Reason For Set List Complaints

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clerks

clerks

Rock n' Roll Doggie
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
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1.) They started in Europe and not in US. So it seems 98% of people on here seem to be from the US and haven't seen a show yet. (I go to London on Friday and will feel 100% different about it all AFTER seeing it in person)

2.) They are playing in stadiums and not arenas. Just a different feel.

3.) People always have nostalgia for BEFORE when it comes to bands they love. I know a fan that only likes them pre 1984. So next tour people will hate that one and miss this one.

4.) I seriously do think this album has a darker quality to it, and not as easy to get into -- so the new songs don't seem to be getting people as excited as in past tours. Or maybe it's just the fact that 4 of them are played right away and before you can catch your breath, they are onto their past works so it doesn't feel like a tour of the new album as much as a greatest hits tour. it may be placement.

5.) Technology. Twitter. YouTube. This message board. It's all so instant. We do take out the suprises. But I'm so used to looking at the setlist on paper, that I brush over songs I LOVE looking to see if they played One Tree Hill or something. But when I'm at the show, that stale setlist won't feel that way. It may look boring to see Pride on the setlist, but when I hear it, I still love it.

6.) It's human nature. People love to complain about everything.

7.) I also feel that many people need to show how big of a fan they are by being angry about set lists and the like. It's same with film and books and other bands. You can't show how much you know by just liking it, you have to show how much you know by being angry about it.

8.) We aren't at the shows, so that makes us upset. Like when your friend dates the hot girl. Or hot guy. Jealously. Well, since I can't be there, the set list sucks.

9.) A few do complain hoping that it will reach U2 and get them to play Lemon and Acrobat. Not going to happen.

10.) And the main reason to complain about set lists is to have something to talk about between U2 shows.
 
11.) Bono is a fat douchebag narcissist who lies about U2 breaking up.
 
12) We have a right to air our views on these matters.

Setlist complainers don't need to be patronised with sociological and pyschological excuses, thank you. I can only speak for myself and it's absolutely nothing to do with envy, modern technology or wanting to be "big." It is sheer frustration at a third consecutive tour which implicitely apologises for their 90s material
 
i'm not sure if them starting in europe vs. the u.s. or them playing stadiums is why people are complaining, though. i remember there were lots of complaints during the vertigo tour as well. however, i'm not saying i agree with the complaints.

i just think some perspective needs to be gained. by the third show, people were already complaining that the setlists were static. i'm too lazy to look up how the first few shows of every tour have been in terms of variety, but i imagine they'd be pretty similar to each other.

u2 are never going to be the type of band to play, in essence, completely different concerts each night. by and large, most of the setlist will stay the same from night to night. sure, at least one song will get dropped and added, and the order will change. over the course of a leg, it adds up to some variety.

i forget who posted this, but i remember reading recently that someone thinks all this is due to the internet. basically, back in the early 90s when u2 were giving us practically the same setlist every night, the internet wasn't nearly as huge as it is now, so people couldn't post setlists to shows or anything. so you could only base it on the shows you saw. so zoo tv seemed amazing, wow they're playing these songs and sound amazing, and the props and costumes and such were amazing too. yet the setlists were so static. nine songs were played at every show of zoo tv. every show! another was played at all but one. so with ~20 songs per show, roughly half was the same night after night. i'm not saying zoo tv wasn't great, but just rather that it's easy to look back fondly at old tours. not to mention, since the internet didn't really exist in its current form back then, concertgoers couldn't sit around seeing what was played every night to pick it apart.

that's not to say i don't think criticism isn't warranted or anything. for the most part, i think it's good to have high expectations for a band you like and find faults in the music and concerts they play. it helps keep u2 on their toes, so to speak, so they don't rest on their laurels and become a jukebox act, releasing the same album over and over again and playing an identical set through an entire tour. but of course if the expectations a fan sets are too high, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment because no one can live up to them.

now i'm rambling, but my main point is that i do think complaints, within reason, are okay. complaining for the sake of complaining or expecting u2 to be something they're not though is pointless.
 
