Breathe: GREAT song, NOT an opener!!!

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I think the drum intro is a great way to start the show; it's just the intro of the wrong song.

Similarly, Magnificent's intro is another great way to start the show but it's the intro of the wrong song.

If only they were the intro to NLOTH. The band could at least stretch out NLOTH's opening guitar to begin a show. The first verse of that song really goes down well with the audience, and then the "No! No Line!" chant gets everybody into it from the word go.

But I still prefer the HMTMKMKM, Gone, or UTEOTW openings posted above. One or two of those, then a block of three or four new songs. Basically a really intense opening punch followed by a statement of "if you didn't think that was one hell of an opening, have some awesome new shit".
 
Magnificet will fail as an opener! It is mid-tempo song and we need something that will get the crowd going.
I was never a fan of Boots, but seeing how the crowd reacts to it I think that it could be an opener...
Or even better - remix Crazy Tonight...crowd would go crazy, and than they could continue with NLOTH, GOB and MAG... Lave Breath for later when people will be cool just listening to good songs. For starters they want to jump, scream and dance, so give them/us that :)
 
they could open up with any of the four and i'd be happy

but i was a little bummed they didn't mix up the order for the 2nd barcelona show...not sure if that's a sign of things to come.

-dan
 
The set at Barcelona II differed more from Barcelona I than the second night of Vertigo differed from the opening night of Vertigo ...
 
Opening with something like HMTMKMKM could be rather interesting, a new move for them

I think this is the best suggestion i have ever heard regarding how U2 should open a show. Opening the concert with HMTMKMKM.......MY GOD!!! :drool: That would just epitomize coolness! :drool: :drool: :drool:
 
Exactly. Breathe fits in the encore, like ABOY did for Vertigo Tour. Opening with Breathe would the same than opening last tour with Miracle Drug.

breathe = miracle drug? :confused:

I think Magnificent is a lot closer to Miracle Drug than breathe.
 
NLOTH 2 should be the opener... hell, it even works as a closer


NLOTH 2 (at the end they stretch it out then Larry counts 1, 2, 3, 4 then BOOM)
Magnificent



or it should be

FEZ
Being Born (don't tell me the "OHHHHHHHHH" won't fire up the crowd, specially if they turn up the lights there)
Magnificent



then at some point

UTEOTW -->
Breathe
 
I keep looking at the awesome opening video of intro/breath on youtube(whoever has filmed this, FANASTIC WORK!). Althoug I like Breath a lot I still think NLOTH should open the show after the incredible intro. The Claw looks like it just landed from out of space to swallow the world or something. I made a mix of how it would sound with NLOTH as the first song and I think it sounds much better. Breath is a cool song and I would love to see it a bit later in the set or even 2nd or 3rd but not as an opener.

MAN I LOVE THAT INTRO!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I think the drum intro is a great way to start the show; it's just the intro of the wrong song.

Similarly, Magnificent's intro is another great way to start the show but it's the intro of the wrong song.

If only they were the intro to NLOTH. The band could at least stretch out NLOTH's opening guitar to begin a show. The first verse of that song really goes down well with the audience, and then the "No! No Line!" chant gets everybody into it from the word go.

^How I allways imagined it would be. After that kingdom song it would sound EPIC!!!!!!!!
 
NLOTH the way they are playing it now, would stink as an opener. They need to rework it so it has the rocking umph from either of the 2 released versions. This one is just kinda neutered.
 
I am 100% positive that Magnificent will become the second song of the set... I'm 100% positive that Fez/Being Born will open the show... and 100% positive that Breathe will open the Encore.

100%
 
I am 100% positive that Magnificent will become the second song of the set... I'm 100% positive that Fez/Being Born will open the show... and 100% positive that Breathe will open the Encore.

100%

Hilarious. The chances of FBB being played at all on this tour are maybe 5% at best, and absolutely 0% for it opening. Think of how you guys feel about the vibes for Breathe/Magnificent, and then multiply that about 60,000 times for every person in the stadium, that's what FBB would bring as an opener. The blinding lights can't save this song , they're not full on like previous tours. I doubt very much that Breathe will move to the encore, they're going to want to play it early during the 'new song' block.

One way to get around the mid tempo vibes of Breathe/Magnificent opening is a. do Magnificent in the remix style, which..while possible that they might try it, almost assuredly they would not open with it...so that leaves us with b. GOYB or NLOTH2 <- although I would love it, highly unlikely this will see play on the tour

Therefore: chances that GOYB will replace Breathe as the opener (edit: if they do replace it, at all) ? 80% or better.
 
Breathe is a fantastic opener, IMO, only the drum intro should be a bit longer. I think it's perfectly after the intro song, which I also like, btw. I don't think it's a bad choice, it brings a lot of energy and this is the right way to start the show. And obviously they love this song, especially Bono. He has said from the beginning that he loves performing the song and can't wait to play it on tour.
 
