Will U2 Finally Outgrow POP in ther Atomic Bomb tour?

[jick]

We got quite a number of POP-free setlists in the Elevation Tour, and POP songs were making sporadic appearances. The only full band songs were Discotheque and Staring At The Sun. Staring At The Sun and Please made cameo appearances in the B-stage, and a much abridged version of Wake Up Dead Man was played infrequently also.

NEVER in U2's history have their played only two full band songs from their immediately preceding album in any given tour, except when that preceding album was POP.

During October Tour, they played more than 2 Boy songs full band. During the War Tour, they played more than 2 October song full band. During the UF Tour, they played more than 2 War songs full band. During the JT Tour, they played more than 2 UF songs full band. During the Lovetown Tour, they played more than 2 JT Tour songs full band ....well you kinda get what I mean.

It came to a grinding halt during the Elevation Tour when they played only two full band POP songs (on nights the audience was unlucky) and some POP free setlists (on nights when the audience was lucky).

Where's Mofo? LNOE? Full band Please? Miami? Velvet Dress? Do You Feel Loved? Well, U2 obviously didn't want to play them anymore. Then U2 went on to remix POP for the Best Of 1990-2000 collection.

It is obvious that U2 want to erase the stigma of the POP debacle that was brought forth during those dark ages of their musical creativity.

So I don't want to start another thread about the merits and demerits of POP. That has all been argued to death and that is precisely why I am posting on this forum (and not in EYKIW). I want to keep this topic purely on the setlist.

Now my question, will U2 finally fully turn their backs on POP on this tour, outgrow the album, and make a POP-free setlist? I honestly think so. What do you guys think? Do you think any POP songs in full band form will somehow sneak into the setlist?

Another thing worth considering - there was no full band POP song in the Slane DVD (which uses the same font as U2's new album). No POP on BBC Radio performance, or in New York surprise concert setlist. So perhaps this could be an omen of great things to come in the upcoming tour.

What do you guys think?

Hope all replies focus squarely on the setlist issues I have posed here and not on the problems of the POP album itselt.

Cheers,

J

 

[Axver]

Jick, it seems you have forgotten Gone was on Pop. That is the most frequently performed song from the Pop album, with (I think!) 148 performances to its name. Please appeared once in full band form on 2001-10-19 in Baltimore before being consigned to the b-stage for the rest of the third leg. After the end of the second leg, Please was the only Pop song performed (oh, and maybe Wake Up Dead Man too, but I really don't remember its last performance date).

Wake Up Dead Man was performed more times on Elevation than on Popmart, and in exactly the same form on both tours. I also have a performance of Streets from Elevation where Bono sings "Do you feel loved?" a couple of times. Sorry, I can't remember the date.

So, to the issue addressed - will U2 play a Pop-free setlist? I honestly do not think so. Gone and Wake Up Dead Man are likely to appear and Staring At The Sun is always a b-stage possibility. Discotheque did not really suit the Elevation format and faded out of the sets, but it was a big single and might come back down the track. Please is obviously dependent upon world climate - U2 played it after 2001-09-11 because it was relevant and appropriate. Will they keep it? Go look at Iraq. I think they might.

DYFL, IGWSHA, Miami, Playboy Mansion, and Velvet Dress are gone for good.

LNOE ... I don't think they'd cut it for good. Of course, they probably will, but I have a feeling it might return sometime. I hope so, as it was awesome with UTEOTW.

That about covers it, I think.

 

[Axver]

Oh, and by the way, I don't think the promo sets are anything to judge by. All we have had are two songs from Boy, one from RAH, and one from ATYCLB, along with She's A Mystery To Me. Definitely cannot make inferences from that.

 

[jick]

Oh, and by the way, I don't think the promo sets are anything to judge by. All we have had are two songs from Boy, one from RAH, and one from ATYCLB, along with She's A Mystery To Me. Definitely cannot make inferences from that.

Thanks so much for your replies. I don't quite think Gone will make the setlist this tour but I think some POP tracks will sneak in as snippets or b-stage performances.

I am not too sure about Please because that is just a reworded Sunday Bloody Sunday kinda like Peace On Earth also. And if U2 had to pick one then they'd surely go for SBS. I doubt if U2 have room in their setlist for non-hits considering their back catalogue is greatly growing and they have stayed relevant for over 20 years (they have too many songs to choose from). So it should probably be 9 songs off HTDAAB plus 13 songs which are greatest hits. Is there any song off POP that seriously qualifies as greatest hits? If you look at the Best Of 1990-2000, only Discotheque and Gone are there from POP that are playable full-band live (SATS is B-stage). Discotheque will probably never fit the HTDAAB setup since Bomb has heavy lyrics with soul, love, kneeling, etc. while Disco is about chewing bubblegum. So Gone is perhaps the logical choice, but U2 already has a new "goodbye" song in Sometimes You Can't Make It. So I'm not too sure if a POP song will appear full band in the Bomb Tour.

I remember there was a site once with Elevation Tour song statistics. Would you remember where I can find that?

Cheers,

J

 

[U2girl]

Gone, Staring at the sun, Discotheque, Please. (also some versions with a keyboard) Plus snippets of Wake up dead man.

Not that bad for a supposedly "given up" Pop.

They played 0 Zooropa songs on Popmart, and 1 song off that album on Elevation. Are they secretly giving up on that one too?

 

[Aardvark747]

DYFL, IGWSHA, Playboy Mansion, and Velvet Dress are gone for good.

