Idea For a 2016 'Experience' Setlist

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PopFly

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So this idea is based around the idea that U2 will release Songs Of Experience after their scheduled 2015 dates are completed. It would actually be awesome if, during the last show in Dublin on November 28, Bono announced that the new record was now available on iTunes or whatever or the band had a physical release ready for the Xmas market.

ANYWAY, I was thinking about what an "Experience" show might look like. The current setlist is very well put together thematically going from U2's young days to today, whereas having a show fully centered around just 'experience' is somewhat more difficult to pull off.

But, my basic idea is this. They start the show with four straight new songs from SOE. Then they go through 13 straight older songs, picking one from each of their previous 13 albums before finally ending with one more SOE track. So essentially you're getting a through-line of U2's entire history in one show. Then you get a 4-5 song encore of a few more hits and maybe one more new track, assuming that U2 actually has something on the new record that's a good show closer rather than falling back on One, Bad or ISHWILF.

The 13-song rotation allows for quite a bit of variety as obviously U2 could swap out one album's representative song for another on any given night. One night Boy's representative can be 'I Will Follow,' the next night it can be 'Electric Co,' etc.

There's also no real rule that says U2 has to follow their actual album chronology. So they could go ATYCLB song-Unforgettable Fire song-Rattle & Hum song-NLOTH song and so forth rather than Boy-October-War-UF, etc. This allows for more flexibility with shaping the 13 songs into a "musical journey" as U2 like doing with their setlists or telling a story a la the 10-song Innocence set.

You might argue that U2 would be limiting themselves from not being able to fully sample their best-known albums and songs, though this isn't really the case. Consider their Amsterdam show from last September 13....the band played songs from 10 of their 13 current albums, so already a lot of variety. The I+E tour has already showcased tracks from 12 of the 13 albums, save anything from Pop. The encore also allows U2 to fit in any "extra" songs --- so for instance, Streets/WOWY will both still always get played, just with one in the main set and one in the encore.

Sample setlist...
1. NEW SONG
2. NEW SONG
3. NEW SONG
4. NEW SONG (which hopefully has a great natural intro into...)
5. Where The Streets Have No Name
6. I Will Follow
7. Mysterious Ways
8. Gloria
9. Angel Of Harlem (acoustic)
10. Stay (acoustic)
11. Magnificent
12. City Of Blinding Lights
13. New Year's Day
14. Beautiful Day
15. Staring At The Sun
16. Raised By Wolves
17. Bad
18. NEW SONG
----encore break
19. One
20. Vertigo
21. Pride
22. NEW SONG
23. With Or Without You


Whaddya think?
 
For Experience, I think that what would make more sense is to have a setlist more based on the 90s and 2000s, and less on the 80s - on this tour, to promote Innocence, we can have up to 11/12 songs from the 80s, which is a lot in this moment of their career.

1. MOFO
2. NEW SONG
3. Discothèque
4. Crystal Ballroom
4. NEW SONG (which hopefully has a great natural intro into...)
5. Where The Streets Have No Name
6. NEW SONG
7. NEW SONG
8. Beautiful Day
9. Every Breaking Wave
10. Stay (acoustic) / Man and a Woman (Acoustic)
11. Magnificent
12. Until the End of The World
13. Invisible
14. Vertigo
15. Staring At The Sun
16. Please
17. Bad
18. NEW SONG
----encore break
19. This is Where You Can Reach Me Now
20. Acrobat
21. New Year's Day
22. One
23. NEW SONG
 
I agree with transmaniac. Current shows include quite a bit of the older songs, so the experience tour should logically include newer songs. But you're quite optimistic to put Acrobat in the encore ;)
 
I think it's a pretty safe bet that the 2016 tour and setlist will follow a similar structure to 2015's setlist, with or without Songs of Experience.

Not the same set, although I'm sure some elements will remain... but I have to think they'll try to lay out a story again with the songs to match, have an "intermission" in the middle, the rotating e stage set, etc etc.

Perhaps they'll go with the second set that they were planning when they were still going to do two completely different nights, or at least a modified version of whatever it was that was planned for night 2

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I look forward to Pop not being suited to Experience either :waiting:
 
Supposing that the Experience show follows a similar arc to the Innocence gigs I could see it looking something like this

01 - The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) NEW SONG
02 - Out of Control The Fly
03 - Do you remember Rock 'n Roll Radio (Snippet) / Vertigo
04 - I Will Follow Beautiful Day
05 - Iris (Hold me Close) NEW SONG
06 - Cedarwood Road NEW SONG
07 - Song for Someone NEW SONG
08 - Sunday Bloody Sunday Peace on Earth
09 - Raised by Wolves / Psalm 23 (snippet) Please
10 - Untill the End of the World / Love and Peace or Else (snippet) Love Is Blindness
-------- Intermission : The Lounge Fly Remix) ------
11 - Invisible Daddy's Gonna Pay
12 - Even Better than the Real Thing
13 - Mysterious Ways / Burning down the house Discotheque
14 - Desire / Not fade away / Love me do (snippets) NEW SONG
15 - Angel of Harlem / Into the Mystic (snippet) NEW SONG
16 - Every Breaking Wave
17 - October Stay
18 - Bullet the Blue Sky / Ode to Joy (snippet) NEW SONG
19 - Zooropa
20 - Where the Streets have no name / California (There is no end to love- snippet) The Wanderer
21 - New York
22 - With or Without you
-------Intermission -------
23 - City of Blinding Lights Sometime You Can't Make It...
24 - Moment of Surrender
25 - Mother and Child Reunion (snipet) / I still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For Streets
 
