no acoustic set / good or bad?

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earthshell

The Fly
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
282
I couldn't believe that U2 has finally dropped the acoustic set, other than Yahweh in the encore. Out of all (or most) opening night predictions, I think most of them had at least a couple of acoustic songs in there! I kinda like it. Dropping the acoustic set gets the crowds energy going quicker. Although with the acoustic set I beleive that it is much more emotional and the band is more in touch with the crowd that way. IMO, i say if you play Yahweh acoustic, put in the middle of the set and put Crumbs From Your Table in the encore!!!! Now that would be sweet!! So you're thoughts??

No Acoustic Set:

Good

or

Bad
 
Not just good; FAN-FECKING-TASTIC.

Good riddance, acoustic set.
 
I'm so happy about this. To quote a famous saying on this board at the moment.

'Makes me want to go out and fuck a football'

:) :)

Not really, but I'm glad they are playing the stuff full band.

Sken
 
The accoustic set was just a leftover from the days when unplugged was the hottest thing in town. Good riddance as far as i'm concerned. I'd rather hear those songs in ftheir full electrical versions.
 
Kind of miss it, but it wouldn't have been that exciting if they kept it going this time around. Not a lot of new songs intended for acoustic. I wouldn't mind if they brought it back the next tour, but whatever. I'm happy either way.
 
Good riddance, especially with this tour and the new material. I'm very happy to see it gone.
 
I love the acoustic set, but I don't think it's necessary for every tour. It makes sense to go all electric for Vertigo.

(Edit: Also, they might play "A Man and a Woman" if there were an acoustic set. Not worth the risk.)
 
Last edited:
Well, I LOVE the acoustic set. However, I think it was the right choice to drop it this tour(if indeed they are dropping it for the whole tour).

You have to understand the genesis of the acoustic set. In the late 80s, MTV started a series called 'Unplugged', which at first was popular, and would later gain cult-status in through the early and mid-90s. In 92, it was approaching the peak of its popularity(which I think actually hit in 94). Now, it is well-known that U2 is one of the biggest bands never to do an 'Unplugged' episode. If you remember, this was a time period in which U2 sort of shunned that kind of exposure. They weren't interested. Instead, they incorperated an acoustic set into their own show, and played it every night. And it was really great, imo. ZooTV's acoustic set, with the likes of Angel Of Harlem->Stay(Faraway, So Close)->Satellite Of Love was :drool:. Popmart's acoustic set was also great, despite what some will say. AIWY->Desire->SATS->SBS(Edge Solo) was :drool: . It worked then. U2 were making the kind of music that unplugged sets thrived with. But a the popular music scene changed dramatically between Popmart and Elevation. The 'Unplugged' fad was practically dead when Elevation came around. I think everyone can agree the acoustic sets during Elevation sounded tired and uninteresting, save for the ok rendition of Stay. The 'it' that made the acoustic set special wasn't there anymore. When that happens, sometimes it is best to leave it behind(no pun intended), leave it in the past. It actually serves to make the ZooTV and Popmart acoustic sets that much more special. But time has moved on, and so must U2. That's why it was a good idea to drop the acoustic set this time around. To play another tired acoustic set would only serve to mar how special the acoustic sets were in their own time(look how badly the Elevation acoustic sets have damaged the image of the acoustic set to the people in this thread alone), and to perhaps give the feeling that the band was unable to let go of something from their own past.
 
It will probably show back up when they decide to play Original Of The Species. Wouldn't mind hearing Staring At The Sun acoustically, either. But if they insist on the train wreck that is the acoustic version of Desire....:banghead:
 
Miss it too. Bono and Edge's versions of songs worked very well for most part.
 
Hey! That football line is mine! Well, it was my grandfather's saying actually. Long story
Haha, it was such a strange quote I found it very funny. Your grandfather has an interesting sense of humour:)

Sken
 
I always hated the accoustic set. When a band like for instance U2 has such a cataloque of fantastic material I'm just not trhilled to hear staring at the sun(acc) or something.

I'm glad that they seemd to have got rid of it...

The setlists up till now are great by the way..if only the unforgettable fire would make a comeback and uteotw...man Can't wait for Chicago...!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Aardvark747 said:
...i'm enjoying the acoustic Yahweh enormously.

Love this version but would be blown away by the band version..the alt. version that is....
 
a quick acoustic set composed by fast cars and amaaw, plus one "classic acoustic" (like stay, sats, party girl, even aiwiy) would be nice.
 