 

[Aardvark747]

Gone has to be a certainty for the next tour...?

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Yeah, I think they're really fond of "Gone"

Plus, really, "Gone" only became a "goodbye" song after Michael Hutchence's passing. It's more about emptiness in celebrity. And I think that works as a nice contrast to the more soulful stuff.

 

[Aardvark747]

Yeah, I think they're really fond of "Gone"

Plus, really, "Gone" only became a "goodbye" song after Michael Hutchence's passing. It's more about emptiness in celebrity.

I never realised that...

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

Gone will be in the setlist at least 50% of the time

Discotheque just a few times.....

Starring at the sun as an acoustic B-stage song 1/3 of the time...

Wake up dead man a few times too....

Please, no doubt if they play stadiums.... full band (not always)

5/12 songs will be played...... in my opinion. I don't think the same pourcentage will happen with every album...... take October, Zooropa and UF...... maybe 1-2 songs, or none.....

I don't think they dislike POP, I do think they love POP, but the audience not really and they take that into consideration.

For BOMB Tour, they might play a lot of 80's stuff, as well as Achtung Baby..... I believe it fits better with HTDAAB..... I don't think they will put in MOFO or Daddy's........ (unfortunately)

 

[Macfistowannabe]

Yeah, I think they're really fond of "Gone"

Plus, really, "Gone" only became a "goodbye" song after Michael Hutchence's passing. It's more about emptiness in celebrity. And I think that works as a nice contrast to the more soulful stuff.

They really tweaked up "Gone" on The Elevation Tour. The Boston performance rocked the place down, and they've improved that song so much. As Bono might tell you himself, some songs are just never finished. I like that philosophy, because I've seen U2 improve old songs more and more every tour they do.

 

[strannix]

What the hell difference does it make whether Please was full-band or not? If they still take the time to play it, they haven't given up on it, regardless of form.

 

[Swan269]

I think that Gone would be an easy add to this setlist because of the heavy guitars that are in it when they play it live. Since this album is about everyone playing there asses off, Last Night on Earth may have a shot but like I said, I think that Gone will be the only song played from POP on this tour....

On a side note, I think Please would be a great song to lead into City of Blinding Lights, then into Streets..........WOW!

 

[Axver]

I am not too sure about Please because that is just a reworded Sunday Bloody Sunday kinda like Peace On Earth also. And if U2 had to pick one then they'd surely go for SBS.

Well, they went with both of them after 2001-09-11, and I think their selection is dependent on what fits into the setlist. The two songs are very different sonically (although Bono has quoted SBS at the end of Please); Sunday Bloody Sunday is more suited to the rocking portion of a set while Please works better before Streets or in the acoustic set. So if they do choose to play one of them, I think the decision might be made for them by what places they have to fill in the set.

I doubt if U2 have room in their setlist for non-hits considering their back catalogue is greatly growing and they have stayed relevant for over 20 years (they have too many songs to choose from). So it should probably be 9 songs off HTDAAB plus 13 songs which are greatest hits.

I think the count of nine new songs might be a bit high. On Elevation, U2 averaged about 6-7 ATYCLB songs per set, with some concerts featuring as few as five. However, all of HTDAAB is extremely playable and I imagine they will want to perform all the songs. You bring up an extremely valid point regarding U2's back catalogue - this is an issue they need to deal with, preferably through more varied setlists and song rotation (i.e. Bad/AIWIY on Elevation). They don't want to become a jukebox playing classic hits, though. I imagine they will also try to bring out fan favourites and songs that are not as widely known in the mainstream. What does this mean for Pop? I am sure your opinion will differ to mine, but I think it gives at least some potential for Gone, LNOE, and Please to be played live again.

True, U2 have a goodbye song now in SYCMIOYO, but Gone wasn't initially a goodbye tune. It is also vastly different sonically and would suit a more rocking part of the setlist. It's about the shallowness of celebrity, and I do not know how that will fit on the HTDAAB Tour, because, as you say, HTDAAB is about soul, love, kneeling, et cetera, and Bono's even "at the door of the place I started out from and I want back inside." Some might think that clashes with Gone.

At this point, I think all we have is speculation and little facts to base it in. I imagine U2 would like to sample all their albums, with the exception of October (though many wish they woudl return to Gloria or the October --> NYD combo). They successfully played songs from each album apart from October on Elevation and I think they will attempt to do this again.

I do not expect many Pop songs to be present, though. JT and AB are the two that will contribute the most songs from the back catalogue. The rest are likely to achieve 2-song representation (i.e. IWF and OOC from Boy, Pride and Bad from UF). Pop's best chance for representation is SATS in the b-stage set and possibly Gone or LNOE in a more rocking portion of the main set and Please in rotation before Streets.

I remember there was a site once with Elevation Tour song statistics. Would you remember where I can find that?

I do not know of any site with solely Elevation stats, but Elevation-Tour.com provides stats for ALL tours.
All tours overview.
All songs played.
All locations played.

There are some inaccuracies (i.e. U2's Gloria and snippets of Van Morrison's Gloria are counted as the same song), but on the whole, that is an extremely valuable website.

Hope that tells you at least some information you are looking for.

 

[Dr_Macphisto]

cool site! thunk ye

 

[LMP]

I think that 'Discotheque' would be a great song to keep the energy flowing during the middle of the show, also 'Please' makes a very touching B-stage tune. 'Wake up Dead Man' can leech to another song like Unchained Melody did to One.