U2 Glastonbury Setlist Prediction

[gareth brown]

Certainly am, cannot wait. I'll be down the front on Friday. Just a pity about the rest of the Pyramid Stage on that day. I am very excited about that fact that it will be a U2 show pretty much unlike any they've played for about 25 years.

Haha I admire your dedication. I'd love to "GET RAIL" for U2, but I can't be bothered to spend the whole day at just one stage, especially with that line-up. I only just managed a whole day without a bathroom break last year.

I spent most of the day at the Pyramid on the day Blur played in 2009 and made it to the equivalent of second row by moving forwards at the end of each band since people left after seeing certain acts.
It was definitely worth it, it was by far the best gig i've ever been to despite nearly being crushed to death at one point. the thing about that day though was i loved everyone playing that day. There are a few on Friday this year I don't really care about sadly.

Good luck getting to the front though, I'm sure it'll be amazing from the rail. I'll be there from around Snoop Dogg onwards and easing my way forwards as people leave. I've seen U2 twice but both times I was high up in a stand, so any view I get on the night's going to be incredible for me

I'll definitely come down on Friday morning to watch the soundcheck though.

 

[gareth brown]

as for Moment Of Surrender, I don't think it'd be entirely unrealistic to assume they might drop it. That's a two-hit slot they could free up by letting that one go for a night I still remember feeling a LITTLE deflated when I finally heard it close the set for real after months of reading the setlists. It was great to hear it but as a closer it didn't really work for me. Playing it at a festival (especially at the end) may take the air out of what's going to be an incredible night.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

U2 shows are for U2 fans. With Live 8, they were on first, at about one in the afternoon (from memory) when the place was only maybe 60% full so likely only those who were eager to see them, and that also was more of a 'general', or perhaps pop orientated audience anyway. In other words, neither are the same as Glasto where they'll have 50% of the audience 150% behind whatever they do, and 50% of the audience with rotten fruit stored, waiting for Big.Boring.Overhyped.U2 to play directly into their hands.

I'm betting they will open with at least one of the first two songs being Bomb/No Line era, if not both, but I just think that the Glastonbury audience, more than a 360 or Live 8 audience, will need more. If there are 100K watching, I'm betting that Bono kicking off the countdown for Vertigo will get them 50,000 cheers, but also 50,000 strong groans. Kicking off Breathe will get 50,000 cheers, and 50,000 befuddled facial expressions. They can do better by reaching deeper. Open with an early 90s and mid 80s high energy one-two punch. Drop Vertigo in there later once everyone has been safely won over. Use Beautiful Day in a way that it deserves, when good feelings are spilling over, immediately after a big anthemic singalong (this is Glasonbury). Don't play Elevation at all. Open with Even Better / New Years Day / (and if you must) Magnificent. Job done. Crowd won.

 

[MikeyJB]

Agreed. Its not just about the live crowd though, Glastonbury headliners pull in a big TV audience on the BBC and with the multi-stage channels, if they don't grab the casual people from the off, there's plenty of other bands they can switch to.

 

[U2girl]

"Williams promises an extra-special, hit-packed performance."
"I'm thinking about what you'd want to see if you were only going to see U2 once in your life"
"I can start from scratch with the setlist and build a one-off show for the British audience."

That doesn't sound like a typical 360 setlist will happen (though of course hits and NLOTH songs will come in). I think they will rely on big live hits and consider all three decades - MW, Bad, UTEOTW-NYD combo once more?, Streets, Vertigo, Beautiful day, IWF , 40 ending...just once on this tour, I'd like to see them try and open with NLOTH. It was well received live and would work better than Breathe - no regular U2 show, no Kingdom-Breathe intro right? (or Magnificent). It goes along with their tradition to open with a new song - nothing says "we're a dinosaur band" better than opening with an oldie - but is not as cliche as going in with Boots.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I don't think it will be a typical 360 setlist, but I bet we start to see the 360 setlist twist towards Glastonbury plans in the 2-3 gigs beforehand. Not in the same order, but songs they intend on playing, if not already on the setlist, will definitely start popping up.

