WOWY fresh on new tour?

[marik]

I still love hearing WOWY live after all these years, and i know most people on here are lumping it into ol' warhorse catagoy with Pride, SBS, Bullet, etc,

but i was wondering today if they played it this tour with the extended Edge solo from R+H days, would that be a fresh enough approach for people to want to hear it again??

 

[ybab gnuthca]

No.

 

[scottyT]

new bono new edge, adam moves and larry plays hard. yes. easy. they could completely revolutionize it. not that it needed it, but it could be huge.

 

[The_Pac_Mule]

I dont care how they do it, I just want to hear it

 

[doctorwho]

WOWY excelled, IMO, due to Bono's rather passionate vocals. He was able to maintain that passion for the JT and Lovetown tours, but it slipped with ZOO TV and it never really came back. Bono has shown his passion in other ways, like being overly closed down (ZOO TV), or rolling on the stage with a person (Elevation Tour), but the song itself suffered. Bono's vocals made it come alive and no amount of "acting" captures that.

With Bono's vocal range soaring again, I can see him possibly reviving the song to it's JT days. But that's only if he sings it that way again. If the song doesn't bring about that passion it once did, then perhaps it is best to at least semi-retire it.

 

[lauramullen]

There is no doubt in my mind that they will play in on this tour. I would love to hear Bono sing it like he did back then.

 

[jecofficial]

once you feel the need to signify to a crowd that you cant sing the song because you smoked too muhc, it's time to hang it up

 

[coolian2]

no.

 

[digitize]

I'm really sad to say it... but I think WOWY's time has come and gone. It really expired after mid 1993, although I think there were some very decent performances on Elevation, and exactly one on Vertigo. I would love to be proved wrong... but I dunno. I don't think it will ever be played to a really good standard again, except on very rare occasions.

I'd rather see them focus their energy on One, which almost sounds better when Bono sounds like crap, and could be more easily salvaged, IMO.

 

[Lemonfix]

This is the song that really got me into U2. I love it on the album, I even loved it on Popmart. I will always love it.

But, it's gots to go.

 

[Niceman]

I think any U2 show without With or Without You is less than it could have been. I want it there. And furthermore; I think that the Bono who just recorded this album is capable of giving us a better version of this song that we're used to!!!!!

Pride and One? I hope they don't show up.

 

[grietim]

I actually quite like the version on the "communication" CD. It is a bit more reserved, but I think they make it work. Go back and listen to it..

 

[U2387]

WOWY excelled, IMO, due to Bono's rather passionate vocals. He was able to maintain that passion for the JT and Lovetown tours, but it slipped with ZOO TV and it never really came back. Bono has shown his passion in other ways, like being overly closed down (ZOO TV), or rolling on the stage with a person (Elevation Tour), but the song itself suffered. Bono's vocals made it come alive and no amount of "acting" captures that.

With Bono's vocal range soaring again, I can see him possibly reviving the song to it's JT days. But that's only if he sings it that way again. If the song doesn't bring about that passion it once did, then perhaps it is best to at least semi-retire it.

AGREE 100%. I think/hope they will bring this back to its full glory on this tour.

Listen to the last leg Vertigo performances of this. Add the R&H extended outro or the Zoo TV extended outro plus shine like stars as they did in Tokyo and its back.

Pride and WOWY will blow everyone away this tour!

 

[Axver]

WOWY is garbage live now. It has been since the fourth leg of ZooTV and shows no sign of improvement. Bono seems far too interested in ... well, anything other than the song. If he'd focus on the song rather than finding some tart to pull on stage, that would be a massive step in the right direction. And if they returned to including Shine Like Stars in every performance, that would help too. On the last few tours, it's just drearily petered out without that verse.

I mean, for fuck's sake, the Australian U2 Show perform WOWY better than U2 themselves do nowadays.

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

WOWY is garbage live now. It has been since the fourth leg of ZooTV and shows no sign of improvement. Bono seems far too interested in ... well, anything other than the song. If he'd focus on the song rather than finding some tart to pull on stage, that would be a massive step in the right direction. And if they returned to including Shine Like Stars in every performance, that would help too. On the last few tours, it's just drearily petered out without that verse.

Plus: Bring back the second guitar! If Bono decided again to pose with and actually to play an acoustic guitar, it would be helpful, too. You really can hear and feel it in some of the great '87/'89/'92 versions, how two guitars lift the song up – and do stretch it, too. It might inspire him. Just look and listen from 3:47 on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hsIxGM0jWQ

My personal opinion: With a passion and musicality like this – or, sorry folks, U2 better skip this song from the setlists. As hard as this may sound for people, who simply wish to hear the tune live 2009 ...

 

[djerdap]

With or Without You, apart from few notable exceptions on the last three tours, has been dead since 1993. Bono can't properly sing it most of the time and Edge is painfully bored playing it. The only way to salvage it is to bring back the solo and the Shine Like Stars verse. Otherwise it's just a jukebox sing-along.

 

[Axver]

My personal opinion: With a passion and musicality like this – or, sorry folks, U2 better skip this song from the setlists. As hard as this may sound for people, who simply wish to hear the tune live 2009 ...

