A well deserved rest for overplayed warhorses next tour...

[TheBrazilianFly]

Where The Streets Have No Name
Pride
One
With Or Without You
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Mysterious Ways
Bullt The Blue Sky


I feel like we're not getting some older or less played songs or even more dynamic set lists anymore because it seems like U2 have to play those songs listed above. Those songs take a lot of time all together and they leaving could allow them to play songs they haven't played in a long, long time and even better, it could make them try and come up with new ideas and arrangements for other songs to fill in for those songs. Something really great could come out of that. They're too confortable playing those songs nowdays and a U2 show is starting to feel like the same show to me because of those songs....

I know they bring a lot of freshness and new ideas with the new songs and with the every older song or two that they bring back but it could still be more exciting I think.


A song like Silver And Gold might no be better than Sunday Bloody Sunday but right now, after playing it so much, it might make for a more interesting show. The same goes for Ultraviolet instead of Pride, Please, City of Blinding Lights or Hawkmoon instead of Streets, Two Hearts Beat As One instead of Mysterious Ways, Love Rescue Me or If God Will Send His Angels instead of I Still Have't Found What I'm Looking For, The Unforgetable Fire instead of With Or WIthout You or One. Again those songs might not be better than the warhorses but could provide U2 with something new and exciting on a nightly basis after playing those warhorses so much. And who knows, they might take them to a different level now.

Sunday Bloody Sunday was played every night on the two previous tours. I Still Haven't Found was played every night on Popmart and a whole lot on Vertigo. That's way too much I think.... They tried not to play Pride on the Elevation Tour but brought it back after a while. They already slowly stoped playing Mysterious Ways so much on the last two tours maybe it's time for the other ones as well.... It's not like they don't have enoght great and interesting music on their catalogue. They have a whole lot that could be better explored.

It seems like every political momemnt gotta have Sunday Bloody Sunday and Bullet, the church like moment gotta have Streets and Pride, the romantic moment gotta have One and WOWY. I think it even gets on their way of writting stuff that is as good as that because it's like their safe on those areas.


U2 likes to fancy themselves as a really bold and ground breaking rock band. Could they be bold enough to not play songs like Where The Streets Have No Name and Pride on a tour? That's something I would like to know....

Bruce Springsteen doesn't play Thunder Road every night why should U2 play most of those songs every night like they do? They need a rest, not to be retired completely, but a rest.

 

[CTU2fan]

Take Streets off that list and I'm in. Incidentally a few of those songs weren't "every-nighters" on Vertigo (ISHF, WoWY, MW), they got rotated...but Bono's been half-assing WoWY since '93 and it's really REALLY gotten bad.

But if there's one U2 song that ought to be played every show it's Streets.

 

[Swan269]

pride-thanks

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Take Streets off that list and I'm in....but Bono's been half-assing WoWY since '93 and it's really REALLY gotten bad.

I agree with both parts of this. I'd maybe want SBS to appear once in awhile, too, but not every night. While I don't listen to Streets a lot, the live version is amazing. I think it was one of the most passionate songs of the last tour. I was never in a crowd that didn't go crazy over it, and unlike a lot of the other songs on the list, its quality hasn't suffered.

You know, if Bono would stop half-assing WOWY, it could be an amazing song. But if they're going to keep up with the now cliched version where Bono pulls some girl up on stage and lets the actual performance take a backseat, I wouldn't be sad to see it go.

I hate that One has, inadvertently or not, become the anthem for the One Campaign. I strongly support the campaign, but it's sucked all the emotion out of what used to be one of my favorite U2 songs.

 

[pepokiss]

U2 likes to fancy themselves as a really bold and ground breaking rock band. Could they be bold enough to not play songs like Where The Streets Have No Name and Pride on a tour? That's something I would like to know....

They'd cave by Leg 2

 

[waynetravis]

Mysterious Ways

No!!