I think opening with a couple of big/classic songs does two things: (1) Punches the skeptics in the face, those who base their distaste for U2 on their 00s output, and expect to hear U2 pushing things like Vertigo and Boots to validate their opinion. Don't give them that, but 'casually' drop those songs in later surrounded by the 80s/90s stuff the haters can't deny. (2) You expect 'classic' bands to start off somewhat low on the recent songs, warm up gradually, and then start pounding on the classics late in the set. U2 get to prove their 30 year worth and spin that stereotype on it's head - while also lifting the worth of more recent material - if they drop a couple of the big ones right up front. If some of what is expected late in the set is played at the front...what have they got left?... oh, lots... oh, there really are a lot of great U2 songs aren't there?... and if what is expected up front is pushed back amongst more and more and more of the bigger songs, then... actually, when played to open an encore after a Streets/One regular set ending, actually, Beautiful Day isn't that bad after all... That sort of thing. This isn't a U2 crowd.

 

['RoomOnFire]

Maybe a little unrealistic but what if ...

1. A Sort Of Homecoming
2. Beautiful Day
3. New Year's Day
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. Magnificent
6. No Line On The Horizon
7. Stay
8. Angel of Harlem
9. Unknown Caller
10. Until The End Of The World
11. The Unforgettable Fire
12. City Of Blinding Lights
13. Vertigo
14. I Will Follow
15. Pride
16. Mysterious Ways

17. MLK
18. Walk On
19. Streets
20. One

21. Get On Your Boots
22. Even Better Than The Real Thing
23. Ultraviolet
24. With Or Without You
25. Bad

I leave out Breathe at great pain as I think its a great song.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Nah, they'd have to learn how to play ASOH. Was a disaster last time.

EBTTRT would be a perfect opener. The fans in the audience will go nuts no matter what they play first. For the rest, many of whom might be doubters, the only thing that may have any credibility is a song from AB and it may as well be EBTTRT since it is high energy.

BD or Vertigo would be bad.

 

[Tommy WM]

Can't see them playing anything like Sort of Homecoming or Even Better Than the Real Thing. Real Thing would work at any ordinary 360 show but they still don't play it. Something like this is more likely:

1. Where the Streets Have No Name
2. I Will Follow
3. Get on Your Boots
4. Mysterious Ways
5. Magnificent
6. Beautiful Day
7. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
8. Desire
9. Elevation
10. Until the End of the World
11. New Year's Day
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo
15. Crazy Tonight
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday
17. One
18. Bad

19. Ultraviolet
20. With or Without You
21. Moment of Surrender

I hope they don't do any duets with anybody. PERIOD. None of this MUSE or will.I.am shit!

 

[BVS]

None of this MUSE or will.I.am shit!

What did they play with Muse and when?

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Would love to see them try Last night on earth ala popmart live from mexico.

 

[gareth brown]

if only!!

 

[Amiarockstar]

Wouldn't it be cool if they played a setlist that kind of went through their career progression?

1. Out of Control
2. I Will Follow
3. Gloria
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. Two Hearts Beat as One
6. Pride
7. Bad
8. Streets
9. I Still Haven't Found what I'm looking For
10. With or Without You
11. Angel of Harlem
12. Desire / Hawkmoon 269
13. The Fly / Acrobat snippet
14. One
15. Mysterious Ways
16. Stay
17. Miss Sarajevo
18. Please
19. Gone

Encore
20. Beautiful Day
21. Walk On
22. City of Blinding Lights
23. Vertigo

2nd Encore
24. No Line on the Horizon
25. Magnificent
26. 40 (has to end the show)

I'd of course rather them play some non-hits, but this would also be cool. (I know this song transitions aren't really all that great for a show and this is one reason why they just don't play the songs back to back).

 

[prbiker15]

26. 40 (has to end the show)

YES. Great way to end a show.

 

[Tommy WM]

What did they play with Muse and when?

Nothing yet...but they will be there on the Saturday I think

 

[BVS]

So it was just a preemptive strike?

 

[Tommy WM]

Yeah I don't like Muse

 

[U2387]

Wouldn't it be cool if they played a setlist that kind of went through their career progression?

1. Out of Control
2. I Will Follow
3. Gloria
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. Two Hearts Beat as One
6. Pride
7. Bad
8. Streets
9. I Still Haven't Found what I'm looking For
10. With or Without You
11. Angel of Harlem
12. Desire / Hawkmoon 269
13. The Fly / Acrobat snippet
14. One
15. Mysterious Ways
16. Stay
17. Miss Sarajevo
18. Please
19. Gone

Encore
20. Beautiful Day
21. Walk On
22. City of Blinding Lights
23. Vertigo

2nd Encore
24. No Line on the Horizon
25. Magnificent
26. 40 (has to end the show)

I'd of course rather them play some non-hits, but this would also be cool. (I know this song transitions aren't really all that great for a show and this is one reason why they just don't play the songs back to back).