KhanadaRhodes said:
i'm not sure if them starting in europe vs. the u.s. or them playing stadiums is why people are complaining, though. i remember there were lots of complaints during the vertigo tour as well. however, i'm not saying i agree with the complaints.

i just think some perspective needs to be gained. by the third show, people were already complaining that the setlists were static. i'm too lazy to look up how the first few shows of every tour have been in terms of variety, but i imagine they'd be pretty similar to each other.

u2 are never going to be the type of band to play, in essence, completely different concerts each night. by and large, most of the setlist will stay the same from night to night. sure, at least one song will get dropped and added, and the order will change. over the course of a leg, it adds up to some variety.

i forget who posted this, but i remember reading recently that someone thinks all this is due to the internet. basically, back in the early 90s when u2 were giving us practically the same setlist every night, the internet wasn't nearly as huge as it is now, so people couldn't post setlists to shows or anything. so you could only base it on the shows you saw. so zoo tv seemed amazing, wow they're playing these songs and sound amazing, and the props and costumes and such were amazing too. yet the setlists were so static. nine songs were played at every show of zoo tv. every show! another was played at all but one. so with ~20 songs per show, roughly half was the same night after night. i'm not saying zoo tv wasn't great, but just rather that it's easy to look back fondly at old tours. not to mention, since the internet didn't really exist in its current form back then, concertgoers couldn't sit around seeing what was played every night to pick it apart.

that's not to say i don't think criticism isn't warranted or anything. for the most part, i think it's good to have high expectations for a band you like and find faults in the music and concerts they play. it helps keep u2 on their toes, so to speak, so they don't rest on their laurels and become a jukebox act, releasing the same album over and over again and playing an identical set through an entire tour. but of course if the expectations a fan sets are too high, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment because no one can live up to them.

now i'm rambling, but my main point is that i do think complaints, within reason, are okay. complaining for the sake of complaining or expecting u2 to be something they're not though is pointless.
Click to expand...
it's a good post, but given i've already said these things anyway and get completely ignored you probably wasted your energy.
 
ah, beg :love:

you know, if someone had said they'd play these numbers three months ago

Breathe
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent / Miss Sarajevo (snippet)
Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
Elevation
One / Unchained Melody (snippet)
Until The End Of The World
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet)
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
MLK
Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet) / Happy Birthday (snippet)

Encore(s):
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

i'm sure most people would have been fairly happy :lol:
 
KhanadaRhodes said:
i forget who posted this, but i remember reading recently that someone thinks all this is due to the internet. basically, back in the early 90s when u2 were giving us practically the same setlist every night, the internet wasn't nearly as huge as it is now, so people couldn't post setlists to shows or anything. so you could only base it on the shows you saw. so zoo tv seemed amazing, wow they're playing these songs and sound amazing, and the props and costumes and such were amazing too. yet the setlists were so static. nine songs were played at every show of zoo tv. every show! another was played at all but one. so with ~20 songs per show, roughly half was the same night after night. i'm not saying zoo tv wasn't great, but just rather that it's easy to look back fondly at old tours. not to mention, since the internet didn't really exist in its current form back then, concertgoers couldn't sit around seeing what was played every night to pick it apart.
Click to expand...

:up: Good point. On this tour, I decided to completely ignore all reports of setlists, stage set-up, etc, before I saw them (24 and 25 July here in Dublin) - granted that was made easier by the fact that this tour started in Europe rather than across the Atlantic. What I got was a fantastic surprise: the stage, the intro, the songs, the sound. Remember that feeling when it takes a split second to know what they're playing because you have no idea what sequence the songs are being played in? Brilliant. And I was treated to what I felt was a radically changed setlist on night two, with the introduction of about six or so different tracks early in the setlist. That was enough for me to never bother reading about setlists again and/or complain about what they play in gigs I don't see.

