Shuttlecock XX - Laz Is All You Have Left

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You need to step away from covering U2 setlists so closely if you think this is a bad setlist. Pull your head our of your ass. Burn your setlist website to the ground and get real. You've lost the plot.

By this logic you would call 26 run-throughs on In a Little While and
Acrobat
as a good setlist.
 
You need to step away from covering U2 setlists so closely if you think this is a bad setlist. Pull your head our of your ass. Burn your setlist website to the ground and get real. You've lost the plot.

Hey cunna up to Vertigo I get a majority return of sweet songs out of any setlist. Even the pretty mediocre sets I got on 360 had more interesting stuff than this.

But keep up being tetchy, I guess somebody's gotta defend this band loading their set with 2000s songs nobody wants to hear in preference to the band's earlier bangers.
 
I didn't expect my opinion to be a popular one after they threw fans a bone like that. If you think the setlist is awesome, or believe it's justifiably carried by one or two songs, that's terrific. It's your money.

Me, I recently lost all financial aid and have to fund a teaching certificate out of pocket, so I've got to be extremely careful with how I spend money over the next 6 months, impacting the way I view setlists like this one. When you've been extremely fortunate to see U2 every tour, occasionally multiple times, it's easier to pass on an opportunity, even when the band is doing some things very well.

And they certainly are. 27 songs is terrific and it's bold that they are loading up their sets with new material that they are clearly proud of. The 20 minutes or so of material targeted to hardcore fans is refreshing. I would never say the current set is "bad" for a band their age; in fact, they're putting in a lot of effort to prove the contrary. It's just not to my taste, as someone who hasn't really enjoyed a U2 album since 2009.

Skipping a tour was bound to happen eventually as U2's new music diverges further and further from my tastes. Ashley seems insistent on going, so budget concerns will probably sideline me this time around. Personally, I will be missing out on 4-5 gems (if they keep them around) and a really cool screen. Fans of the last two albums should by no means skip out on this tour if they can afford it.
 
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Cobbs, you're pretty damn close. Also, I mis-counted and forgot one song.

1 that I would be extremely keen to hear
Acrobat
4 that I would really enjoy hearing
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses / Until the End of the World / Cedarwood Road / I Will Follow
3 that would be neat to hear, but not earth-shattering
The Ocean / Love Is Bigger / The Blackout
4 that I wouldn't mind hearing once (basically, have never heard live, and go into the ambivalent section once I have)
Staring at the Sun / Lights of Home / Raised By Wolves / Iris
6 that I'd be ambivalent about hearing
Love is All We Have Left / All Because of You / Desire / City of Blinding Lights / Vertigo / Get Out of Your Own Way
5 that I never need to hear live ever again
One / Elevation / Beautiful Day / Pride / Sunday Bloody Sunday
4 that can fuck right off
Song for Someone / 13 / Best Thing / American Soul
 
So when Edge plays a song like this, does he realize how weak the guitar is on so much of the newer stuff? When you can push a feeling so intensely through your instrument you have to know you've been underutilizing it.

I'm sure you could say this about some others songs but man
Acrobat
is just a monster.

Bono's occasional straining aside, I thought this sounded as good as one could imagine, and definitely better than other recent resurrections like ASOH, Zooropa, and I guess Ultraviolet as well. And to be honest, all the JT deep cuts from last year.

Bravo.

Having said that, the percentages LM posted are a bummer. And my FOMO isn't really bugging me too much. I was going to say I'll buy the eventual Blu-Ray so I'll get to see it in good quality but I think we're all assuming this will be forgotten like Leo by the time they do any official video recording. At least we'll have bootlegs.
 
All the JT deep cuts? What, even Exit?

I'd say it was just as good. I won't say better, because we all know U2 don't hit their stride until a few shows into the tour. But Exit was a live beast and should be played regularly and often.
 
Bono and Larry were not connecting at all on that performance; Bono was consistently a little off the beat from start to finish. It's not polished by any stretch.

But man oh man did Edge sound good. Fuck yeah.
 
I mean, I wasn't there in person, so take this with a kilo of salt, but Exit sounded way better (thanks to Bono). That shit was nuts.

Hear, hear, hear on Edge. Laz, you're so fucking right about Edge. Great call. I was blown away by how good Edge sounded. Absolutely nailed it. And then they move into acoustic Best Thing :|

I didn't expect my opinion to be a popular one after they threw fans a bone like that. If you think the setlist is awesome, or believe it's justifiably carried by one or two songs, that's terrific. It's your money.

Me, I recently lost all financial aid and have to fund a teaching certificate out of pocket, so I've got to be extremely careful with how I spend money over the next 6 months, impacting the way I view setlists like this one. When you've been extremely fortunate to see U2 every tour, occasionally multiple times, it's easier to pass on an opportunity, even when the band is doing some things very well.