This is U2's party track. Taking that out would be a crime.
Get rid of Streets and One and all, but Mysterious stays

 

[U2FloridaFan]

I could definitely do without BTBS, One (I've always liked the studio version far better...although, at the concert, you'll find me singing along with Bono to every note just like everyone else...that goes for all the other songs I don't really care for either...somehow, when you're there they all sound good), Pride, ISHFWILF, and MW. I guess it would have been quicker to write the songs I DO want to stay. Of course, there are several I would love to see added to the next tour..but that's another thread

 

[Pero]

silver and gold is good idea
dropping streets not
others is also good idea, maybe not bullet the blue sky for its sole purpose of edge soloing

 

[PopFly]

Streets, WOWY and One should still be played more or less every night since they're arguably U2's three most iconic songs. What I'd suggest is changing up the presentation of them. Play them as, like, the fourth songs of the night or something -- One was already in this slot on ZooTV. Maybe so the idea is like three songs from the new album to work people into the show, then bust out One or Streets (or, even better, the two of them back to back) to really kick things into high gear.

As for the other five you mentioned, don't eliminate them altogether, but just put them into a rotation. Play any two of those five per night. SBS carries more impact if it isn't played every night, frankly. BTBS is the one that sticks out to me as really needing a break, but apparently U2 keep it around since it gives Edge a chance to be creative with a solo and it's Paul McG's favourite song.

 

[thelaj]

Good for us... not good for new fans or people who haven't seen them live before.

 

[Bonochick]

Good for us... not good for new fans or people who haven't seen them live before.

Yes.

A lot of us consider those songs to be overplayed and tiresome, but not everybody is a rabid fanatic who follows along that closely. I personally don't feel the need for any song to be dropped.

 

[pacemaker]

I agree with PopFly. Some of the mainstays simply need to be rotated around the setlist.

Start opening with Streets, play WOWY during the main set. Drop Pride altogether (although seeing it in U23D made me really happy for some reason).

I think they desperately need to drop their newest warhorse, Elevation. Although that track is highly improved upon in a live setting, it is just an awful, awful song.

One should be rotated into the inevitable late-main-set-acoustic-set, and have The Edge rock the piano or something.

 

[No spoken words]

I've made references to this argument in other threads, and it once again hit home watching U23D.

If the band never played One again, it would still be too soon for me. However, looking at the fans passionately singing along to One during the film reminds me, once again, that I am part of a small, albeit passionate, group of fans.

For the people that have never seen them, or see them once if they're lucky, to eliminate these songs would be disappointing. You'd be walking out of the arena psyched to have heard Acrobat, and they'd be wondering where the fuck Pride or SBS was.

I think Headache wrote about this a few times, and what he wishes makes sense to me, and that would be to do what the Stones did a few years ago...hit the road, and play different sized venues.....play some smaller clubs for die-hards, and shake the set lists up....play the larger venues and find a balance, and at the Stadiums cater even more to the casual fan. That'll never happen, for myriad reasons (I honestly do not think that the band can handle playing more than 35-40 songs on a tour), but it would be a good solution.

Then again, I say "solution" like there's a problem here. There's not, we're just die-hards that want to hear songs we love, songs a casual fan would deem "obscure".

 

[Blue Room]

Drop Bullet, replace it with Please or Love and Peace, then you still have the political effect it achieves.

Streets, close with it or put it in the middle of the set and I think it would make it seem more fresh. U2 were not planning to play it for the Vertigo tour but Bono came up with the whole Africa deal and it was added back in during rehearsal. So they have thought about dropping it.

Pride, SBS and One should be played, but sporadically, not staples. Pride was going to be dropped on Popmart. Bono did not want to do it. But Willie Williams persuaded him to add it back unfortunately.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

If I never heard Pride again it would be too soon.

But then I think about Sunday, when I took my mom to see U23D (my mom: "you just saw it twice on Friday and want to see it again?" ) and how happy she was that they included Sunday Bloody Sunday and Pride. She knows I'm sick of both, but said that when she sees them next tour (she's never gone to a show but after watching my dvds all these years and now having seen the 3D movie she really wants to ) she's really looking forward to hearing them.

Us die hards will just have to grin and bear it, and hope they throw some oldies in, which they have and I think will continue to do.





(Ultraviolet, Ultraviolet, Ultraviolet ray: heh, yarite...)

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Pride was going to be dropped on Popmart. Bono did not want to do it. But Willie Williams persuaded him to add it back unfortunately.

Freaking Willie

 

[last unicorn]

Agree with those who say the songs don't necessarly have to be dropped at all, but instead a) rotated more and b) be played differently. From a fan's point of view, having heard these songs so many times, it's easy for me to say: OK, give them a break. But considering that the majority of U2's audience are not die-hard fans, but mostly people who see one concert per tour, I have to say that it would be very difficult to drop these songs, I guess I'd even be sad for someone who has never seen U2 live and then get their first concert without One or Streets.

