Breathe: GREAT song, NOT an opener!!!

[Zoocoustic]

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...

 

[zooropop40]

Magnificent >>>> Breathe would be a great opener. The drums kick in right after the audience is psyched up from magnificent and BANG, breathe.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

It's actually kind of growing on me as an opener, there’s something about how when the full band kicks in and the CLAW lights up that is pretty cool. I'm sure the same effect could be duplicated with NLOTH or Magnificent though...

 

[Veckatimest]

I like the idea of it much better now than I thought I would. I still think NLOTH would be their ideal opener but Breathe works.

 

[ZooMacPhisto800]

I feel like Magnificent will find its happy spot at spot #2... I'm not sur what the opener could be but, I know that after the opener's heard, Magnificent will be the song that drives home the fact that one is at a U2 concert. Spot #1 is usually requires more subtle-ty.

I think, contrary to Vertigo, this tour will follow more of an Elevation-style opening...

Elevation (?) -> BD (Magnificent)

 

[ayearwome]

I like energy so I think Get On Your Boots >> Vertigo would keep me jumping

 

[ZooMacPhisto800]

Probably NLOTH

 

[ZooMacPhisto800]

I have a feeling it will settle at NLOTH -> Mag

 

[smileymbcastard]

Fez- Bring POrn

HOw many times do i have to say this. Fez when the band walks in
Bring Porn to sing

 

[powerhour24]

I think Breathe would be killer as the kickoff to the encore, but its working well as an opener as well, even if Magnificent would be the obvious choice.

 

[Niceman]

NLOTH would have been the obvious one for me, but Breathe works much better than I would have imagined....

 

[paultjr]

I wasn't thrilled about Breathe opening when listening to the audio. But after watching a video of the band's entrance and the claw beginning to awake, I think it's pretty cool.

Still wouldn't mind hearing Magnificent open though.

 

[topplehatU2]

Yeah I don't really like Breathe as an opener, maybe an encore opener but not for the main set when Boots or Magnificent would work much better. U2 have had much better openers in the past, and I think this is one of the lesser ones for sure.

 

[AtomicBono]

I won't judge it til i see it in person, but it seems cool to me, with the drum intro and all. and the audience reaction when Bono appears is classic.

 

[Ellay]

I suspect in the UK, they'll open with Boots

 

[Marien]

When I read Breathe was the opener I didn't know what to think, but, really, after being there I can say it works perfectly, yes it's not the obvious opener, and that's the message: we are about a subtler (and cooler) kind of concert than in the Vertigo tour, and Breathe is a grower and leaves the audience ready for more, then you get NLOTH and Boots and suddenly everything explodes with Magnificent, the sequence is magical, I hope you can experience it.

 

[ZooMacPhisto800]

I was thinking this as I was out for a run listening to the album...

(Fez Intro)
1. Fez
2. Mag

Encore:
#. Breathe
#. Streets


Fez has a great intro, it sounds really U2 when it kicks in... I could just see it working. Then Mag and it'd be like, f'in U2... rawk

Breathe, after hearing the regular set with all its ups, would intense and like "they've still got it". Someone said it doesn't make a great opener... I agree, but to open the encore would be awesome. Then into Streets

Wow, perfect

 

[Niceman]

I'm just glad that Magnificent wasn't the opener... that would have really disappointed me.

 

[tsweeney]

FEZ-Being Born would be the best new song to open with. NLOTH would be the second best choice but I think it would sound better if they played it more like the album version. I do like the song Breath but I agree it doesn't really fit as an opening song. I think WTSHNN, BTBS, Zoo Station, Mofo, Elevation and City of Blinding Lights all work really well as opening songs from their previous tours.

 

[monsieur fly]

I don't think Breathe works as an opener- it's a rocker but not a momentum-building rocker in the mould of Vertigo, Elevation or Zoo Station (which along with Queen's One Vision is the ultimate concert opener imo). It would be better in the encore with NLOTH as an opener.