And they certainly are. 27 songs is terrific and it's bold that they are loading up their sets with new material that they are clearly proud of. The 20 minutes or so of material targeted to hardcore fans is refreshing. I would never say the current set is "bad" for a band their age; in fact, they're putting in a lot of effort to prove the contrary. It's just not to my taste, as someone who hasn't really enjoyed a U2 album since 2009.

Skipping a tour was bound to happen eventually as U2's new music diverges further and further from my tastes. Ashley seems insistent on going, so budget concerns will probably sideline me this time around. Personally, I will be missing out on 4-5 gems (if they keep them around) and a really cool screen. Fans of the last two albums should by no means skip out on this tour if they can afford it.

That sucks to hear man I'm sorry. :(

Cobbs, you're pretty damn close. Also, I mis-counted and forgot one song.

1 that I would be extremely keen to hear
Acrobat
4 that I would really enjoy hearing
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses / Until the End of the World / Cedarwood Road / I Will Follow
3 that would be neat to hear, but not earth-shattering
The Ocean / Love Is Bigger / The Blackout
4 that I wouldn't mind hearing once (basically, have never heard live, and go into the ambivalent section once I have)
Staring at the Sun / Lights of Home / Raised By Wolves / Iris
6 that I'd be ambivalent about hearing
Love is All We Have Left / All Because of You / Desire / City of Blinding Lights / Vertigo / Get Out of Your Own Way
5 that I never need to hear live ever again
One / Elevation / Beautiful Day / Pride / Sunday Bloody Sunday
4 that can fuck right off
Song for Someone / 13 / Best Thing / American Soul

How the absolute fuck is Fuck Off Own Way in ambivalent and not fuck right off?!
 
Bono and Larry were not connecting at all on that performance; Bono was consistently a little off the beat from start to finish. It's not polished by any stretch.

But man oh man did Edge sound good. Fuck yeah.

It was sloppy but powerful. No reason to drop it; it can and will work better, just like Exit.

Don't drop it U2. Pretty please.
 
Ok yeah Exit was def tops because of how unhinged it was.

Wild Horses was well done, but Edge was doing more freestyling the couple times they did full electric on Vertigo (Amsterdam is the boot I have). He really soared there. So this is decent and Bono is def engaged but I'm not going to lose sleep over missing it.

Some other notes from watching YouTube clips:

1. The Blackout is also a monster. Def a better opener than The Miracle even if not as "fun". I love how the band starts the show inside the screen, and the abrasive guitar combined with the distorted imagery hiding them is clearly meant to evoke the opening of ZooTV. It works.

2. Light of Home: I never thought this was a good proper album opener, and I don't think it works in the #2 slot here, either. It's too plodding or staccato or something. You get people dancing and rocking with Blackout and this kills the momentum IMO.

3. Love is Bigger: this is how a show should end. As rousing as it should be. The crowd sing along "oh oh oh oh oh oh" goes perfectly here instead of trying it too early in the show. The band seems invested. And mercifully they give us a longer refrain at the end, why they didn't on the album will always be a mystery.

4. Unfortunately, as much as I love 13 on the album, I think it's a bit much here. I know the band has pulled off quiet codas in the past, like Bono's solo Unchained Melody or Wake Up Dead Man. But this really goes on for too long. Bono does a great job and the little bit at the end with the light bulb coming out of the toy house is a nice callback to I&E and makes for foot theatre. I just feel like the crowd is on a high after Love is Bigger and that's all going to be drained out in the 5 minutes afterwards.

As long as Red Flag Day stays out of the setlist, I'm not going to regret skipping this one.
 
The Blackout is, I think, the best thing they've done since NLOTH. There are better songs they've made since then, but The Blackout is just really smart, and I really wish they'd gone harder on it, rather than acquiescing to Best Thing and Fuck Off Own Way. It's a punchy single with a great vibe and energy, and the band sounds engaged on it. It sounds organic. It's a really smart opener, and the equivalent of Vertigo and Elevation - which is high praise, because neither NLOTH nor SOI had one of those - although it just won't have the staying power of either of those two songs, because U2 are so much further down the road now.
 
That sucks to hear man I'm sorry. :(

Thanks. But it's not all bad news; there are some great things going on personally and professionally that I will feel more comfortable talking about in the coming months, but they require some conservative spending for a while. It's all good.
It was sloppy but powerful. No reason to drop it; it can and will work better, just like Exit.

Don't drop it U2. Pretty please.
If they want this tour to possess some degree of sociopolitical relevance, Acrobat is a hell of a choice. "And you can dream, so dream out loud, and don't let the bastards grind you down" hasn't seemed such a necessary refrain in ages. It's such a restless, iconoclastic song.
 
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