Too much claw, not enough body! - Complaints about the setlist

[AtomicBono]

Second, I'm not even talking about rarities...you obviously missed my "not looking for Flower Child"...but really, swap out One for Gone, Bad for Please...there are plenty of worthy "hits" that the "casual" fan would know that aren't played to death. You don't have to look hard for them. That's the benefit, I would think, of having 15 albums to pull from. I'd expect this static from a band with 1 or 2 albums out. Not 15.

In what universe are Gone and Please hits? Sorry to say, the average fan doesn't know that POP exists, or if they do they think it sucks because a magazine rated it lowly or something . Of course, that's the album I always give to people who haven't listened to U2, but that only encompasses like 4 people

yes, U2 have played a number of the same hits - Pride, WOWY, One, Streets, etc - for many/all tours. but it's because they're the most well known songs! it's what people want to hear! the fact is, most casual fans really love those songs. I gave someone Pop, he thinks it's great, but by far his favourite U2 song is One. One of the friends I'm going with to the show really wants to hear BD and Vertigo the most. I asked one of my other friends what his favourite U2 song was, he said either BD or Streets. these are the songs that define U2, whether we like it or not.

and hey, at least they dropped Bullet... though I wouldn't mind a return of ZooTV-style Bullet

 

[monsieur fly]

Hampden Park setlist

Badlands
Out in the Street
My Lucky Day
She's the One
Outlaw Pete
Working on the Highway
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Raise Your Hand (instrumental)
Incident on 57th Street
Pink Cadillac
Cover Me
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The River
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hard Times
Thunder Road
American Land (with Evan Springsteen)
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Twist and Shout[/FONT]

I think the previous poster labours under the illusion that non-hit or non-single equals rare. Atlantic City, Badlands, The Promised Land and Out In The Street etc are all established songs, they are not rarities. Pink Cadillac has been covered and Bobby Jean, Working On The Highway Cover Me and Dancing In The Dark appeared on the 12-million selling Born In The Usa. Furthermore, having seen Bruce at Old Trafford last year, I can honestly say that the atmopshere was great from start to finish. The crowd knew the words to Mary's Place (which the poster would no doubt consider "rare" and therefore as untouchable as a victim of the caste system) and wildcards like It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City and Trapped were greeted with enthusiasm, not apathy. To call Springsteen a nostalgia act is preposterous when he mixes things up so much.

PS- I'm very much in agreement with the points made by Dubbalin girl.

 

[gvox]

I got to hear A Sort of Homecoming in Dublin, I was at the first show post-9/11 in NYC, I got to be at St. Patrick's Day in Boston, the first show after Bono's Dad died, Larry's Halloween birthday show. That was when magical things happened.

I could be mistaken, but those magical things had little, if anything, to do with a major difference in the setlist, non?

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

There are bands you can follow and get something special every night, no matter the circumstances, different on every tour, which is the "reward" you get when you follow them around. That's just not the case with U2. I'm blessed that I had and have the resources to do it, but it's become a case of diminishing returns.

Maybe I'm a bad fan or not a "purist" or something but this has happened to me every single time I have seen U2. I don't really care what they play it's all good. I tend to only see 2 shows per tour so I guess my "rewards" aren’t as great as you hope yours to be though...

 

[monsieur fly]

In what universe are Gone and Please hits? Sorry to say, the average fan doesn't know that POP exists, or if they do they think it sucks because a magazine rated it lowly or something . Of course, that's the album I always give to people who haven't listened to U2, but that only encompasses like 4 people

yes, U2 have played a number of the same hits - Pride, WOWY, One, Streets, etc - for many/all tours. but it's because they're the most well known songs! it's what people want to hear! the fact is, most casual fans really love those songs. I gave someone Pop, he thinks it's great, but by far his favourite U2 song is One. One of the friends I'm going with to the show really wants to hear BD and Vertigo the most. I asked one of my other friends what his favourite U2 song was, he said either BD or Streets. these are the songs that define U2, whether we like it or not.

