eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour predictions setlist

[Northside]

I'm convinced The Blackout will open the show.

I think Love is Bigger will close the show.

I'm guessing every SoI song except Every Breaking Wave gets replaced by a SoE song. Following the 2015 tour's structure, I think Gone could take UTEOTW's spot as the dramatic Act One closer.

From the Joshua Tree, WOWY and Streets will stay as nightly regulars; I think Bullet and ISHF will take a backseat. I also think Sunday Bloody Sunday could take a break...

Here's my attempt at a full setlist prediction:

1. The Blackout
2. Lights of Home
3. I Will Follow
4. Vertigo
5. The Best Thing
6. Get Out Of Your Own Way
7. Summer of Love
8. Pride
9. Stuck In A Moment
10. Gone
(Intermission)
11. Zoo Station
12. Hold Me Thrill Me
13. American Soul (ugh)
14. Desire
15. Stay
16. Every Breaking Wave
17. Gloria
18. Elevation
19. The Fly
20. Little Things

encore(s):
21. Streets
22. With or Without You
23. One
24. Beautiful Day
25. Love is Bigger / All You Need Is Love (snippet)

 

[Mac_Fly]

I'm convinced The Blackout will open the show.

I think so too. But I think we'll hear a recording of "Love Is All We Have Left" before they kick into Blackout.

I'll ponder a full set list later. but I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Drowning Man will resurface for this one.

 

[DeVaul]

Not playing Drowning Man into Red Flag Day would be the latest wasted opportunity from this band.

 

[georgemccauley]

Happy new year everyone. What are the chances of having Bad in the setlist on a regular basis on the tour this year? Given that they've played it on 90% of the shows on JT30, they could be forgiven to give it a break for a while

How often if at all can we expect to hear Bad on the EI tour 2018?

 

[kabigon]

*Love Is All We Have Left (Intro)
*American Soul
*The Blackout
City Of Blinding Lights
*Get Out of Your Own Way
Invisible
One
Kite
*The Showman (Little More Better)
Last Night On Earth

Desire
*Summer of Love
Every Breaking Wave
Drowning Man
*Red Flag Day
*You’re the Best Thing About Me
All I Want Is You
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Gone
Vertigo

No Line On The Horizon
The First Time
Please
*Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way
*The Little Things That Give You Away

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I would put good money on The Blackout NOT opening the show.

 

[Mac_Fly]

Not playing Drowning Man into Red Flag Day would be the latest wasted opportunity from this band.

Nice.

I whiffed on a prediction back in the day for the Elevation Tour, I predicted they would play Into The Heart because, well, the stage was shaped like a heart and all.

They didn't get the memo until the Bomb tour, didn't have the same effect for me.

Let's hope they read your post and take note.

 

[georgemccauley]

I'd he stunned if they dropped Streets

No way are they not playing streets on this tour. Are you guys mad? Especially in this stage of their career that’s the first track they’ll be talking about in the set list each night

 

[georgemccauley]

Definitely think this tour is truly the best chance in years to fully rotate each night and give us a varied set list. We haven’t had that in years.

But as we know U2 we should not get our hopes up and expect the formulaic approach of a static set list, it will more than likely be a solid set but I am hoping for some more changes in the set compared to TJT30 last year.

Also is frighteningly obvious that they will perform Get Out Of Your Own Way and American Soul back to back with the spoken part inbetween. Surprised no one has really brought that up yet

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Definitely think this tour is truly the best chance in years to fully rotate each night and give us a varied set list. We haven’t had that in years.

But as we know U2 we should not get our hopes up and expect the formulaic approach of a static set list, it will more than likely be a solid set but I am hoping for some more changes in the set compared to TJT30 last year.

Also is frighteningly obvious that they will perform Get Out Of Your Own Way and American Soul back to back with the spoken part inbetween. Surprised no one has really brought that up yet

U2 have never had varied set lists, and won't be starting any time soon.

Which is a damn shame.

 

[kabigon]

No way are they not playing streets on this tour. Are you guys mad? Especially in this stage of their career that’s the first track they’ll be talking about in the set list each night

I took Adam's comment about not playing any JT tracks literally to make this exercise more interesting, although I agree it's not going to happen.

Also is frighteningly obvious that they will perform Get Out Of Your Own Way and American Soul back to back with the spoken part inbetween. Surprised no one has really brought that up yet

*Megaphone part

 

[Axver]

Playing GOOYOW and American Soul consecutively would be fairly obvious, which is exactly why it won't happen. U2 being U2, there will only be one ill-fitting song between them too. Probably Pride, continuing its habit of breaking up obvious segues after squeezing awkwardly between Bad and Streets on JT30.

 

[LemonMelon]

I would put good money on The Blackout NOT opening the show.

Based on its placement on the album, it seems like an ideal encore opener.

 

[kabigon]

Playing GOOYOW and American Soul consecutively would be fairly obvious, which is exactly why it won't happen. U2 being U2, there will only be one ill-fitting song between them too. Probably Pride, continuing its habit of breaking up obvious segues after squeezing awkwardly between Bad and Streets on JT30.

"How long
How long must we look for soul
How long, how long
'Cause tonight, we can be American
Tonight"

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Based on its placement on the album, it seems like an ideal encore opener.

