Shuttlecock XI: Yes Virginia, You Did Save Bono's Life

[Kieran McConville]

But look at that atu2 poll where a majority of people voted that having no opener was better than any alternative!

I can't blame U2 for ceasing to play festivals. They, or at least their management, realise a large chunk of their fanbase have absolutely no interest in being exposed to any other musical experience.

In fairness, opening acts, for this and other bands, are often a bit on the ho-hum side (with exceptions). They lucked out now and then, during Zootv for instance, but still and all, if I'd attended Zootv, I doubt I've had the slightest interest in who was opening.

U2 playing festivals is just demeaning if you ask me. It's like The Stones playing Splendour or something. Glastonbury was painful.

 

[LemonMelon]

I listen to lots and lots of other bands. You guys know this. I still have little interest in hearing a shitty, mid-level British rock band battle horrendous sound quality while everyone looks at their phone and prays that the misery will end. I'd rather show up at 8, see U2 and go home.

There have been U2 openers that don't fit the description above, but a ton of them do. U2 have their pick of whomever and end up with bland nobodies 75% of the time.

 

[cobl04]

Yeah I couldn't give a fuck about them having an opener. Jay-Z and Kanye fucking ruled but otherwise, I'd prefer nothing. UNLESS it's a Warpaint type situation where one of the girls songs on Troubles.


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[Axver]

I do get where you guys are coming from, in that it seems the size of a gig works in inverse proportion to the quality of the opener. I've discovered some of my favourite bands thanks to showing up early at small gigs, but once you get to large theatres and especially beyond it seems the openers become more and more mediocre. Off the top of my head the only opening set I've loved at a stadium show is when Liam Finn opened for Pearl Jam in 2009 - oh, and I did enjoy Kaiser Chiefs opening for U2 in 2009.

But I get the feeling that the criticisms of openers by people in The Other Place usually come from a place of general suspicion or hostility towards non-U2 bands. The few good openers get piled upon in much the same way as the truly shithouse ones.

Hell, over there it seems the most popular opener of the last few tours was Lenny fucking Kravitz.

 

[LemonMelon]

For gigs that I'm on the fence about buying tickets to, I often decide based on whether or not I'm familiar with/enjoy the opening act. So it can matter a great deal to me.

But for U2? Fuck no. Fuuuuuck no. Kings of Leon's sound quality was bad enough to make me think U2 was actively trying to sabotage them.

 

[cobl04]

Oh man, that Liam Finn / Ben Harper / Pearl Jam gig fucking ruled. Throw Your Arms Around me with the former, Under Pressure with the latter.

Agree though that most of the anti-opener sentiment comes from U2 troglodytes.


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[cobl04]

I think I'd enjoy Lenny Kravitz for what it is.


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[liamcool]

Kings of Leon's sound quality was bad enough to make me think U2 was actively trying to sabotage them.

This stuff actually happens - there's a sort of sad story about Neil Young turning down Sonic Youth's sets when they were opening for him in 1991, because they were making his audience exhausted through the sheer volume of their sets. Of course, Sonic Youth are a band that works best when they're excruciatingly loud, so turning them down neuters them.

 

[Axver]

I think I'd enjoy Lenny Kravitz for what it is.

When he was announced as opener my first reaction was "he still exists/is alive?!"

 

[liamcool]

I think I'd enjoy Lenny Kravitz for what it is.


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...

 

[Popmartijn]

I think we can all agree that Ordinary Love needs to be fired into the sun.

Nah.
I like the song and was happy I heard it being played a couple of times. The song is in one of the rotating spots, so won't be there every night.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I think I'd enjoy Lenny Kravitz for what it is.

i doubt he's gonna flash his dick again.

 

[lazarus]

For all the lame openers Shuttlecock has had, I found PJ Harvey's set to be transformative in that it turned me into a much bigger fan.

And the ZooTV lineup of Public Enemy and Big Audio Dynamite was fantastic.

I'm not a big Ziggy Marley fan but it was nice to see that genre of music get such good exposure. It was different and not boring. Seeing it two nights in a row was tiring, but can't really blame that on the opener.

No Doubt was touring Rock Steady when they opened during the Elevation Tour and they put on a great show, with more than enough standout tracks to keep the energy up. No complaints there.

Not all the Vertigo openers were good but at least it seemed like Shuttlecock were trying to play with younger bands, mix it up a little. Somewhere between that tour and 360 they just appeared to give up, leaving us with tired, washed-up acts like Lenny Kravitz or watered-down hip hop like Black-Eyed Peas. That was the worst, IMO.

 

[BoMac]

Best U2 opener I saw: Arcade Fire.

Worst: Third Eye fucking Blind

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[Axver]

I'd take Third Eye Blind over Kings of Leon any day of the week. Fuck they were so awful in Boston 2005. They'd been on the tour for the whole leg and still seemed to have no idea how to play on a large stage to an arena crowd.

 

[liamcool]

Give me Einstürzende Neubauten or give me death.

 

[gump]

 

[gump]

That tiny Ode to Joy in Bullet was awesome too:

 

[Axver]

I can't get over how good that Zooropa/Streets segue is.

 

[cobl04]

Oh that's fucking beautiful. I'll go into the cesspool of a tour thread to debate Zooropa, but that's really lovely, thanks for posting gump and thanks to that dude for filming even if I think it's fucked that someone films an entire show.

That's the first time I've seen or heard Bullet too. Could use some more Edge and less Bono but it reaches a fantastic climax and I had shivers by the end.

 

[david]

Less megaphone.


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[Popmartijn]

Not all the Vertigo openers were good but at least it seemed like Shuttlecock were trying to play with younger bands, mix it up a little. Somewhere between that tour and 360 they just appeared to give up, leaving us with tired, washed-up acts like Lenny Kravitz or watered-down hip hop like Black-Eyed Peas. That was the worst, IMO.

I quite enjoyed Snow Patrol, Muse, Arcade Fire, Elbow and Jay-Z on 360. Interpol and Glasvegas not so much.
Every tour was a bit hit-and-miss regarding supporting acts. I can't say I was impressed by Utah Saints at the Zooropa show I saw. Though fans in Italy were lucky when they got Pearl Jam (just before the release of Vs.). The worst one I ever got was Kelis on the Elevation Tour.

 

[Hewson]

i doubt he's gonna flash his dick again.

 

[lazarus]

This is what everyone's been freaking out about? I didn't realize it was only a snippet.

Nice transition but I was under the impression they had added a whole new song. That's Bono singing over some pre-recorded synths (or Terry Lawless).

Big deal.

 

[david]

Well....


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[LemonMelon]

Running to Stand Still>Streets it ain't, but it's a big improvement.

 

[djerdap]

Yeah, I'm also not that delighted but it's still the best lead-in to Streets since the Elevation Tour at least. And it's definitely not longer than the 1993 live versions.

They actually use the same sound effects they used for the RTSS-Streets ZooTV transition at one point.

 

[cobl04]

Running to Stand Still>Streets it ain't, but it's a big improvement.

Literally nothing in the history of recorded or live music is RTSS>Streets.

 

[gump]

Literally nothing in the history of recorded or live music is RTSS>Streets.

Power Out > Rebellion is damn close.

 

[david]

So this is a decent and maybe pro shot video of the 1987 Save The Yuppies concert. http://youtu.be/4p8AiRUhpdI

And yeah, when Bono mistakes the SF loves U2 (or whatever it said) for Sinn Fien will always be incredibly awkward to view.


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