and hey, at least they dropped Bullet... though I wouldn't mind a return of ZooTV-style Bullet

Please was actually bigger European hit than NYD. I really cannot agree with this post at all. Why should U2 be driven by what casual fans supposedly want to hear? If that is their only driving motive then I think it's a sad state of affairs especially when I remember Bono's defiance on the first night of the Zoo Tv tour. Casual fans are like people who say they don't want to eat x or y when they haven't yet tried it. By all means play Streets and One- every band needs staples, but at least encourage them to delve into the back catalogue too, with some less obvious but by no means, obscure songs.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Why should U2 be driven by what casual fans supposedly want to hear?

Why should they be driven by what hardcore fans supposedly want to hear?

 

[gvox]

Hampden Park setlist

Badlands
Out in the Street
My Lucky Day
She's the One
Outlaw Pete
Working on the Highway
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Raise Your Hand (instrumental)
Incident on 57th Street
Pink Cadillac
Cover Me
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The River
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hard Times
Thunder Road
American Land (with Evan Springsteen)
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Twist and Shout[/FONT]

That setlist doesn't satisfy the staples/hits for me, sorry. I'm an extremely casual Bruce fan.

 

[BVS]

I actually appreciate that from Pete...at least I know I should only go to one show. The problem is that comfortable lock down is boring on multiple nights.

But Edge telling you the same thing wasn't enough?

I don't know what the results would be, but I think it would be interesting to survey 50 concert go'ers as to:
a.) They have ever been to a U2 show before
b.) They are or have already seen multiple shows on the tour.

I think that number of repeaters is pretty high.

Multiple shows? Yes. Multiple shows same tour? No. Even in Interference those numbers are low. We've done polls before.

First, you missed the part where I spent three tours avoiding setlists and was not surprised. This is the first tour where I'm looking since Zoo TV.

You went three tours and predicted their setlists? Wow you should work for U2 as a consulting psychic. So you knew we'd see Electrical Storm, UV, and UF? What will be my next post?

One for Gone, Bad for Please...there are plenty of worthy "hits" that the "casual" fan would know that aren't played to death.

One for Gone? I have no clue where you live but Gone wasn't even close to being a hit, and I guarantee you most post 2000 fans won't even know it.

Again, I'm not even saying static just within ONE TOUR, but static over the last SEVERAL tours. Run the numbers...go back to my first post in this thread, I gave a handful of stats there.

But this is the point that so many have been trying to make to you and you keep ignoring. We may not need them, but the masses want to hear One, they want to sing along to WOWY, they want WTSHNN and SBS.

It's just like the casual fans of Bruce would want to hear Born in the USA, The Rising, and Dancing in the Dark, the difference is Bruce has the luxury of not having such a casual fan audience.

 

[monsieur fly]

Why should they be driven by what hardcore fans supposedly want to hear?

I did not suggest that as an alternative- now answer the question.

 

[dal975]

How about phantom of the opera. you go see phantom once, you've seen the show. you know what to expect. you know the plot, the theme, the effects, the songs, but you're still the biggest phantom fan ever. you just can't get enough. you go see it 10 times because YOU LOVE Phantom. Every show you take something different from it. You buy the soundtrack and listen to it 1000s of times. you love it. you would see it every night if you could. the theatre continues to be packed every night with tourists who only see the show once in their lives- but they know the top two songs from the soundtrack and those get the biggest cheers live. however, there are only 3 or 4 people like you (if that many) in the 2000 seat theatre. you hear that the New York phantom cast and crew will be performing in Los Angeles and San Francisco for two weeks. So you get tickets to those shows and YOU LOVE the show despite the fact that you can lip synch the entire show from start to finish in your sleep. Hell, you can even lip synch along to the performers when they give their "spontaneous" thank you speeches at the end.
Obvious exaggeration, but you get my point. Ok attack!