Yes!

This is awesome!

I've always thought of something like this, but really, really well done

A solid, at least semi recognizable song from each era.

As for your comment about transitions, look at the set you made again and run through it a few times in your mind.

I think you'll find they transition very well!

Not something they should do on a regular basis, but will it work and then some for a Glastonbury type show?

I think so, flying colors!

A few comments:

-Out of Control was a great opener on War. It opened the Red Rocks show with a tremendous burst of energy that set the tone for one of U2's best shows ever.

-Gloria-SBS works well because the outro of Gloria, with its rapid fire fills and cymbal crashes and the drum solo intro of SBS, both star Larry.

-It is very realistic already, but cut IWF or Angel of Harlem for NYD and it gets even more so. Not that I would suggest that, everyone at the show is damn well familiar with NYD and will not die if this is the one hit they don't hear. I have walked out of a lot of shows w/ casual fans going "where the hell was WOWY or Still Haven't Found or MW or Desire or Pride," but for some reason, never anything about NYD.

-Two Hearts Beat As One is the PERFECT lesser known song to put in. That song has unbelievable energy and live resonance and I think its a (somewhat hidden gem). Its controversial here a bit, but you don't get more raw energy mixed with great performances from all band members and loads of fun to top it off in too many songs!

Good job picking a lesser known and not an obscure, I think people tend to think "2 Hearts, who knows that, super fans?" while forgetting that it held its own and then some on the radio in its day! Even if people do not know it, it will resonate if performed even 1/3 as well as they did it in the 80s, and if we know U2, it will probably be done 4/3 as well!

-Miss Sarajevo, good pick. Not well known, but the story plus Bono belting out that opera is bound to go down well!

-40 has to end.

-Love the idea of including a good amount of early stuff that may not be as well known to the radio masses, but is a big part of U2's live history. Out of Control , I Will Follow, Gloria, Bad and 40 have too much history as live staples with frequent epic performances to sit out a "once in a lifetime U2 event!" The live part of U2 is, after all, what is being showcased as much as anything else to the world!

Sorry to ramble, but one of the best posts I've read here in a long time!

 

[JUSTinPUSHPLAY]

Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
No Line On The Horizon
Elevation
Stay
Until The End Of The World
New Year's Day
NEW SONG
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride
_____

One
Where The Streets Have No Name
_____

Ultraviolet
Even Better Then The Real Thing
With Or Without You
Moment Of Surrender

 

[Amiarockstar]

Seriously, if they did the career progression setlist, it just might be the best concert EVER.

 

[gareth brown]

and would be a gift to cynical reviewers keen to point out what they'd call a 'decline' over 30 years

 

[U2387]

and would be a gift to cynical reviewers keen to point out what they'd call a 'decline' over 30 years

How so?

No one honest with themselves could say that 24 and 25 mark a glaring step down from 1-10.

If someone got off the boat at Walk On or COBL or Magnificent, then I'm glad I stayed on!!

 

[prbiker15]

Yes!

This is awesome!

I've always thought of something like this, but really, really well done

A solid, at least semi recognizable song from each era.

As for your comment about transitions, look at the set you made again and run through it a few times in your mind.

I think you'll find they transition very well!

Not something they should do on a regular basis, but will it work and then some for a Glastonbury type show?

I think so, flying colors!

A few comments:

-Out of Control was a great opener on War. It opened the Red Rocks show with a tremendous burst of energy that set the tone for one of U2's best shows ever.

-Gloria-SBS works well because the outro of Gloria, with its rapid fire fills and cymbal crashes and the drum solo intro of SBS, both star Larry.

-It is very realistic already, but cut IWF or Angel of Harlem for NYD and it gets even more so. Not that I would suggest that, everyone at the show is damn well familiar with NYD and will not die if this is the one hit they don't hear. I have walked out of a lot of shows w/ casual fans going "where the hell was WOWY or Still Haven't Found or MW or Desire or Pride," but for some reason, never anything about NYD.

-Two Hearts Beat As One is the PERFECT lesser known song to put in. That song has unbelievable energy and live resonance and I think its a (somewhat hidden gem). Its controversial here a bit, but you don't get more raw energy mixed with great performances from all band members and loads of fun to top it off in too many songs!

