PopFly
War Child
First of all let me immediately undercut myself by saying that I absolutely love the 'Innocence' 10-song setlist. It's a seamless thematic flow from the punk set to Bono's memories of his mother to his childhood to the problems in Ireland to UTEOTW as the capper that literally ends our look into their world. Great song choices, great integration of the new material (especially the canny use of the video catwalk) and overall it's just really tight as hell.
That being said, what's a setlist thread without alternate suggestions? Here are a few ideas that would extend the set by no more than one song...
* There Is Where You Can Reach Me Now as an alternate opener. Miracle is a great opener and should rightly kick off most of the shows, yet if you're doing 6-8 nights in a city, it would behoove U2 to throw Reach in there as a curveball a couple of times.
* Add more options into the Electric Co/Out Of Control rotation. Gloria has already popped up, the band played 11 O'Clock Tick Tock at that club show in Los Angeles and 'Two Hearts Beat As One' has been rehearsed. Hell, maybe drive us all crazy and bust out Rejoice or A Celebration or something.
* Vertigo: basically perfect as is. Big hit, obviously should be played every night, and it's kind of necessary to wake up the very casual fans who might not recognize Miracle or the Boy tracks. I'd bump Vertigo up to #2 on the nights when TIWYCRMN for that same 'wake up the casuals' effect. To reinforce the theme of U2's early days, the snippet for Stories For Boys should probably be included in the song.
* I Will Follow: perfect. Literally the ideal bridge from the punk set to Iris.
* Iris/Cedarwood Road/Song For Someone: These all stay put, no reason to mess with greatness.
* Sunday Bloody Sunday: perfect. I've seen some argue that this could be a good place for the acoustic 'Please,' which is fair since that song is incredible and thematically on point. That said, given all the new songs in a row, the casuals in the crowd probably need a major hit at this point of the show.
* Raised By Wolves: perfect. Wow, do I ever love this song.
* UTEOTW: perfect.
As for the "eleventh song"....
* MAYBE Sweetest Thing after SFS? I mean, they're both "Ali" songs, right? I dunno if having such a poppy one breaks the mood a bit, or perhaps having this bit of sugar only enhances the tragedy that comes after. Sweetest Thing to this melancholy version of SBS would probably be up there with the weirdest concert transitions in history.
* I'm always eager to find a spot for A Sort Of Homecoming, so perhaps since this set is literally about a thematic homecoming, maybe put it either before Cedarwood Road or just after Raised By Wolves?
* Bad, right after Raised By Wolves. The two Peter Rowan songs back to back.
* The Troubles, right between RBW and UTEOTW. Surely U2 can find a slot in the setlist for this great song, right?
That being said, what's a setlist thread without alternate suggestions? Here are a few ideas that would extend the set by no more than one song...
* There Is Where You Can Reach Me Now as an alternate opener. Miracle is a great opener and should rightly kick off most of the shows, yet if you're doing 6-8 nights in a city, it would behoove U2 to throw Reach in there as a curveball a couple of times.
* Add more options into the Electric Co/Out Of Control rotation. Gloria has already popped up, the band played 11 O'Clock Tick Tock at that club show in Los Angeles and 'Two Hearts Beat As One' has been rehearsed. Hell, maybe drive us all crazy and bust out Rejoice or A Celebration or something.
* Vertigo: basically perfect as is. Big hit, obviously should be played every night, and it's kind of necessary to wake up the very casual fans who might not recognize Miracle or the Boy tracks. I'd bump Vertigo up to #2 on the nights when TIWYCRMN for that same 'wake up the casuals' effect. To reinforce the theme of U2's early days, the snippet for Stories For Boys should probably be included in the song.
* I Will Follow: perfect. Literally the ideal bridge from the punk set to Iris.
* Iris/Cedarwood Road/Song For Someone: These all stay put, no reason to mess with greatness.
* Sunday Bloody Sunday: perfect. I've seen some argue that this could be a good place for the acoustic 'Please,' which is fair since that song is incredible and thematically on point. That said, given all the new songs in a row, the casuals in the crowd probably need a major hit at this point of the show.
* Raised By Wolves: perfect. Wow, do I ever love this song.
* UTEOTW: perfect.
As for the "eleventh song"....
* MAYBE Sweetest Thing after SFS? I mean, they're both "Ali" songs, right? I dunno if having such a poppy one breaks the mood a bit, or perhaps having this bit of sugar only enhances the tragedy that comes after. Sweetest Thing to this melancholy version of SBS would probably be up there with the weirdest concert transitions in history.
* I'm always eager to find a spot for A Sort Of Homecoming, so perhaps since this set is literally about a thematic homecoming, maybe put it either before Cedarwood Road or just after Raised By Wolves?
* Bad, right after Raised By Wolves. The two Peter Rowan songs back to back.
* The Troubles, right between RBW and UTEOTW. Surely U2 can find a slot in the setlist for this great song, right?