 

[monsieur fly]

That setlist doesn't satisfy the staples/hits for me, sorry. I'm an extremely casual Bruce fan.

Clearly he'd have to perform the entire BITUSA album to keep you happy. Atlantic City, Dancing In The Dark, Thunder Road The River, Badlands and Born To Run all appear on the original Best of Bruce Springsteen.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I did not suggest that as an alternative- now answer the question.

Because they make up the largest amount of people who pay to see them perform?

 

[BVS]

Please was actually bigger European hit than NYD. I really cannot agree with this post at all. Why should U2 be driven by what casual fans supposedly want to hear?

Because the energy, especially in a stadium, would be sucked out of the room if they didn't know the songs, surely you can understand that?

If that is their only driving motive then I think it's a sad state of affairs especially when I remember Bono's defiance on the first night of the Zoo Tv tour.

Yes and what did they do as soon as they returned to stadiums? Brought back SBS and NYD after they said they wouldn't ever play them. Those were just cool words to say at the time, Bono knew better... it's the blessing and the curse of being U2.

 

[Bruce]

Hampden Park setlist

Badlands
Out in the Street
My Lucky Day
She's the One
Outlaw Pete
Working on the Highway
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Raise Your Hand (instrumental)
Incident on 57th Street
Pink Cadillac
Cover Me
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The River
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hard Times[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thunder Road[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]American Land (with Evan Springsteen)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bobby Jean[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dancing in the Dark[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Twist and Shout[/FONT]

I think the previous poster labours under the illusion that non-hit or non-single equals rare. Atlantic City, Badlands, The Promised Land and Out In The Street etc are all established songs, they are not rarities. Pink Cadillac has been covered and Bobby Jean, Working On The Highway Cover Me and Dancing In The Dark appeared on the 12-million selling Born In The Usa. Furthermore, having seen Bruce at Old Trafford last year, I can honestly say that the atmopshere was great from start to finish. The crowd knew the words to Mary's Place (which the poster would no doubt consider "rare" and therefore as untouchable as a victim of the caste system) and wildcards like It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City and Trapped were greeted with enthusiasm, not apathy. To call Springsteen a nostalgia act is preposterous when he mixes things up so much.

PS- I'm very much in agreement with the points made by Dubbalin girl.

ALRIGHT!!!! Excellent Post!!!!!

 

[gvox]

If I didn't hear (EDIT: MOST OF) the following Bruce songs after plopping down $200 to see him croak his way thru 3 hrs of music, I'd be pissed:

Glory Days
Born In the USA
I'm On Fire
Born To Run
Rosalita
Hungry Heart
The River
No Surrender
My Hometown
I'm Goin Down
Brilliant Disguise


shall I stop now? I'd be pissed, seriously..

 

[monsieur fly]

Because the energy, especially in a stadium, would be sucked out of the room if they didn't know the songs, surely you can understand that?


Yes and what did they do as soon as they returned to stadiums? Brought back SBS and NYD after they said they wouldn't ever play them. Those were just cool words to say at the time, Bono knew better... it's the blessing and the curse of being U2.

There's a lot of talk about energy here and it's all rather vague- there was plenty of "energy" at the Nou Camp last year when Bruce played there and the setlist was hardly "Greatest Hits" material. And yes, I know U2 brought back those songs (NYD frequently) but the sets stayed pretty daring. In fact their final setlists were probably the most daring since they included Numb, Lemon and Crashed Car, songs which are not obvious stadium choices if you are driven by the casual fan motive. The basic principle Bono set down at the start did not change.

 

[AtomicBono]

Please was actually bigger European hit than NYD. I really cannot agree with this post at all. Why should U2 be driven by what casual fans supposedly want to hear? If that is their only driving motive then I think it's a sad state of affairs especially when I remember Bono's defiance on the first night of the Zoo Tv tour. Casual fans are like people who say they don't want to eat x or y when they haven't yet tried it. By all means play Streets and One- every band needs staples, but at least encourage them to delve into the back catalogue too, with some less obvious but by no means, obscure songs.

