Good U2 songs to busk with?

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gareth brown

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Hey i'm currently busking and and would suggestions as to which U2 tracks I should play while out and about. I've been playing 'Stay' among songs by other artists but would love to hear from anyone who has played U2 during a stint busking, which gets the best response??
 
You would probably want to do something that more people know like "One" or even "Vertigo" That would catch peoples attention and have them stop and listen. After you play that tune, you can try one of your own or something else.
 
basically just standing somewhere in public with an instrument (or even just singing for that matter) and playing, leaving a hat or something out in the hope that people will enjoy it and drop some money in. Particularly lucrative at this festive time of year :wink:
but yeah, angel of harlem sounds like a good'un think i might give it a try! cheers
as for One it's not really in my range but i'll transpose it and see how it sounds, thanks guys
 
gareth brown said:
basically just standing somewhere in public with an instrument (or even just singing for that matter) and playing, leaving a hat or something out in the hope that people will enjoy it and drop some money in. Particularly lucrative at this festive time of year :wink:
but yeah, angel of harlem sounds like a good'un think i might give it a try! cheers
as for One it's not really in my range but i'll transpose it and see how it sounds, thanks guys

How about "Whos Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" Thats a great song, very much overlooked I think.
 
joe8pizza said:
You would probably want to do something that more people know like "One" or even "Vertigo" That would catch peoples attention and have them stop and listen. After you play that tune, you can try one of your own or something else.

Can you even play Vertigo acoustically? After all, it revolves around an overdriven guitar riff. And those usually don't work so well on an acoustic guitar.
 
dmaleads said:


Apparently you can play Vertigo acoustically!!!! LOL

http://youtube.com/watch?v=edSOGPYp3xA

or for those that cant see the link:

youtube dot com slash watch?v=edSOGPYp3xA

ROTF! That is awesome!

Still, I don't think anybody else but Bono and The Edge would get away with it. When played on an acoustic guitar it lacks the power a song with full chord would give. I still think for busking you need songs that utilize all strings in a song.
 
Rules for performing U2 in public

a) Do not play obscure songs. No one knows them and no one cares.
b) Play an easily recognizable song. Angel or Beautiful Day are winners.
c) Do not play obscure songs. Obscure for normal people, not U2 fans.
d) Do not play Vertigo. It irritates most normal people.
e) Do not play Vertigo.
 
I'd go so far as to say that you should almost never busk with U2 songs.

There's something about almost every one of their songs that just doesn't really make it work in that sort of environment, unless done by the full band with a bunch of cameras around on the Vegas strip during the JT era.
 
Canadiens1160 said:
Rules for performing U2 in public

a) Do not play obscure songs. No one knows them and no one cares.
b) Play an easily recognizable song. Angel or Beautiful Day are winners.
c) Do not play obscure songs. Obscure for normal people, not U2 fans.
d) Do not play Vertigo. It irritates most normal people.
e) Do not play Vertigo.

god dammit I was going to play a medley of Mercy/Touch/Cartoon World followed by an encore of Treasure if it went down well enough..
 
gareth brown said:


god dammit I was going to play a medley of Mercy/Touch/Cartoon World followed by an encore of Treasure if it went down well enough..
Encore as in you walk away and hide behind the nearest wall and return after a few mins? haha
 
haha yes exactly or go and buy a pasty from the shop opposite my favourite spot.
 
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