But I'm all for mixing things up more, and I think the Vertigo tour with the mix of very old and new stuff was a step in the right direction, at least during the first three legs.

 

[DevilsShoes]

It is a shame how many of the big eighties classics have become watered down over the years. They used to have so much resonance and potency. Part of the problem is that the majority of them are real belters and demand alot from Bono if they are to really come to life, without a strong and confident vocal they just don't soar as well as they should.

As somebody else has already said, its only Streets and One that are the really iconic U2 tunes, and which the casual fan expects to hear, I'm not sure they'd be all that dissapointed if the other songs on the list were replaced with something less familiar, who knows, they may even become new favourites after they've seen them performed.

The bands catalogue is so varied that they could afford to be a little more versatile without leaving people dissatisfied. What about Hawkmoon, AIWIY, Please, Gone, Dirty Day, Love Is Blindness or Kite? I'd be pretty happy (to say the least) if I saw those songs performed at a concert but didn't get to see some of the warhorses. I know I'm a die-hard but my feeling is if a song isn't being performed to its very best, if its appearing tired or uninspired and the band are just going through the motions, then it's only ever the song that suffers, and for songs as good as WOWY, ISHFWILF, Pride, SBS and MW this is a real shame. These songs helped build the foundation of U2's career and deserve to be treated better.

I'd rather see lesser known songs perfomed with greater vitality and enthusiasm by the band (simply because they haven't been played as much) than the classics trotted out every night only to pale in comparison with past performances. The alternatives I mentioned are all great live songs and are more than capable on converting the more casual fan if they are played with power and dynamism. The warhorses should never be dropped completely, its just that I'm sure the bands feelings and enthusiasm towards them would be revitalisd and reinvigorated if they were played a little less.

Well those are my thoughts any way.

 

[Rob33]

DS-

On the vertigo tour, they played Pride arguably better than ever...Bono held the "Name" note- something he didn't do on elevation and previous tours, ZooTV included (rarely)....

And some performances of ISHFWILF were better than 1987 JT tour performances IMO...

WOWY is going to come alive again if they play it next tour cause of Bono's voice...

MW I wouldn't mind seeing gone, along with BTBS and New Year's Day

But as far as Streets being dropped...there's no point, no matter how many times they play it, there will always be new fans at concerts and to take this opportunity away to see this brilliant song live would be a shame...

I think we need more of a rotation with the current setlist and more of these type of songs:

Ultraviolet, Heartland, Hawkmoon, Acrobat, RHMT, Please, Wild Horses (full band electric), Unforgettable Fire, If God Will Send His Angels, Love Rescue Me, Stuck (full band), Kite, Walk On (full band), When I Look at the World....

Also, I don't think Bono's voice will be any kind of a problem next tour

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I've made references to this argument in other threads, and it once again hit home watching U23D.

If the band never played One again, it would still be too soon for me. However, looking at the fans passionately singing along to One during the film reminds me, once again, that I am part of a small, albeit passionate, group of fans.

For the people that have never seen them, or see them once if they're lucky, to eliminate these songs would be disappointing. You'd be walking out of the arena psyched to have heard Acrobat, and they'd be wondering where the fuck Pride or SBS was.

I think Headache wrote about this a few times, and what he wishes makes sense to me, and that would be to do what the Stones did a few years ago...hit the road, and play different sized venues.....play some smaller clubs for die-hards, and shake the set lists up....play the larger venues and find a balance, and at the Stadiums cater even more to the casual fan. That'll never happen, for myriad reasons (I honestly do not think that the band can handle playing more than 35-40 songs on a tour), but it would be a good solution.

Then again, I say "solution" like there's a problem here. There's not, we're just die-hards that want to hear songs we love, songs a casual fan would deem "obscure".

we all dream of u2 taking a page from springsteen or pearl jam and breaking out any song they've ever recorded at any given time without warning. but, alas, we know that's never gonna happen, probably because bono's had one too many pints of guinness and can't remember the words to songs he's sung a million times (despite the teleprompter).

if they would just do what the stones did, we'd all be happy.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I know it's diferent when you have never watched U2 live before and all that and in some ways I understand it's slightly unfair but I'm not really talking for the die hards only, I think it's about the band too. They have after all played those songs sooooo much for soooo long. I know they must still take some enjoyment out of playing those songs but I think it's impossible for them not to be somewhat sick about them as well....

