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.
Foxboro 2! They were out for something that night.
I saw Breathe open Foxboro 1 and Magnificent open Foxboro 2. I agree with Hewson & DeVaul. Magnificent worked MUCH better than Breathe (the worst opener I've seen) and they were on FIRE that 2nd night in Foxboro. They'd just been given a pretty undeserved, sloppy and much talked about poor review of night 1 from the Boston Herald and they were out to silence the critics. They delivered in a big way. Much more energy, off the top of my head, Stay and a blistering version of Until the end of the world (with a girl picking Bono up and carrying him) were the highlights.
I wasn't a fan of 2009 360 at all- mostly due to lack of rockers and the opening sequence. Breathe-NLOTH-GOYB-Magnificent was opening with 4 unknown, not so great live songs in stadiums filled with casuals. You could feel the energy leaving the crowd.
Going on what I've witnessed first hand......
I saw the Miracle open 5 times. While COBL, Sunday bloody sunday and especially Real thing blew it out of the water, I thought it worked fine. I liked Bono's entrance and the drum roll at the beginning. It was always played with enough energy. Though it wasn't the best opener, it was, to me, part of a far better opening sequence than anything on 360 save for the 2011 shows. Miracle-Out of control (Gloria, Electric co), Vertigo, I Will follow was always a phenomenal, high energy start that had something for fans of every era.
360 Leg 1, I saw long time fans- mostly 80s fans- leaving for the beer line or the bathroom audibly complaining after the opening sequence.
"Where the hell is anything we know?"
I think with the ticket prices and the fact that 3 albums in a row have failed to produce a hit, you're going to see a declining percentage of people in attendance for new material of any kind. I hope the band factors that in and keeps the older material in the rotation. Make the show longer if you have to. Like the European leg of I&E. I know it was the JT tour, a clear nostalgia tour, but I remember the guy in front of me in San Diego turning around during the acoustic Best thing performance and saying "what the hell is this song?"
SOE is obviously making more of a splash than NLOTH or SOI in the mainstream, but I hope the band won't be going in to this tour with any delusions that people know and/or paid $300+ for these songs to replace hits in a 20 song show. In addition to hits in a 26 song show, fine. Of course, it's the "experience tour."