 

[Iskra]

They always seem to mess this up. The Vertigo tour was all over the place with openers. Just use Magnificent. That rumbling noise can be triggered as the band walks on stage and then bam! We're off!

Get On Your Boots would also work. Instead of "Everyone" "Everyone" being chanted, imagine "Let me in the sound" And the song is basically saying get on your boots and let's kick some ass.

I like Breathe but it is not an opener.
The opening song should be indicative of the night ahead.

 

[monsieur fly]

Good point about that rumbling noise on Magnificent. I like an opener that maximises impact, which the band is into as soon as they hit the stage. That's why Zoo Station was so great.

 

[Axver]

I'm definitely not sold on Breathe as the opener. The first night was particularly weak; I think it improved a good deal on the second and could be a solid but unremarkable opener if U2 stick with it. However, I'm sure other NLOTH songs could work better.

If I'm honest, I'm a little over this cliche of U2 opening with a new song. "Oh look at us, how confident we are in the new material!" After five tours, I think we get it. It often feels to me that U2 are confident solely in their new album and their most undeniably crowd-pleasing anthems. Opening with something like HMTMKMKM could be rather interesting, a new move for them, and then follow it with four new tracks. Still shows confidence in the new stuff, but at least provides something of a different spin.

But whatever, at the end of the day, as long as they think their new stuff is worth showing off, it bodes well so I don't think it's too much of an issue. Just something I'm putting out there.

 

[bgmckinney]

Ax, just out of curiosity, when was the last time they did not open a show with a new song?

 

[Axver]

Ax, just out of curiosity, when was the last time they did not open a show with a new song?

If you exclude the 7 August 1992, Hershey public rehearsal (the band did SBS, NYD, Pride before going into Zoo Station and the usual ZooTV set), then the last time was 10 January 1990, Rotterdam, the last show of the Lovetown Tour. It opened with Bullet The Blue Sky.

 

[jphelmet]

If I'm honest, I'm a little over this cliche of U2 opening with a new song. "Oh look at us, how confident we are in the new material!" After five tours, I think we get it. It often feels to me that U2 are confident solely in their new album and their most undeniably crowd-pleasing anthems. Opening with something like HMTMKMKM could be rather interesting, a new move for them, and then follow it with four new tracks. Still shows confidence in the new stuff, but at least provides something of a different spin.

was saying the same thing a couple of days ago. would like to see Gone open. HM,TM,KM,KM would be very good as well. I think the opening with a new song is kind of silly, and doesn't really prove anything.

 

[bgmckinney]

If you exclude the 7 August 1992, Hershey public rehearsal (the band did SBS, NYD, Pride before going into Zoo Station and the usual ZooTV set), then the last time was 10 January 1990, Rotterdam, the last show of the Lovetown Tour. It opened with Bullet The Blue Sky.

Thanks. And they opened with UTEOW at the Astoria show in 2000, which I just remembered, although that wasn't quite an official show...

 

[Axver]

was saying the same thing a couple of days ago. would like to see Gone open. HM,TM,KM,KM would be very good as well. I think the opening with a new song is kind of silly, and doesn't really prove anything.

Gone would be an excellent opener. Imagine something like Gone --> UTEOTW --> NLOTH --> other new songs. That would be nothing short of sensational.

Thanks. And they opened with UTEOW at the Astoria show in 2000, which I just remembered, although that wasn't quite an official show...

Yeah, I was only counting the full tour shows, not the promo tours - though even then, off memory, I think the 7 February 2001, Astoria gig you mention is the only exception and all the others (Irving Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge, etc.) have opened with a new song.

 

[ahittle]

Hate to be simplistic, but they need something slamming in 4/4 if they really want to engage a crowd. Just think what that thumpthumpthumpthump of Streets does to people.

Unless they don't want to. That's cool, too.

 

[mama cass]

i dunno... i reckon those gorgeous drums at the beginning would be a beautiful build up... hypnotic almost... maybe Larry should string it out even longer? would be sweet i reckon!