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04 - I Will Follow Get on Your Boots
20 - Where the Streets have no name / California (There is no end to love- snippet) Numb

Boots and no Streets?

Edit: ah, you added in Streets as I was posting
 
The think given it's the innocence/experience tour that innocence will still come first so..

The Miracle
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Pride
Cedarwood Road
New Song
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Raised By Wolves
Until The End Of The World
__

New Song
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
New Song
Stay
October/Every Breaking Wave
Bullet The Blue Sky
Bad
Streets
New Song
With Or Without You
___

City
Beautiful Day
One
 
I agree, especially if SoE is to SoI as Zooropa was to Achtung Baby (as in a slightly smaller, possibly less commercial album).

It also wouldn't make sense to just completely ditch SoI, and it would feel kind of weird to start with 'Experience' songs and then do 'Innocence' ones, that lack of timeline would just be odd.

Therefore, I envision them doing it like the Zootv Sydney show, which still had the AB songs up front, but sprinkled Zooropa tunes later on, and in the encore.

I also think, even if the 2016 tour focuses on the concept of experience by playing 90's tunes, they won't ditch a lot of the earlier material they're playing now. One, because as i said two paragraphs above, i predict they'll keep a lot of SoI material (and therefore will have earlier, 80's songs to play alongside them), and two, they're still playing 90's and 00's material right now, despite this tour focusing on 'Innocence' more: Regardless of theme, it's still a u2 show, and many people will want to hear the big hits no matter how they fit in.

My predictions are based on SoE being a Zooropa type album.. if it actually yields proper hit singles (which tbh, at this stage in u2's career would pleasantly surprise me), i could see them putting the SoE tunes more in the forefront of the show.

Either way, i'd be curious what SoI songs they would drop if they play SoE material. I imagine the Miracle and Song for Someone staying, as they seem to have been received quite well. Every Breaking Wave seems a real struggle for Bono to sing, but again i've seen some impressive audience reaction to it, and the band seem quite proud of it. Iris seems the least impressive to me, and Cedarwood road (though i love it) doesn't seem to have a huge reaction, but they both seem like quite core parts of the show. I'm basing this off just bootlegs and youtube videos though - does anyone who's been to a show know which of the new songs are doing well/not so well?
 
Well right now Iris, Cedarwood Road and Raised by Wolves are the core narrative of the show (they live largely off of the screen). So if they change the narrative they logically should change this part. But that means a whole new visual concept. But since we have no idea if they'll be playing the experience tour in arenas or stadiums, hence with the same stage or a new one, it's really hard to predict. As per current "news" / rumors it seems that in 2016 they'll stay in European arenas, possibly starting in march. I don't think they'll release the album in between AND come up with a new concept for the show. I rather think 2016 will be the same concept, then a break to release SOE and rethink the show (probably for stadiums). Which in turn means SOE = stadiums = new stage = new concept = possibility to change narrative and kick out some SOI songs that won't work so well eithout the current stage and screen (i.e. CR, Iris, RBW).
 
That's a good point, but i think it's very possible that they'd maintain the SoI songs + visuals even after releasing Songs of Experience. It's not like SoE would be the next 'era' for them, it would be a very definitive continuation of the current era (the tour is called 'Innocence and Experience, after all). Therefore, it wouldn't just be unnecessary for them to overhaul the tour, it might even be counterproductive.

They might just do what i suggested regarding treating SoE like Zooropa was on the ZooTV tour, and have it be represented later on in the set list. It would make chronological sense, if they keep the intermission, to have the first half focus on innocence (and maintain the songs, visuals and narrative they already have), and then make the second half more thematic than it is now by having a similar (maybe not as prominent) focus on SoE that they already have for SoI.

And they'd theoretically have december, january and february to come up with some visuals/ stage set up/ set list that would focus on SoE (again, in a smaller way to how they already focus on SoI). That could definitely be feasible depending on how far along they are with the album. If they're quite near the finishing line already, it wouldn't be such a big deal (plus it's possible that they have been working on marrying SoE to the setlist this entire time, given they've been recording it whilst touring). If they're actually seriously far away from completing it, and need to devote between december and march (between tour legs) entirely to finishing SoE, then i could see it being plausible that they'd hold off on releasing it until it can be properly finished AND represented on tour, as you suggest.
 
