(This is fairly lengthy and may not tell some of you anything new, so feel free to skip ...)
Considering my setlist fanaticism, I am sure some have wondered why I haven't made a setlist for the new tour (indeed, I've even been asked why a few times). The simple reason is that I don't know any of the new songs, especially not their beginning or end, so I can't create a setlist with flow, either sonically or thematically. It might be nice to think UTEOTW/New rocking song/Gone would work, but 'New rocking song' might have an intro that does not work with the end of UTEOTW at all, and the ending could totally clash with the beginning of Gone. So I'm not going to be devising any setlists until I have heard the whole new album in full.
That said, I would like to offer my thoughts on some possibilities.
1. The band will be aware that they may turn into a greatest hits band or a jukebox. I fear too much of that happened on Elevation and the band will be mindful of that.
2. Flowing on from point one, classic songs will not be played every night. Instead of playing With Or Without You AND I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For on the same night, they will put them into rotation. That would be somewhat like the Bad/AIWIY rotation of Elevation, though hopefully more pronounced. Maybe even multiple sets.
3. However, some songs HAVE to stay. Where The Streets Have No Name is a classic and the band themselves attest to its ability to turn around even the worst gigs. It will be played at EVERY show U2 play from now until retirement without ANY doubt. It will never be played later than the first song in the encore. UTEOTW is another song highly likely to be played at almost every concert, though I have a sneaking suspicion it might actually enter into rotation this tour. Beautiful Day is a definite every-nighter for the new tour, though maybe not forever. One will be played at most concerts for sure.
4. They have to accommodate new material. 6-8 spots a night will be taken by this stuff, and that's a fair bit in a 20-22 song set. Ninties history says a new song will open. Eighties history tells you not to bet on it. Which will U2 follow? I hope the eighties but I predict the ninties. No rule says the second song will be new though, despite what many of you predict in your sets. Just look at Popmart - Mofo and then I Will Follow.
5. They also have to satisfy the diehard fan. This was the mistake of ZooTV, and why I resent it. ZooTV had the worst U2 sets ever and basically killed the live future of most of their catalogue. They went from Lovetown, the era of greatest setlist variety, to ZooTV, the era of setlist boredom. Too many good songs were wasted then, and I really don't see why they didn't play, say, In God's Country instead of Pride some nights. Exit would have been perfect then, too. Popmart tried to cater for the diehards by bringing I Will Follow back into regular play, but it wasn't enough, and it suffered a lack of variety due to ZooTV's mistakes. Elevation worked against this, and I am hoping this will continue on the new tour. They will play Out Of Control and hopefully 11 O'clock Tick Tock. I suspect a couple of other gems will be dragged out, most likely singles (i.e. Gloria, Two Hearts Beat As One, electric In God's Country) and fan favourites (i.e. A Sort Of Homecoming, One Tree Hill).
6. The world's political climate MUST be considered. People, U2 ARE a political band and that is acknowledged in their sets. Look at the return of Please after 11 September. I sense the outcome of the 2004 US election could dictate what songs are played - if the band want to criticise a Bush victory, I can see them playing In God's Country and Bullet The Blue Sky. If violence continues to rage around the world, we will see at least one of Sunday Bloody Sunday and Please. Please definitely, if there is another international terrorist attack, SBS definitely if the situation in Northern Ireland deteriorates. MLK could be snippeted or featured in the Streets intro as a commemoration to victims of terror and war, especially if the climate is hostile. It's kind of a shame U2 weren't touring before and during the Iraq War (the official campaign, that is), because setlists then could have been seriously charged.
7. If the atomic bomb-related titles prove true, watch out for Seconds in the acoustic set, and anything from The Unforgettable Fire (particularly the title track) would have the chance of appearing somewhere in the setlist.
I did have more to add, but I have horrible mathematics assignments to work on. Have a good one!
- Andr?/Axver
Considering my setlist fanaticism, I am sure some have wondered why I haven't made a setlist for the new tour (indeed, I've even been asked why a few times). The simple reason is that I don't know any of the new songs, especially not their beginning or end, so I can't create a setlist with flow, either sonically or thematically. It might be nice to think UTEOTW/New rocking song/Gone would work, but 'New rocking song' might have an intro that does not work with the end of UTEOTW at all, and the ending could totally clash with the beginning of Gone. So I'm not going to be devising any setlists until I have heard the whole new album in full.
That said, I would like to offer my thoughts on some possibilities.
1. The band will be aware that they may turn into a greatest hits band or a jukebox. I fear too much of that happened on Elevation and the band will be mindful of that.
2. Flowing on from point one, classic songs will not be played every night. Instead of playing With Or Without You AND I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For on the same night, they will put them into rotation. That would be somewhat like the Bad/AIWIY rotation of Elevation, though hopefully more pronounced. Maybe even multiple sets.
3. However, some songs HAVE to stay. Where The Streets Have No Name is a classic and the band themselves attest to its ability to turn around even the worst gigs. It will be played at EVERY show U2 play from now until retirement without ANY doubt. It will never be played later than the first song in the encore. UTEOTW is another song highly likely to be played at almost every concert, though I have a sneaking suspicion it might actually enter into rotation this tour. Beautiful Day is a definite every-nighter for the new tour, though maybe not forever. One will be played at most concerts for sure.
4. They have to accommodate new material. 6-8 spots a night will be taken by this stuff, and that's a fair bit in a 20-22 song set. Ninties history says a new song will open. Eighties history tells you not to bet on it. Which will U2 follow? I hope the eighties but I predict the ninties. No rule says the second song will be new though, despite what many of you predict in your sets. Just look at Popmart - Mofo and then I Will Follow.
5. They also have to satisfy the diehard fan. This was the mistake of ZooTV, and why I resent it. ZooTV had the worst U2 sets ever and basically killed the live future of most of their catalogue. They went from Lovetown, the era of greatest setlist variety, to ZooTV, the era of setlist boredom. Too many good songs were wasted then, and I really don't see why they didn't play, say, In God's Country instead of Pride some nights. Exit would have been perfect then, too. Popmart tried to cater for the diehards by bringing I Will Follow back into regular play, but it wasn't enough, and it suffered a lack of variety due to ZooTV's mistakes. Elevation worked against this, and I am hoping this will continue on the new tour. They will play Out Of Control and hopefully 11 O'clock Tick Tock. I suspect a couple of other gems will be dragged out, most likely singles (i.e. Gloria, Two Hearts Beat As One, electric In God's Country) and fan favourites (i.e. A Sort Of Homecoming, One Tree Hill).
6. The world's political climate MUST be considered. People, U2 ARE a political band and that is acknowledged in their sets. Look at the return of Please after 11 September. I sense the outcome of the 2004 US election could dictate what songs are played - if the band want to criticise a Bush victory, I can see them playing In God's Country and Bullet The Blue Sky. If violence continues to rage around the world, we will see at least one of Sunday Bloody Sunday and Please. Please definitely, if there is another international terrorist attack, SBS definitely if the situation in Northern Ireland deteriorates. MLK could be snippeted or featured in the Streets intro as a commemoration to victims of terror and war, especially if the climate is hostile. It's kind of a shame U2 weren't touring before and during the Iraq War (the official campaign, that is), because setlists then could have been seriously charged.
7. If the atomic bomb-related titles prove true, watch out for Seconds in the acoustic set, and anything from The Unforgettable Fire (particularly the title track) would have the chance of appearing somewhere in the setlist.
I did have more to add, but I have horrible mathematics assignments to work on. Have a good one!
- Andr?/Axver