I didn't know Please was such a big European hit, but do you really think it will be remembered like NYD? It may have been popular when it came out, but I'm guessing wayyy more people now know NYD than Please (I know that's true in the US, anyway). Not saying it should be that way - anyone who's been here long knows Pop is my favourite album by anyone ever. and I don't think it would hurt a show for U2 to play ONE song from Pop... it would expose the audience to maybe something they hadn't heard before, and maybe they'd like it. but U2 are already playing some songs for the diehards, like UF and UV. A couple more would be nice, but I wouldn't expect any more than that. The majority of the concert-goers are casual fans, so U2 should play what would please the majority of the crowd. I think they have a decent balance now of hits, new songs, and rarities. If they played just a couple more rarities I'd say the set is perfect, but as a diehard I'm biased.

 

[monsieur fly]

If I didn't hear the following Bruce songs after plopping down $200 to see him croak his way thru 3 hrs of music, I'd be pissed:

Glory Days
Born In the USA
I'm On Fire
Born To Run
Rosalita
Hungry Heart
The River
No Surrender
My Hometown
I'm Goin Down
Brilliant Disguise


shall I stop now? I'd be pissed, seriously..

One: he doesn't croak. Two: He does those songs, but he rotates them. If he played all the hits the set would be dominated by BITUSA material and that would look utterly desperate and would be very very boring.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

If he played all the hits the set would be dominated by BITUSA material and that would look utterly desperate and would be very very boring.

to who?

 

[gvox]

TO THE SETLIST FREAKS, OBVIOUSLY!!

 

[monsieur fly]

I didn't know Please was such a big European hit, but do you really think it will be remembered like NYD? It may have been popular when it came out, but I'm guessing wayyy more people now know NYD than Please (I know that's true in the US, anyway). Not saying it should be that way - anyone who's been here long knows Pop is my favourite album by anyone ever. and I don't think it would hurt a show for U2 to play ONE song from Pop... it would expose the audience to maybe something they hadn't heard before, and maybe they'd like it. but U2 are already playing some songs for the diehards, like UF and UV. A couple more would be nice, but I wouldn't expect any more than that. The majority of the concert-goers are casual fans, so U2 should play what would please the majority of the crowd. I think they have a decent balance now of hits, new songs, and rarities. If they played just a couple more rarities I'd say the set is perfect, but as a diehard I'm biased.

I wouldn't be quite so utilitarian about the setlists as you but I love Pop too and I absolutely agree that it wouldn't hurt to play one (or two) songs. And don't be so darn worried about being biased- we all are here

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

TO THE SETLIST FREAKS, OBVIOUSLY!!

oh, but like, what about, you know - NORMAL PEOPLE?

 

[AtomicBono]

And yes, I know U2 brought back those songs (NYD frequently) but the sets stayed pretty daring. In fact their final setlists were probably the most daring since they included Numb, Lemon and Crashed Car, songs which are not obvious stadium choices if you are driven by the casual fan motive. The basic principle Bono set down at the start did not change.

Er...but those were songs from their new album. Not anymore daring than playing songs from NLOTH now (though I think Zooropa as an album was possibly the most daring thing they've done, releasing weird songs like Numb and Lemon as singles and all, but playing songs from it only makes sense if it's the album they're promoting.)

i think the ZooTV sets were great, but that's because they were promoting two of my favourite albums. same goes for Popmart. Has nothing to do with "daring," just that they were playing my favourite songs

 

[BVS]

There's a lot of talk about energy here and it's all rather vague- there was plenty of "energy" at the Nou Camp last year when Bruce played there and the setlist was hardly "Greatest Hits" material. And yes, I know U2 brought back those songs (NYD frequently) but the sets stayed pretty daring. In fact their final setlists were probably the most daring since they included Numb, Lemon and Crashed Car, songs which are not obvious stadium choices if you are driven by the casual fan motive. The basic principle Bono set down at the start did not change.