I think not playing them for a while and puting some effort into some other songs and into a diferent U2 set list might bring them and us (die hards or not) something really special too. It's not like all the rest is shit and the fans who are not die-hard but just casual fans would be robbed if they didn't play Streets or One. All the rest is pretty great and a lot still stands pretty strong.

I think them excluding those songs next time around would actually be a very U2ish kind of thing some way. They say they have the punk rock attitude in them, that would be very punk rock. And I know they would work their asses off to try and come up with something that keeps the U2 live show quality standards still high.

 

[zoopop]

U2 just needs to rotate this songs every night and move them around in the setlist. U2 has tried to take some songs out:

Pride on the Elevation Tour
SBS on the Popmart
ISHF on Elevation & Vertigo
WOWY on the Vertigo
NYD on the last 3 tours

but they always find there way back in the rotation. The A-side of the JT needs a rest (not Streets) along w/ SBS, Pride, & One. One is pretty sad now. Listen to the Popmart version (last great performance) compared to now. Its night and day.

I like the idea of closing the show w/ Streets.

But by rotating the warhoreses:

I Will Follow
NYD
SBS
Pride
Bad
Streets
ISHFW
WOWY
Bullet
Desire
AIWIY
The Fly
MW
UTEOW
Stay
Discotheque
even, BD, Kite, Walk On, Stuck

they could make the big hits fresh. It was nice that Bad was played on Veritog tour, and the diehards appreicated it more when it was played. Pick 6-8 of the songs above and play a different one at a paticular spot. I mean does LPOE, then SBS, and then BTBS need to be played together. I think we get the political point. For the slow ballad at the end rotate Kite, One, & WOWY.

 

[the tourist]

I think Where The Streets Have No Name and New Year's Day are the only two songs that NEED to be played every night. Everything else is rotatable.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

of the "warhorses" the only one that really didn't do it for me last year was One... probably because I was half asleep by the time bono was done with his intro speech.

 

[bratty_cat]

I'd be fine with rotating all of them (and no need to hear Bullet again) but, for me, it's just not a U2 show without Streets. It's consistently the moment in the show where the energy just explodes. That said, I prefer the version they played on the Elevation tour to the one we heard on Vertigo. But, IMO, there are no bad versions of this song.

 

[LemonMelon]

Take Streets off that list and I'm in.

Yep. That and keep Mysterious Ways; one of my all-time favorites and it has only been "tastefully" overplayed.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Yep. That and keep Mysterious Ways; one of my all-time favorites and it has only been "tastefully" overplayed.

They don't play Mysterious Ways enough.

Actually, I take that back. Given enough times I'd probably get sick of it, even though it's pretty much a mainstay in my top five U2 songs of all time.

 

[last unicorn]

I would hate to see Bullet go, simply because of the guitar. And Mysterious Ways is, for me, one of the show's highlights, especially since I wasn't so much into the "ZooTV" segment of the last tour. But a song I would really like to hear and see more often live is Until The End Of The World ... really, there has never been a bad rendition of that song, it soooo rocks live. And I agree, they need to re-work some of their classic stuff and rotate it more. As for new songs, they played a lot of stuff from the new album during the first legs of the Vertigo tour, and the very old songs were also a nice surprise. But the shows clearly had a core consisting of the crucial songs that made up the peace/Africa/human rights segment ... even though I got tired of hearing these songs, I can still see the concept behind it.

 

[Jeannieco]

Remember that Vertigo as most of their tours, each set tells a comprehensive story with a common theme running through the whole show.
Vertigo was mostly about human rights and anti-war so to leave out SBS BTBS STREETS, ONE from that set would be nonsensical. (for this tour)

Did you all notice ( I am sure you did) that even the first few songs of the first set told a story about re-birth? Maybe it's was just me, but starting with Cry/ Electric Co/An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart / Beautiful Day/New Yrs Day..and then Miracle Drug and SYCMIOYO, these songs tell a clear story of spritiual rebirth.
The next tour, who knows what story they will tell?
I can't wait!! You can really feel Bono's connection to the opera and his desire to tell a story. It's great!

 

[No spoken words]

New Year's Day, for me, could be played every show. They still seem to play/sing that song with a lot of passion. It's always a highlight to me.