I agree that SOE could be included in the current set. I was suggesting that they drop CR, Iris and RBW based on the idea of a stadium tour. Dtadium means new stage. And these three songs won't work very well without the very strong visual part to support them. That doesn't mean that SOI is kicked out of the setlist entirely. One of the three might stay + Song for Someone, Miracle and Every Breaking Wave which indeed work very well live. Then put in some new songs and drop some of the earlier 80 songs for some 90s 00s songs (basically as suggested above).
 
Ah that's interesting, I hadn't considered too much how things would change if/when they move out to stadiums. Even if they kept Iris, CR, and RBW - and even if they're kept in the same place on the setlist - it does make sense that things would probably change quite a bit to adjust for being in a stadium. Makes me wonder how they'd change things! What would the stadium equivalent be of the huge screen hanging from the ceiling in arenas? And would the floor space be too big to have the I-E stage as it is?

Seems to me the bigger shift would be going from arenas to stadiums, rather than introducing SoE to the set. And if the rumours are correct that u2 will still be playing arenas in march, then SoE being released by then seems more plausible than if they were jumping to stadiums at that point.
 
Well with all rumors pointing in the same directio I think it's a pretty safe bet to expect arenas in early 2016. But as I said in the other thread there are many reasons for them to play stadiums at a later stage. And since they need a break to switch to stadium why not use that same break to release SOE? Besides the internal reasons that would also be a great justification for the switch. New album = new part of the tour. Plus, innocence in arenas and experience in stadiums also kind of makes sense. The band grows up. But hey, all just speculation ;)
 
Damn, that's a good point. I wish it wasn't, because i'd prefer SoE to come out sooner, ha. But yeah, SoE coming out on the eve of a stadium tour, when the tour changes the most, sounds like the most appropriate time for release.

Only alternative I can see is if they are already seriously close to finishing SoE, and/or want it out as soon as possible (either because, as they've said multiple times, they want it finished sooner, not in 5 years, and to sound 'rougher', or they're keen for the tour name to actually correspond to the two respective albums asap).

If that's how it is, then it's plausible they could release early 2016. Besides, the vertigo tour didn't need a second album to justify going from arenas to stadiums - it's entirely doable for u2 to move to stadiums well after SoE is released, even if it doesn't work quite as well.

But this is u2 after all. They've spoken about quick follow ups before, and whilst there is evidence of them surprising us - debuting new songs on the 360 tour, surprise release of SoI, saying they want SoE out fast/that the days of 5 year albums are over - there is a lot of history to suggest they simply don't work fast enough to release a brand new album by early 2016. It's very 50/50 to me - they seem like they could easily delay (or even scrap!) SoE, but given their surprise release of SoI, they clearly aren't entirely predictable either.
 
SOI in late 2014 and SOE in late 2016 (I'm thinking they'd like to release a bit before Christmas for commercial reasons) would be fairly quick by U2 standard ;)
 
1. The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)
2. Gloria
3. Get on Your Boots OR Vertigo
4. I Will Follow
5. Cedarwood Road
6. This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now
7. Raised By Wolves
8. October
9. New Years' Day
10. Until the End of the World
INTERMISSION
11. New Song
12. Beautiful Day
13. Kite
14. New Song (acoustic)
15. Please (acoustic)
16. Every Breaking Wave
17. Bullet the Blue Sky
18. Zooropa
19. Where The Streets Have No Name
20. Pride
21. New Song
Encore:
22. One Tree Hill
23. Bad
24. With or Without You
Encore 2:
25: A Sort of Homecoming
26. 40
 
SOI in late 2014 and SOE in late 2016 (I'm thinking they'd like to release a bit before Christmas for commercial reasons) would be fairly quick by U2 standard ;)

I know from here and on our German speaking forum, that you entertain the idea of having SOE released together with a shift to outdoor shows.

There are some hints that 2016 starts with an Indoor European Leg. And I personally like to hear SOE songs asap. If it is true that most SOE songs are mixed already (according to Dallas) then I doubt that they wait almost another year with the release of SOE. It would not do the new album any any good.

The SOI part with the Dublin story could be replaced with an eEXPERIENCE story... or they keep the Dublin part of the show and add SOE songs to the 2nd part of the show.

I don't think they come back to Europe in spring 2016 without SOE.

They should add some POP songs to the setlist as well... instead of COBL for example.
 
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Ahhh hi there! :) Oh well, I won't argue it all over again. I understand why you'd like to have a rather speedy SOE release and I agree that it would probably do the album good. But my reasons for arguing a later release are not my wishes but my realistic expectations (realistic as in what I think the band and management will do).
I know many fans would love some Pop songs. I wouldn't mind one or two, but I'm not a huge Pop fan. In any case I think we might get some songs from that album once the show switches to "experience". It would make sense. Right now we get a lot of the very early songs (out of control, etc.), so the band might make some fans happy with some Pop songs ;) I just wouldn't count on too much crazy stuff.
Right now I'm actually more curious to see the rare songs we'll get in the remaining shows, especially Dublin of course :applaud:
 
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