exact cross-section of music/fans. I would say most U2 fans either like or appreciate Weezer, Alt-J, Pumpkins, Modest Mouse, Tears for Fears, etc...
I mean Vance Joy is pretty mellow, and Imagine Dragons, while not my thing, are still not way off from U2.

I don't see not going. That seems sort of odd.
 
My guess is they do acoustic/piano EBW and maybe one other, and then the rest normal full band electric. I think they know, with the other bands there what to do. This is their business after all.
 
:shrug: We'll find out, I guess. People can have different opinions from one another. Leave it at that.
 
And full disclosure, I have passed on seeing bands I enjoy (especially one I've already seen four times) if the billing looked kinda wonky plenty of times in the past. That's the festival life. It doesn't mean I want to see that band any less than another, it's just a value equation, in the end.
 
Having been to this a few times, one of my favorite performances was when the Foo Fighters played half their set acoustic then in the middle of Everlong went full electric. It was awesome.

For the last few years one night has been more rock, the other more alt. I don't have a problem with U2 playing some of the new songs acoustic/stripped down like they have been. In fact, I'm salivating at hearing EBW with Edge on piano.

The crowd for these is never the best. When I saw M83 I was one of the few in the audience that was standing up until Midnight City started. Provided, I get tickets I think this will be great to attend.


Sent from my iPad using U2 Interference
 
This is basically a duplicate post from another thread, but let me try once more to clarify my take:

We're going to try for tickets, and I want to see all of the bands, but I'm not going to be blind to the potential pitfalls, either. That's all I was trying to say. I think, in the end, because things on this forum apparently have to be so black and white, that I accidentally ended up on the NO U2 ARE SUX I DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM AT MY FESTIVAL!!:!?!KJ:LKGJ:SL side of the argument, and that wasn't my intention.

It's so easy to get caught up in the heat of things, when people (myself obviously included) can get so very hyperbolic.

Foo Fighters are a total KROQ band, so while I get the comparison, I'm still left with a little bit of trepidation. Not going to try and make excuses to any examples politely provided, though. I obviously appreciate the insight, TC, since I've not yet had the opportunity to attend AAC.

Another, personal, factor for me, of course, as I've also mentioned elsewhere, is that this has suddenly become a KROQ or Fleetwood Mac situation for me, whereas, previously, I had intended on buying tickets to see Fleetwood Mac and paying (hopefully) reasonably elevated stubhub costs for KROQ. Now, it looks like it's buying the tickets on Thursday, or bust. So, it still remains a value question. How badly do I want to see 8 bands I like very much, vs, how much do I want to see one band I like very much, but may never get to see (the current incarnation of) again?

Not everyone has that particular situation, so not everyone is going to look at this one instance the same way, which is why I've tried to leave that aspect out of the conversation, up to this point, and argued from a neutral perspective. Again, as I mentioned above, the hyperbole of response to that perspective, caused me to shift into hyperbole, as well, and that wasn't my intent. My intent was never to say I don't want to see U2. My intent was to say that U2 being at this show adds some significant factors that anyone planning on attending should be aware of.

Additionally: I made the argument that the fans of KROQ were likely going to have negative residual feelings towards U2, but I have since looked a bit more into that assumption and I was wrong. I will admit when I'm wrong, no problem. Here: I was wrong.
 
I have lived in the LA market place and been a KROQ listener since the 70s.
Over the years I have attended 100s of KQOQ sponsored shows.

bono_212's points are valid. It will be an odd mix of fans. A Jimmy Buffet / U2 show would be a better fit. The last time U2 was a KROQ band was in the 80s.
 
deep said:
I have lived in the LA market place and been a KROQ listener since the 70s.
Over the years I have attended 100s of KQOQ sponsored shows.

bono_212's points are valid. It will be an odd mix of fans. A Jimmy Buffet / U2 show would be a better fit. The last time U2 was a KROQ band was in the 80s.
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I don't live in LA, but did KROQ play Mysterious Ways? Beautiful Day? Vertigo?

I know that festival crowds are not the same at ALL as a straight show, but looking at the line up of Weezer, Interpol, Pumpkins and Tears for Fears, makes me think that will be a lot of like minded people there that will be just fine with U2.

I mean, I would say they are one of those bands that people would love to check their list that they have seen even if they aren't big fans.

Not gonna be a U2 love-in, but I think it would be a cool thing to see as a big fan
 
trojanchick99 said:
Having been to this a few times, one of my favorite performances was when the Foo Fighters played half their set acoustic then in the middle of Everlong went full electric. It was awesome.
Sent from my iPad using U2 Interference
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That song is like a fart.....



Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
womanfish said:
I don't live in LA, but did KROQ play Mysterious Ways? Beautiful Day? Vertigo?

I know that festival crowds are not the same at ALL as a straight show, but looking at the line up of Weezer, Interpol, Pumpkins and Tears for Fears, makes me think that will be a lot of like minded people there that will be just fine with U2.

I mean, I would say they are one of those bands that people would love to check their list that they have seen even if they aren't big fans.

Not gonna be a U2 love-in, but I think it would be a cool thing to see as a big fan
Click to expand...

Yea it's not as if the night they're headlining is jam packed with new, fresh artists.
 
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