Do you honestly think Bruce attracts as many casual fans as U2?

The sets weren't any more daring than what they are doing now.

Numb and Lemon were hits back then from their latest release

 

[monsieur fly]

to who?

To himself, to the band, to the critics. You can't live off one successful year and appear credible. As it is, he does about three or four songs off it which is just right (they change night to night needless to say), acknowledging its appeal without being its prisoner.

 

[gvox]

oh, but like, what about, you know - NORMAL PEOPLE?

Normal people want Drowning Man, dude.

 

[AtomicBono]

I wouldn't be quite so utilitarian about the setlists as you but I love Pop too and I absolutely agree that it wouldn't hurt to play one (or two) songs. And don't be so darn worried about being biased- we all are here

Well we're still in the first leg of the tour. This thing is supposed to go into 2010, so who know what we'll have by the end of it. they did apparently (was it ever confirmed?) rehearse IGWSHA (what an odd choice), and they rehearsed Mofo last tour, so anything is possible ... I'm not betting on it though. I think ultimately U2 don't care for Pop that much, which is unfortunate.

but yea, I want to see what they bring out for the US leg before I declare the sets to be too static or whatever ...

and let's not forget, they may be promoting another new album before the tour ends

 

[youarenotimmune]

oh good, another setlist-bitchin thread.....

"Originally Posted by No spoken words
I love the band a ton but, f&&k, they obsess over so much....just f&&ing play it and see what happens."

Completely agree. 3 Nights in Dublin and they really didn't pull anything special out for them. That is pathetic. Fanatics travel internationally to Dublin & they pull very little out of their back pocket for their own and the international fans.

I love the band, but they are way too conservative. They are a great band, they have great concerts, they make great music, they are my favorite, but as musicians...I can only say they are MARGINAL.

Most, if not all of their creativity goes in before the shows. You could make an argument that it's all bolted down before before a claw, heart or lemon are in place. It is starting to drive me nuts that they are more interested in large construction than pleasing their fans.

True musicians can mix it up from night to night and after 30 years, they should not be so worried about falling down. Big deal, you'll get up! Why they still act like they have been playing instruments for 3 years is beside me.

NOTE TO U2 - SHOW US YOU ARE THE GREATEST BAND ON THE PLANET, DON'T TELL US!

alright, you can whine all you want abt the setlist, but calling them MARGINAL musicians becuz they don't mix it up to ur satisfaction???? that is going more than a tad bit too far sir!

every one of us freak fans has a dream U2 setlist which will obviously never be played, so i can understand some ppl in here bitchin abt 'em in general. but when you folks make outlandish statements questioning the band's creativity or their greatness, that is just fucking ridiculous! shame on you!

 

[monsieur fly]

Er...but those were songs from their new album. Not anymore daring than playing songs from NLOTH now (though I think Zooropa as an album was possibly the most daring thing they've done, releasing weird songs like Numb and Lemon as singles and all, but playing songs from it only makes sense if it's the album they're promoting.)

i think the ZooTV sets were great, but that's because they were promoting two of my favourite albums. same goes for Popmart. Has nothing to do with "daring," just that they were playing my favourite songs

Well yes, but they didn't play those songs regularly on the summer leg in '93, which suggested they didn't know how they would translate despite the fact the album was out. Their subsequent appearance was then, a little more daring than you might first think.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

To himself, to the band, to the critics. You can't live off one successful year and appear credible. As it is, he does about three or four songs off it which is just right (they change night to night needless to say), acknowledging its appeal without being its prisoner.

who cares though? Honestly, at the end of the day, if he wants to play something why can't he? He's just as much a prisoner now because that's what people expect, if he were to do a "greatest hits" tour with static setlists he would be crucified.