**POSSIBLE SPOILERS** The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 Rehearsal Thread

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I mean, they ended the stadium shows last time around with "Moment of Surrender" which most of the crowd didn't know...of course, that didn't really go over well with the casuals.

It will be interesting to have them showcase what seems to be a completed new song that nobody will know...I just hope the psycho fans going to a ton of shows don't just memorize the lyrics and start singing them to Bono from the crowd...kind of defeats the purpose of trying to give the crowd something "new" when certain fans will have already analyzed it to death.

But I guess that's inevitable in the YouTube world. After the first show, nobody can be surprised anymore.
 
"Even Better Than The Real Thing" needs to not be a wall of noise like it was on that last arena tour.

Hmmm... I can remember some people saying it didn't fit well during the rehearsals and early shows in 2015, and sort of prepared myself accordingly for when I'd finally see it. But personally, I was blown away by how well it came across in the arena. The videos used and the song being played in its original key pretty much made it a scorcher live, imo.
 
Yeah, an AB tour in 2021 does seem like a possibility at this point, especially because this setlist mostly ignores the 90s.

The only way to do it right, in my opinion, is to have a main set that's just the 90s or at least mostly the 90s. Not only would it be a nice complement to the JT2017 Tour, but it would open up a lot of room for tracks from Pop and the like.

With Bono sounding pretty good from these rehearsal bits, I don't really see why an AB2021 tour would be hard to pull off, especially since the songs are much easier to sing. They just need to play the songs right though. "The Fly" needs to be like the Elevation version at the very least as the later live takes were practically a different song when compared to the studio version. "Mysterious Ways" needs the slide solo. "Even Better Than The Real Thing" needs to not be a wall of noise like it was on that last arena tour.

And it's really not that big of an ask since only "Acrobat" is the tough one to learn and get right. The other songs are either rather simplistic numbers like "So Cruel" or just semi-regular live tracks that they'll just need to rehearse a little. I guess "Wild Horses" has never really worked live and we might just get a cop out.

I don't think AB has as much love from the general public as Joshua Tree, however, so an arena tour might be more suitable. Yes, it sold nearly as well in the States and rest of the world, but it's not the sort of record that casual fans have latched onto in the same manner. Plus, U2's draw as a live act is clearly waning from the recent highs of the Vertigo and 360 Tours. Who knows what demand will be like four years from now...

You had me at 'AB Tour in 2021' ..... :drool: :drool:
 
They've rehearsed more or less the same set for three nights now, so I think we need to ready for this 21-song set being what they play on opening night. Listening to it all on a playlist, I think it flows very very well (until Miss Sarajevo), but I do wish it was longer. Shaping up to be a good show.
 
They'll probably rehearse the next few nights until Wednesday and break off until show day due to heavy birthday partying :lol:
 
You had me at 'AB Tour in 2021' ..... :drool: :drool:



Yeah, that really has me excited! Maybe redo the zoo tv tour to fit with current events (in 2021). Do the SOE tour in 2018-19, then AB /zoo Tv 2.0 in 2021.... sounds just fine to me!
 
It'll be disappointing if the set ends up as 21 songs. I'm hoping they're just hiding a few things

Let's be honest. There's no chance that they are just going to skip the pre-War era especially when they're trying to tell a story of their artistic growth in the 80s. Even if it's just "I Will Follow" showing up, it will probably happen. There's just too much else that they have to work on because they're doing a lot of stuff they haven't played in decades or did not play on the last tour - all of which requires a lot more than a meat & potatoes rock sound.

Again, seriously would not be shocked if they skipped rehearsing that material until the day of or altogether. "Red Hill Mining Town" for example could probably benefit more from extra rehearsal time than rehearsing a Boy highlight a single time.
 
I think it's safe to say Vertigo, I Will Follow, Desire, Angel of Harlem and Bad will make appearances even though they haven't been heard yet.

That Zoo TV-esque version of Desire with the Trump video seems too good to pass up on. Who cares what the Bible bashing rednecks think.
 
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Closing with a new song is kind of odd to me. Opening an encore with a new song after playing JT in full would be better placement I think.
 
I think it's safe to say Vertigo, I Will Follow, Desire, Angel of Harlem and Bad will make appearances even though they haven't been heard yet.

That Zoo TV-esque version of Desire with the Trump video seems too good to pass up on. Who cares what the Bible bashing rednecks think.

Haven't learned from the bloodbath democrats took in November huh? Again, finger pointing and calling us Trump voters 'bible bashing rednecks'.

Im a 30 year old, MBA educated Hispanic American who makes a very good living and a U2+ Trump supporter. take it easy with the name calling.

And to bring this back to U2, yes I loved that Desire version. Until the rant. But Desire is always welcome.
 
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In terms of knowing lyrics in general during a show, neither can a lot of singers around or over his age. I saw Sting over a month ago and he was relying on an ipad or some sort of tablet set down behind a speaker in front of him for a lot of the show. Ric Ocasek had a stand set up for one when I saw The Cars in 2011. Springsteen is known to have a set-up as well.



It was a joke based in truth, but I'll add I've seen Springsteen from behind the stage and every member of the band had a teleprompter.
 
Haven't learned from the bloodbath democrats took in November huh? Again, finger pointing and calling us Trump voters 'bible bashing rednecks'.

Im a 30 year old, MBA educated Hispanic American who makes a very good living and a U2+ Trump supporter. take it easy with the name calling.

And to bring this back to U2, yes I loved that Desire version. Until the rant. But Desire is always welcome.



Then you would think you'd know the definition of 'bloodbath' ;)
 
It was a joke based in truth, but I'll add I've seen Springsteen from behind the stage and every member of the band had a teleprompter.

Yeah, I knew your intention there. Just making a comment for those that think memorizing 30 to 40-year-old poems is easy on the brain at that age. :D
 
It is odd that opening night may be only 21 songs. On the other hand, 360's opening night was 22 songs.

I think the encore looks pretty final, but the opening run of songs could use a few more. The one thing we know for sure is that setlists get longer as the tour goes on, so look for them to add 2-3 songs before JT and maybe another song in the encore. Makes me glad DC is at the tail end of this leg, but hoping all you people on the West Coast get more songs!
 
I've seen a number of full album shows by now, and listened to even more full album show bootlegs... and not a single one of them did the pre and post album sections chronologically​, and not a one felt odd because of that.

True. Caught The Zombies a few weeks back and the first half was pre-Odessey material mixed in with some newer stuff and performed solely by the current four piece, then the second half was the Odessey and Oracle album in full performed by the four surviving members with help (given the complexity of the record). Brian Wilson live last fall was also similar...

But it's also not too weird given that they're only playing like 7-8 songs leading into the Joshua Tree set. I agree that they shouldn't be afraid to jumble them up. ASOH for example should probably be the opener for example rather than appear so close to Streets, etc.
 
Closing with a new song is kind of odd to me. Opening an encore with a new song after playing JT in full would be better placement I think.

I'll chime in before this thread dies. This discussion has come up fairly often later and pretty much every fan is in agreement with you...the perfect place for the new song is the start of the encore because the crowd will be really energized to see the band get back on the stage and they can always just hop into, say, Beautiful Day right after its played.

Towards the end of the night is just going to put too much pressure on it...and ending the show with it is just kind of crazy since practically the entire audience will be trying to decipher the tune and wonder if they like it...better to go out with a classic track or closing ditty "40".

I think they are just hiding this new song towards the end of rehearsals so it doesn't sneak out there. I also get the feeling they know how to play it pretty well already. It's clearly got Steve Lillywhite's fingerprints all over it in my opinion, sounds like it could have been on War.
 
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