Good job picking a lesser known and not an obscure, I think people tend to think "2 Hearts, who knows that, super fans?" while forgetting that it held its own and then some on the radio in its day! Even if people do not know it, it will resonate if performed even 1/3 as well as they did it in the 80s, and if we know U2, it will probably be done 4/3 as well!

-Miss Sarajevo, good pick. Not well known, but the story plus Bono belting out that opera is bound to go down well!

-40 has to end.

-Love the idea of including a good amount of early stuff that may not be as well known to the radio masses, but is a big part of U2's live history. Out of Control , I Will Follow, Gloria, Bad and 40 have too much history as live staples with frequent epic performances to sit out a "once in a lifetime U2 event!" The live part of U2 is, after all, what is being showcased as much as anything else to the world!

Sorry to ramble, but one of the best posts I've read here in a long time!

LOVE. 40 better end, Gloria and SBS sound perfect. Hopefully Bono won't ramble.

 

[Axver]

No one honest with themselves could say that 24 and 25 mark a glaring step down from 1-10.

I guess I'm not honest with myself then.

 

[U2387]

I guess I'm not honest with myself then.

You don't like NLOTH and Magnificent?

I just don't see how an objective reviewer could say that No Line On The Horizon and Magnificent represent the bottom of a career in steady decline.

No Line On The Horizon is one of the best songs they've written in a long time and Magnificent is the closest they have come since to matching an 80s anthem like Pride, A Sort of Homecoming or In God's Country.

 

[coolian2]

I just don't see how an objective reviewer could say that No Line On The Horizon and Magnificent represent the bottom of a career in steady decline.

No Line On The Horizon is one of the best songs they've written in a long time and Magnificent is the closest they have come since to matching an 80s anthem like Pride, A Sort of Homecoming or In God's Country.

there's an argument that suggests when put in a list as earlier the individual songs stack up great with the previous decades, but the body of work as a whole is weaker now than it used to be. in light of that school of thought, you'd have to be a very "cynical reviewer" to make the claim of gradual decline.

i think the most cynical reviewers - the casual fans - have spoken, especially on no line on the horizon. i still think that of the newer songs that received the best reaction when i saw them live, and as much as i can't stand much of the body of work from the 2000s, it not being the lead single is the biggest mistake they made in that decade.

 

[Axver]

You don't like NLOTH and Magnificent?

I just don't see how an objective reviewer could say that No Line On The Horizon and Magnificent represent the bottom of a career in steady decline.

No Line On The Horizon is one of the best songs they've written in a long time and Magnificent is the closest they have come since to matching an 80s anthem like Pride, A Sort of Homecoming or In God's Country.

It was more a general point regarding recent output being the shadow of the eighties material, to be honest. The actual setlist is fairly favourably selected for me to say it's NOT a glaring step down; weak eighties picks (be they weak studio songs like THBAO or ISHFWILF, or songs rubbish live these days, like Pride or WOWY) vs two of NLOTH's better songs. Almost any other conceivable selection, and the step down really is glaring to me. For the record, I think NLOTH is a scorching live track, but Magnificent is not half what the eighties anthems are, and much like its ancestor Pride, it isn't as good live as studio.

As a cynical reviewer, I would suggest the first encore represents the true bottom of a nosediving career, with the second encore a well-meaning attempt to climb back to previous heights.

 

[The Sad Punk]

U2, in tribute to their various influences over the years, will perform a show consisting entirely of covers!

-----
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
I Want To Hold Your Hand
Please Please Me
Ticket to Ride
Help!
Love Me Do
It Won't Be Long Now
Taxman
Sun King
Yellow Submarine
Tomorrow Never Knows
Love You To
Helter Skelter
Norwegian Wood
Getting Better
Strawberry Fields Forever
Hey Jude/Live Forever snippet/Wonderwall snippet/Slide Away snippet/Champagne Supernova snippet
----
I Am the Walrus (Bono solo, on top of moving hippie van traversing the grounds)
Drumming Is My Madness
Temporary Secretary
Viva la Vida

 

[cobl04]

You don't like NLOTH and Magnificent?

I just don't see how an objective reviewer could say that No Line On The Horizon and Magnificent represent the bottom of a career in steady decline.

No Line On The Horizon is one of the best songs they've written in a long time and Magnificent is the closest they have come since to matching an 80s anthem like Pride, A Sort of Homecoming or In God's Country.

in your opinion.

in my opinion, placing Magnificent with those songs is blasphemous.

see?

i for one, would definitely not want a chronological setlist like that. ew

 

[U2girl]

Keep in mind this IS the U2 internet fandom.