shuttlecock XXIV: it's the little swings

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That sucks. Hope you'll be able to enjoy the show tonight.
 
Forgot to add, how fucking good is The Whole of the Moon? I'd never heard it before, it's fucking amazing, such a perfect final song before they come on.
 
I got made redundant yesterday, so I've actually got the time, but I can't be bothered :( going back on my word.

Ah it’s all good, good payout, gives me time to reassess, I’m actually quite happy :)


Sorry to hear the news, bud. You're an intelligent, likable guy, I'm sure you'll find something befitting of your abilities.
 
Forgot to add, how fucking good is The Whole of the Moon? I'd never heard it before, it's fucking amazing, such a perfect final song before they come on.

Yes, The Waterboys are a pretty great band as well. So check out their albums This Is The Sea (which contains The Whole Of The Moon) and Fisherman's Blues (one of their other masterpieces).

And sorry to hear of your job situation.
 
So, umm, surprise new U2 single release tomorrow? Collaboration with esteemed Indian producer/musician AR Rahman.

This is not a drill.

"Ahimsa" - U2

U2 released a new single called “Ahimsa” to digital markets on November 22, 2019 while in the midst of their The Joshua Tree Tour 2019. The song is accompanied with hand written lyrics by Bono as a cover image. The song will be available after midnight in digital storefronts worldwide. After it turns midnight in your region, you should be able to hear the song on YouTube Music at this link.

Whatever it winds up being quality-wise, they need to do more of this kind of thing.

A positive sign.
 
i'm pleasantly surprised at how much i like that song on first listen. my expectations were admittedly low going in, though. doubt that i'll return to it more than once or twice, if that.

also saw this line in the guardian's review of the new coldplay album that i thought was kinda backhandedly funny:

Balancing continued vast commercial success with something more exploratory is tough to do. U2 pulled it off on Achtung Baby and Zooropa, but have spent the ensuing 25 years trying to remember how.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/21/coldplay-everyday-life-review-parlophone-chris-martin
 
Ahimsa!

The chorus is catchy, but there's something I'm not liking about Bono's delivery on the verses. I think his voice just sounds...bad? I love the guy and he's one of my favorite singers ever but I don't know. His vocals just aren't that great anymore. No shame in that. He's obviously pushing 60.

Still, cool and pleasant surprise. I like it, and I like the meaning behind the title.
 
I can understand noticing the wear and tear (although I'm not even hearing that weakness here) but calling it "grating" as Cobbler did is a bit much. This is just Bono singing normally at this point, and not in an overbearing or obnoxious fashion that puts off a lot of people.

I really appreciate the subtlety compared to what he's done on a lot of stuff in recent years.
 
I... did not expect this place to like the new single.

I gave it a spin half an hour ago. I winced a couple of times and have already forgotten how it sounds.
 
Well...we keep telling them not to overwork their music. There's no way this song could have taken them longer than 20 minutes to write.
 
I am so glad I didn't drop the cash to go to the Sydney shows as well as Melbourne and Adelaide. Minority opinion, sure, but UV/Stuck/One is basically my nightmare ending of a U2 gig and they did it at both shows. Melbourne and Adelaide were both good fun. The main set is amazing music, and I wonder why I have drifted away from this band - and then the encore reminds me why. It's both expendable and boring.

Everyone here seems to hone in on Elevation as the biggest waste of space, but I'd actually say it's Beautiful Day. I simply no longer find that song exciting live. Have I seen it too much? I don't know, it just doesn't inspire anything in me any more. I like something such as ISHFWILF much less than Beautiful Day in studio, but live it conveys more meaning than BD does, it still justifies its inclusion. Every Breaking Wave is boring as piss too; I was surprised a bunch of people around me in Melbourne sung along, but in Adelaide it was received politely and without enthusiasm. As far as new tracks go, Love Is Bigger works better.

Also, will U2 ever use a different animation for Vertigo. It's starting to look really dated, and it hasn't become iconic like the red opening to Streets. Having it go for the whole song is tiring - if you can't see the band members well, by halfway through you're wishing for something new to look at.

Anyway, this is my whinge moment because I've shared the positive stuff enough elsewhere and kept the negatives a bit quieter. Maybe you folks will get some of them. Here are some positives:
- I Will Follow is a genuine thrill.
- Edge is on form in Bullet at the moment.
- Three words: One Tree Hill.
- Exit in Adelaide tore the place apart, so fucking good. I mean, it owned in Melbourne too, but that Adelaide performance was something else again.
- I really love Mothers of the Disappeared live, and can only hope this will not be my last time hearing it, even though I know it will be.
- Cool to finally hear EBTTRT live.
- The chat Bono has started doing with the other band members after In God's Country is genuinely endearing and amusing.
- The whole Adelaide show was really fun and loose as far as a stadium gig goes. The band didn't seem to be under pressure and were just enjoying themselves. The best of the five JT shows I've seen across 2017 and 2019, even if Bad didn't appear in the set.

Might write some thoughts on the U2 Conference later, this post is long enough. Those of you who follow the U2gigs Twitter will know it produced the biggest highlight of my JT 2019 experience.
 
I can understand noticing the wear and tear (although I'm not even hearing that weakness here) but calling it "grating" as Cobbler did is a bit much. This is just Bono singing normally at this point, and not in an overbearing or obnoxious fashion that puts off a lot of people.

I really appreciate the subtlety compared to what he's done on a lot of stuff in recent years.

I guess I am just not enjoying his vocals of late. I think he does get a little overbearing on this song. Lyrically it's fine, but it's just a nothing song if you ask me. It's fine.

Every Breaking Wave is boring as piss too; I was surprised a bunch of people around me in Melbourne sung along, but in Adelaide it was received politely and without enthusiasm. As far as new tracks go, Love Is Bigger works better.

- The chat Bono has started doing with the other band members after In God's Country is genuinely endearing and amusing.
- The whole Adelaide show was really fun and loose as far as a stadium gig goes. The band didn't seem to be under pressure and were just enjoying themselves. The best of the five JT shows I've seen across 2017 and 2019, even if Bad didn't appear in the set.

Might write some thoughts on the U2 Conference later, this post is long enough. Those of you who follow the U2gigs Twitter will know it produced the biggest highlight of my JT 2019 experience.

The way they are playing EBW makes it feel like it's at the Oscars or something. Like they're trying to give it more gravitas. Boring is right.

The chat is great, yep. Glad to hear Adelaide was really swell, I did consider coming and am having pretty bad fomo. I would have liked to have gone to Sydney too, sounds like the band were running on more charged emotion given Hutchence's anniversary.

And yes, everyone go look at the U2gigs twitter, highly recommended. :up::up::up:
 
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