Bono has to sing NLOTH really high and it is kind of hard for him to reach those notes. He even makes the audience sing half the song because his voice seems tired. I think because of this NLOTH would make kind of a weak opener. I still think Magnificent is the perfect opener. It is a perfect sing-a-long kind of song to pump up the crowd.
 
Why is "Breathe" a bad opener? Because the groundbreaking visual of the show requires something "bigger", with more muscle, with more life. "Breathe" has the muscle, but doesn't have the strenght to open a show like "MOFO" or even "Elevation" had.

This tour brought an almost sci-fi visual to the set. That's the reason I think that "FEZ-Being Born" would be the perfect opener. "No Line On The Horizon" should be the second best shot as show opener.
 
I dont think Magnificent is too slow at all to start. People are so excited when the first song plays that they just want to sing along and have fun regardless of the speed. and to open the show, magnificent is perfect for this. In fact, many bands (radiohead, pearl jam) like to open up with an upper mid-tempo type song and then move on to a heavier rocker in the second spot. I think Magnificent > GOYB would work perfectly
 
Who out there agrees that there are SEVERAL other songs from NLOTh that could be used as better openers than Breathe?

Breathe is my favorite song on the new album by far, but it does not belong in spot #1! U2's best shows are about a dramatic build at the beginning (JT Tour, Zoo TV, Popmart, Vertigo tour) and Breathe does not provide that type of build.

I would feel much better seeing Breathe in the #2 or #3 spot than up front.

Now, all that said, I think the song ROCKS live...

I have to agree.
I thought Breathe was quite a nice opener for the first show as it opened with a Larry drum solo. That was a nice tie-in with All I Want Is You from the Hawaii Vertigo show, which ended with a Larry drum solo. But I think some songs might work better as an opener, like Magnificent. Although that song is also growing to become an audience highlight, with the interaction between the crowd and Bono, something which probably cannot be achieved as an opener.
But it would be interesting if the band would try somethink like this:
Magnificent --> NLOTH (or Breathe) --> Breathe (or NLOTH) --> GOYB

As for opening the show with a new song, I'm very happy that they open the show with four new songs in a row. Quite ballsy, instead of taking the easy way of squeezing the new songs in between the oldies.
 
Breathe works pretty fine, but i would prefer magnificent tbh, the only parts of magnificent that are slow are the verses, the rest is energetic and loud as hell, gets everyone going wild. NLOTH would be an awful opener imo, the chorus wouldnt get people going wild, and fez is completly out of it for me, wouldnt go down to well with all the average fans and wouldnt get everyone going to wild seening they dont know the song that much.
 
Breathe works pretty fine, but i would prefer magnificent tbh, the only parts of magnificent that are slow are the verses, the rest is energetic and loud as hell, gets everyone going wild. NLOTH would be an awful opener imo, the chorus wouldnt get people going wild, and fez is completly out of it for me, wouldnt go down to well with all the average fans and wouldnt get everyone going to wild seening they dont know the song that much.

magnificent feels a bit empty, to me. breathe is a big beefy sound to open up.

I think Bono needs a guitar to strum on magnificent.
 
i thought Breathe was gorgeous as an opener - loved how the band came on stage one by one, with Larry doing that beautiful heavy drum beat, really really going for it... it was different to blasting off straight into a rock song, and i thought it worked nicely, kind of heavy trance-like, getting the audience psyched up... and then when the rest of the band came in it went off with a bang... wonderful! :up:
 
Breathe should kick things off after a brief intermission closer to the end of the show (like Discotheque did during Popmart) IMO
 
I have to be honest and Breathe is not doing it for me as an opener. I skip through the tracks on the bootlegs because it doesn't carry me over to listen to the entire thing from beginning to end like say, Hasta LaVista & Zoo TV tour Sydney show. I don't know... the flow of the show is not there. I would open with:

Boots (let me in the sounds intro)
Vertigo
Magnificent
NLOTH
BD
Mysterious (if it sticks)
I Still haven't found (could be replaced by something from POP)
etc. etc. etc.
 
Breathe needs to be a lot, lot heavier if it's going to work. And the latter half of the song needs to change somehow, because it sounds like something is ending, if you catch my drift.
 
i thought Breathe was gorgeous as an opener - loved how the band came on stage one by one, with Larry doing that beautiful heavy drum beat, really really going for it... it was different to blasting off straight into a rock song, and i thought it worked nicely, kind of heavy trance-like, getting the audience psyched up... and then when the rest of the band came in it went off with a bang... wonderful! :up:

I agree. Great way to open the show. :up:
 
I still think Breath is not the perfect opening song. Sure, being there, I will problably go nuts seeing them agai nbut that would be the same with Boots( :) ) or something else. the tempo of the song is just not giving that pumping up feel and after the initial enthousiasme of 2 minutes it feels like it waters down. 1,5 weeks and i will know for sure
 
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