ACOUSTIC SET WAS WEAK. I APPLAUD THE REMOVAL. Now let's mix up the setlists and bring some of their best work out of the catalog, perhaps play some new stuff (post Atomic Bomb), covers, etc
 
I'm actually very disappointed, i love hearing versions of songs acoustically. It changes things up a bit. Does anyone have any good acoustic recordings that they'd be willing to share?
 
namkcuR said:
Popmart's acoustic set was also great, despite what some will say. AIWY->Desire->SATS->SBS(Edge Solo) was :drool: . It worked then. I think everyone can agree the acoustic sets during Elevation sounded tired and uninteresting, save for the ok rendition of Stay. The 'it' that made the acoustic set special wasn't there anymore.
No, I can't agree with you at all regarding these points. The acoustic set '97 here in Germany and the most European shows was not even worthy to be called like that. Why? It was only one single tune: the (beautiful) "Staring At the Sun" - played every night, in the same arrangement and going worse and more boring every time. This was followd by the Karaoke-part, where Edge did the crowd sing along to popular playback-tunes: not very funny, too.
On the other hand there wasn't a straight acoustic set in 2001 here: the band played not very good, vocally demanding arrangement "Stay" or the awesome "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" after a usual bluesy, electric full band "Desire" (at times linked with "Hawkmoon 269", "Running To Stand Still" or Van's "Gloria", when you were lucky). But in the USA these things changed a bit towards the end of the tour with 2 songs played acoustically: a majestic "In God's Country" followed by the intense "Please" fitting the mood of these days perfectly. But even in these rare occasions it wasn't a proper set, too - inbetween were full band electric versions of "People Get Ready" or "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" rocking it out. So: The one and only acoustic sets are long gone: '92/'93...
 
I´m soooo tired of the acoustic set, i like the way is now. But i also like the acoustic "Yahweh" before "40". I think is 1000000000 times better than the original version.
 
i think its better without it. i mean, i liked the stay performance from elevation and starin at the sun from popmart.

but right now the only thing id want to see is the bono/edge banjo tease of vertigo right before they played the full band version.
 
The stripped down acoustic Yahweh is beautiful. Primarily however, IMO, due to audience participation.

It seems that for some reason people have really latched on to this song. It is my favorite on the album personally. Probably b/c the Yahweh chorus is just so fun to sing!

It shocked me hearing the first night boot (and I think Bono too) that so many were singing the chorus. It was like "OK, this is the life that this song is taking on live....cool."

That said, "sun is coming up..." portion (bridge?) is sorely missed.

Now, just b/c Yahweh sounds great acoustic does not mean that they should bring back a set.

IMO it often became a crutch for the band to not have to rehearse some lesser played songs full band. I mean, Desire was horrendous. Stay, one of U2's mind blowing songs due to the somewhat rare specificity of the lyrics, sounded infinitely better on the Zoo tour. SATS worked actually but not much else during Elevation. Please somewhat worked during Elevation but only due to the relevance and intensity of that song. Still think full band would have been killer.

What is nice is Bono singing acapella between songs but don't play the entire song half-assed please.

Anyway, these are obviously just my informed opinions...

I guess what worries me most is that the band (Mcguinness has said so numerous times now) is aware that it has been to some degree "their own kind of tribute band" over the last few tours. If they are aware of this and do not fix it (for money?) that would be so tragic for a band with such a deep and amazing song book. They have always followed the formula of greatest hits plus new material plus a couple of others but now with such an extensive catalog they have to switch it up.

My long winded point is that the absence of the acoustic set allows for more full band versions of overlooked songs that deserve a place in the live U2 canon (Lemon, Stay full band, Red Hill Mining Town, Drowning Man, Stranger in a Strange Land, Twilight, Another Time Another Place, Promende, ASOH with the lyrics learned, Dirty Day, Love is Blindness, and yes even Acrobat as has been mentioned.)

So playing a lame acoustic set does the band a disservice twice.

I used to think that U2 could not just add a song to the set randomly and have it work as it seems they need to play songs constantly in a live situation to polish them. However, Gloria played recently was awesome! So they can do it. Sure hope they play that one again, BTW...

So it is time for U2 to right the wrong of the [greatest hits + new album] formula.

Goodnight and thank you.
 
knox said:
It will probably show back up when they decide to play Original Of The Species. Wouldn't mind hearing Staring At The Sun acoustically, either. But if they insist on the train wreck that is the acoustic version of Desire....:banghead:
Desire sucks...






...by U2 standards.
 
pxlphish said:
Now let's mix up the setlists and bring some of their best work out of the catalog, perhaps play some new stuff (post Atomic Bomb), covers, etc

I did not know that there was post-Atomic Bomb material already released...

:wink:
 
U2@NYC said:


I did not know that there was post-Atomic Bomb material already released...

:wink:

I think he meant that the band could play material no one has heard yet but that might be recorded for the next record...bands do that sometimes.
 
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