I would put good money on this, or rather, the first song after intermission (assuming a similar format to i/e)

 

[Northside]

First single to open

Here's why The Best Thing is a bad bet to open the show:

-It's a not a rocker
-They like playing it acoustic and might go that route for the tour, which means it could be an E stage song
-While it was technically the lead single, I don't think that counts for much. For one thing, they chose to roll out The Blackout first, with, what else... a high energy live video.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Here's why The Best Thing is a bad bet to open the show:

-It's a not a rocker
-They like playing it acoustic and might go that route for the tour, which means it could be an E stage song
-While it was technically the lead single, I don't think that counts for much. For one thing, they chose to roll out The Blackout first, with, what else... a high energy live video.

It's no less a rocker than Miracle.

 

[LemonMelon]

The Best Thing would be an awful opener. There's no instrumental buildup whatsoever, it just starts. GOOYOW at least has an intro.

 

[mikal]

I think Love Is All We Have Left should open the show.

 

[The_acrobat]

It's no less a rocker than Miracle.

The Miracle was absolute shit as an opener. Not big on the song in general, but I would go as far to say that was the worst U2 concert opener ever (maybe that 1 time they opened with Magnificent was worse). Best Thing would be a better opener, and it would get it out of the way early!

 

[Mac_Fly]

I think Love Is All We Have Left should open the show.

I think so too. But I'd rather have it played (recorded or live -- doesn't matter) before they launched into the show full tilt. Say the lights go down, the music plays and when it's finished -- things light up and they're off.

At that point I'd say either The Blackout or American Soul will kick things off.

Perhaps the opening audio will be the KL bit instead, and then AS.

If they keep GOOYOW in front of AS, then it falls to The Blackout to kick things off.

I just don't see GOOYOW opening the show.

Then again, in a live setting who knows? It just might work.

 

[Hewson]

The Miracle was absolute shit as an opener. Not big on the song in general, but I would go as far to say that was the worst U2 concert opener ever (maybe that 1 time they opened with Magnificent was worse). Best Thing would be a better opener, and it would get it out of the way early!

I was at the show where Magnificent opened, worked much better than Breathe.

 

[DeVaul]

I was at the show where Magnificent opened, worked much better than Breathe.

Foxboro 2! They were out for something that night.

 

[Axver]

On the topic of whether Best Thing will open, it's not often that the lead single is the concert opener.

A Day Without Me: never opened.
Fire: never opened.
New Year's Day: never opened, second on JT30 and a few rare examples of second previously.
Pride: never opened, a few examples of second over the years.
WOWY: never opened.
Desire: never opened, but often second on Lovetown.
The Fly: never opened, but often second on ZooTV and last leg of 360.
Numb: never opened. (This also holds if you prefer to count Lemon or Stay as the "proper" lead.)
Miss Sarajevo: never opened. (Let's be completists here.)
Discotheque: never opened.
Beautiful Day: first lead single to open a show; it opened once on Elevation and three times on 360. Often second on the aforementioned tours.
Vertigo: first lead single to be a regular opener, at all shows on the second leg of the Vertigo Tour (and it opened four other Vertigo shows). Often second at other shows.
Boots: never opened. Second at most 360 North American shows in 2009.
The Miracle: first lead single to open all shows on a tour - or, for that matter, first lead single to open a majority on a tour.

So out of 14 lead singles to date, only three have opened, only two have been regulars at any point, and only one - the most recent pre-SOE - has opened a majority. The big lead singles have often gone late in the set on their debut tour (e.g. NYD, Pride, WOWY), but since ATYCLB the lead single has almost always been in the first four songs, though Boots crept a little later as 360 progressed.

There's a pretty clear trend here and I don't see much reason for U2 to deviate from it, so I predict The Best Thing will be somewhere in the early part of the setlist, but not first.

 

[LemonMelon]

Really think it'll be an extended Beautiful Day-esque intro followed by Get Out of Your Own Way into The Best Thing.

 

[BVS]

Definitely think this tour is truly the best chance in years to fully rotate each night and give us a varied set list. We haven’t had that in years.

Years? Try ever...

Blackout is a bit dark to be an opener.

I think it will be the one two punch of the album; Bono singing offstage for LIAWHL then full band lights up for LOH.

 

[georgemccauley]

Years? Try ever...

Blackout is a bit dark to be an opener.

I think it will be the one two punch of the album; Bono singing offstage for LIAWHL then full band lights up for LOH.

Could well be. I can’t see Blackout being the opener either, but safe to say they will go with a high energy number to kick things off.

I reckon we could have Love Is all we have left on the PA or during the intermission

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Years? Try ever...

Blackout is a bit dark to be an opener.

I think it will be the one two punch of the album; Bono singing offstage for LIAWHL then full band lights up for LOH.

I see this combo as either the opener or the opener to the "story" portion, if they go the same route as i/e... basically in the Iris slot, ironically.

 

[kkaider]

*Megaphone part

Is it too late for someone to convince Bono to throw that damn thing in the trash?

 

[Pop Artist]

I would put good money on this, or rather, the first song after intermission (assuming a similar format to i/e)

Agree on the first song after intermission being a good spot for it, it would fit with them being in the screen too if they are *really* sticking with the i&E format for this too (they probably won't stick to it THAT much probably, though).