Precisely. If they can't do it like the 1987-92 versions you cite, it's not worthwhile. The piss-poor, uninspired, insipid version of WOWY that has been played since 1993 is an insult to the song's fans. I include myself in this comment. WOWY from JT/Lovetown is one of my favourite live tracks ever. Don't anybody mistake me for hating it simply because it's a hit. If they played it like the JT/Lovetown version, I'd look forward to it every night. But it's in such a sorry state that I wish it hadn't been played any of the times I've seen it, since it wasted 5 minutes when U2 could have performed a song they still have the passion to play to a high standard.

 

[The_Pac_Mule]

I too wish they'd bring back the Shine Like Stars bit. However, I don't think theres much point in arguing about it, because U2 isn't going to stop playing it.

Same as Pride, Bullet, One, etc.

 

[Axver]

They've actually stopped playing both Pride and WOWY before. Somewhat, anyway.

WOWY was dropped three shows into Elevation's third leg. It then struggled to find a place in Vertigo's set - it was only done at four shows on the first leg. It was only on the second leg that it became a fixture in the encore.

As for Pride, it was discarded at the start of Elevation, missing the first eight shows of the first leg, plus two more later on in that leg. Then on the second leg, it rotated with The Fly to close the main set and was only played at half that leg's concerts. It was only for Elevation's third leg that Pride became a nightly staple.

 

[popshopper]

Precisely. If they can't do it like the 1987-92 versions you cite, it's not worthwhile. The piss-poor, uninspired, insipid version of WOWY that has been played since 1993 is an insult to the song's fans. I include myself in this comment. WOWY from JT/Lovetown is one of my favourite live tracks ever. Don't anybody mistake me for hating it simply because it's a hit. If they played it like the JT/Lovetown version, I'd look forward to it every night. But it's in such a sorry state that I wish it hadn't been played any of the times I've seen it, since it wasted 5 minutes when U2 could have performed a song they still have the passion to play to a high standard.

What's slightly annoying about it is that there's normally moments and glimpses in some shows were it comes together. I've no problem with them trying it every now and again but as a nightly occurrance it's had it's day.

 

[digitize]

They've actually stopped playing both Pride and WOWY before. Somewhat, anyway.

WOWY was dropped three shows into Elevation's third leg. It then struggled to find a place in Vertigo's set - it was only done at four shows on the first leg. It was only on the second leg that it became a fixture in the encore.

As for Pride, it was discarded at the start of Elevation, missing the first eight shows of the first leg, plus two more later on in that leg. Then on the second leg, it rotated with The Fly to close the main set and was only played at half that leg's concerts. It was only for Elevation's third leg that Pride became a nightly staple.

One of the few redeeming things about that tour was the band's occasional willingness to drop 80s hits that were being played poorly. Vertigo had too many greatest hits, but more than redeemed itself by having in-fucking-credible performances of back-catalog rarities.

 

[marik]

Shine like stars would be awesome, but even more than that I would die for the extended solo. Image, just when you expect the usualy "Woahhh, woah, woah" crowd sing-along, instead Edge breaks into his ZooTv (92) solo, or even Jt tree (see R+H movie) solo. That would definatley be the highlight surprise of the night for me!

 

[bgmckinney]

I can't remember ever hearing an Elevation version I liked, but weren't there some great performances from the last tour? I'm thinking of Twickenham 6/19/05, with the "Take Me to the Clouds Above" sample at the end, and nearly all the versions from the final leg, when Bono was in excellent form. These actually rank as some of my favorite performances of the song. I've also heard several versions from the JT/LT/Zoo era that left me cold, when Bono slipped into cartoon-Elvis mode and sang the song like it was a cover. The solo couldn't redeem that in my ears.

 

[bizkitgto]

Ya it's pretty beaten up, leave it off the setlist for something a little less well known.

 

[T_Mack]

The rattle and hum version is the reason i'm a fan. The song definately suffers when bono get lazy though. And that comment about singing it like a cover song is bang on. I was so dissapointed when hearing some of the zootv performances. for me me it is the weakest part of zootv. I've never heard it live, but I feel like if (when) i do I'm going to be dissapointed.

 

[kingofsorrow]

i would love to see this song buried, with a really nice shiny headstone.

 

[bonoschild2009]

WOWY: The old-school version of this song would be great to bring out of retirement...with Larry pounding on the drums, etc...It truly seems that for the last few tours the "auto-pilot" is turned on EVERY time this song is played, sadly.

Pride: I can't think of anything that could revitalize this song...Take it out to the greenest pasture you can find and put it out of its misery...

Bullet: I actually think the Popmart version is the best, wouldn't mind hearing that again...Don't particularly like the Elevation/Vertigo versions of the song...

While on the topic of Popmart- I'd really like to see/hear "Do You Feel Loved" live. I always liked the Las Vegas Popmart version of it, even if it was the first night and they were still working on getting all the new stuff down.

 

[subnet]

cutting out the coda at the end of WOWY just sounds wrong now....

please bring it back

 

[last unicorn]

WOWY is one of the songs I could live without. Please replace it by something else, new and fresh!

 

[dan_smee]

^ all those saying it hasn't recovered since Lovetown didn;t see them in Sydney.

All agree that leg 5 was B's best leg on Vertigo, but WOWY was as strong as its ever been.

I would love to see edge take the solo off a bit more (stadiums are much more conducive to this as well).

Somewhere between R&H solo and the Washington DC ZooTV solo would be perfect