The only people who should worry about changing setlists are the band themselves, since it's they who have to listen to the same thing every night if they don't change and they who might get bored as a result (a la Larry saying Lovetown became like playing a jukebox by the end).
 
15. The anonymity and availability of Internet forums makes it easy to spew any first impulse of thought you have without necessarily thinking it through.

Or is this too obvious on this forum? :wink:
 
Yes but you could say the same about people who defend the setlists- aren't their responses just as knee-jerk?
 
monsieur fly said:
Yes but you could say the same about people who defend the setlists- aren't their responses just as knee-jerk?
Click to expand...

Not if you look at the definition of "knee-jerk", I think most of the folks that quote unquote defend the setlists are just realists. We're just basing our posts on history. At least I was... I never said the setlist was perfect, or even great, I just gave evidence that this tour isn't really any different than others, in fact it has been changed up more than others so far. I think the biggest weakness that some of the setlist complainers have is that they act like this is new, that somehow this tour should be different as far as structure of setlists is concerned. That is a weak argument.
 
the weakest part of it all is the end of the first set, mix some of that up and everyone would be fine
 
The internet.

There'd be less complaining if we didn't have the availability of the setlists (I looked at them because I only knew I was going 2 days before Zagreb II but I honestly didn't think "what song is coming next?" during the show) pics/Youtube videos/mp3s days within each show. Also some people see more than 1 show and that probably doesn't help either.
 
U2girl said:
The internet.

There'd be less complaining if we didn't have the availability of the setlists (I looked at them because I only knew I was going 2 days before Zagreb II but I honestly didn't think "what song is coming next?" during the show) pics/Youtube videos/mp3s days within each show. Also some people see more than 1 show and that probably doesn't help either.
Click to expand...

Hi U2girl, you have a valid point.
the question however is, is it our fault that we grave for information or is the bands "fault"that they do not seem to alter their concerts to changing times. When I went to Zooropa for the first time in Rotterdam I was blown away, I knew a bit what they would play but it was still mesmorizing. second night even more so and they changed it up quit a bit for that time. (3/4 songs difference). Zootv was more of a concept just like popmart so these tours have an "excuse"of being stale(iternet was still in its childfase so that too) Anyone who says that they change it up more than Vertigo seems to be misinformed. The first 6 songs changed up quit a bit on that tour. What I also do not understand: A lot of people go to 2 concerts so it would be kinda nice of a band of this stature to change it up for those people. The people who only see them 1 night and do not know what will be played can never be dissapointed because they do not know the setlist. I am not talking about throwing away SBS or Pride because I am too aware of the fact that a lot of people want to sing along to these songs and rightfuly so, this is what made U2 the biggest band in the world.

What I simply refuse to applaud is the fact that
A: DM still has not been played but hinted on a website where you pay for as a fan. This is just annoying to say the least
B: The setlist still is a bit stale eventhough they have had PLENTY of time to rehearse.
C: The Claw isnt used to its full potential. I dont know but it looks like an alien and there must be more thye can do with this.
D: Electrical storm seems to be a replacement (most of the times) for UF which is just silly
E: WOWY sounds like shit
F: especially with the stupidest of ideas. The steeringwheel. :huh:

Again, no one is demanding Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car for instance but with some tweaking each night could be a surprise without throwing away your warhorses and without going completley obscure with the risk that people are dissapointed. this can also be done by just changing the order of the songs.

Just my 2 cents anyway

Have a great day everyone :wave:
 
Yahweh_OMG said:
I like the steeringwheel :reject:

:whistle:
Click to expand...

haha :D

I realy think it is the most stupendous thing I have ever seen at a U2 concert. (thank god I wasnt able to go down under and see the sheer horror of the kiteflying). Bono just swings around like a lost monkey and I realy think that WOWY is hardly the song to do that with. I mean, if they would play Mofo and he was shadowboxing with it, that would make sense(kinda)
 
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