SPOILERS U2 eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour Rehearsals/Soundcheck Thread SPOILERS

[Jim]

I think Red Flag Day will be in there, in a similar intense spot as Raised By Wolves. Being on the road for such a long time and knowing that this would be the inevitable second half of the I&E tour they have had heaps of time to think about how the arc of the show is going to be and I imagine are quite confident.
I don't think they would consciously include songs from POP for example, simply because they haven't been played for years, the structure and flow of the gig would ultimately dictate what makes the cut. Personally, I've never seem Acrobat as a dream live song... I love it but I'm not sure it has the the right tempo or enough gear changes to work live, though I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.
As for JT, Exit was so magnificent last year I wouldn't be surprised if it was a contender.. imagine that intense performance indoors. 'Mofo' would be the song I'd love to see blast back, and I think it might, but I've been wrong last few tours!
All I know is that I can't fucking wait until I see them again in Manchester... I love this band!

Oh and 'Streets' as a gig closer maybe ? what do you think?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I think the set will be pretty close to what was reported.

 

[Axver]

I think the set will be pretty close to what was reported.

Definitely got a decent outline here.

I imagine some songs will shift around a bit but that the structure is indicative. During the IE rehearsals you had things like Elevation being rehearsed right after Vertigo early in the main set, COBL shifting around the second set (e.g. after Invisible), Bad between EBW and Bullet, Pride before EBW, that sort of thing. But the general idea is fairly obvious from early on.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Definitely got a decent outline here.

I imagine some songs will shift around a bit but that the structure is indicative. During the IE rehearsals you had things like Elevation being rehearsed right after Vertigo early in the main set, COBL shifting around the second set (e.g. after Invisible), Bad between EBW and Bullet, Pride before EBW, that sort of thing. But the general idea is fairly obvious from early on.

Agreed. The minor details will still shift, a song or two may add or drop, but the core structure of the set is whqt u2songa reported.

Start getting used to it, folks.

 

[dan_smee]

https://www.facebook.com/derek.omahony1/posts/1787517151309383

Also, u2songs have reported that An Cat Dubh was NOT played yesterday.

 

[Jim]

I don't think we've heard the start of yet at all folks, I hope not.

 

[Axver]

Check out the IE sets in evolution from 27-30 April in this article: Vancouver update, 11 May 2015 - U2gigs.com

Interestingly, it seems that so far, just like in 2015, they've got the first set and most of the second set pretty sorted already, but not the very end of the main set and the encore.

 

[corianderstem]

Acrobat being played is the only acceptable reason to drop Streets, so .... yay?

 

[Jim]

Check out the IE sets in evolution from 27-30 April in this article: Vancouver update, 11 May 2015 - U2gigs.com

Interestingly, it seems that so far, just like in 2015, they've got the first set and most of the second set pretty sorted already, but not the very end of the main set and the encore.

I'm not a trend analyst just having fun with how things might map out.. music is art which should largely be unpredicable. I don't mean to be disrespectful and your statistics may well prove me wrong but I (a confirmed U2 geek that bores his friends to death) have faith in their ability deliver a gig that (at least in parts) is completely wild, unexpected and utterly brilliant. FUCK THE PAST!
Here's hoping...

 

[superchuk5]

Acrobat being played is the only acceptable reason to drop Streets, so .... yay?

Lol we can't have everything...

Also playing SFS 2.5x is the dumbest/scariest/funniest idea.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Wowy wont be missed... ISHFWIF neither

There are going to be~18k people a night that they play to. I would say on any given night there might be 2,000 hardcore fans that are going to go nuts for Acrobat and The Ocean and the other 16k are going to go take a piss. I imagine after a few shows of missing the magic and energy that those warhorses add to the show and how they help support the newer songs, they will add them back.

I get that people here are bored of these songs but the casual fan(vast majority of audience) want to hear the hits. They might be bringing their friend or family member to have them experience the awesomeness of Streets live or the really cool sing along of WOWY or ISHFWlF and when that doesn't happen....not good.

 

[superchuk5]

I get that people here are bored of these songs but the casual fan(vast majority of audience) want to hear the hits. They might be bringing their friend or family member to have them experience the awesomeness of Streets live or the really cool sing along of WOWY or ISHFWlF and when that doesn't happen....not good.

 

[RickFly]

I am bringing one of my lifelong friends who is one of a couple individuals who got me into U2. He has never seen them live so I hope they do play some of the classics like SBS or Streets. Etc.

Also for the ticket price a lot of people will be really upset if they don’t play the classics.

 

[superchuk5]

I am bringing one of my lifelong friends who is one of a couple individuals who got me into U2. He has never seen them live so I hope they do play some of the classics like SBS or Streets. Etc.

I'm bringing my aunt who has never seen them. She's more of an 80s fan (favorite song is Pride, so at least that's looking good). It'll be a great time, but she'd like to hear at least one JT song.

 

[Axver]

There are going to be~18k people a night that they play to. I would say on any given night there might be 2,000 hardcore fans that are going to go nuts for Acrobat and The Ocean and the other 16k are going to go take a piss. I imagine after a few shows of missing the magic and energy that those warhorses add to the show and how they help support the newer songs, they will add them back.

I get that people here are bored of these songs but the casual fan(vast majority of audience) want to hear the hits. They might be bringing their friend or family member to have them experience the awesomeness of Streets live or the really cool sing along of WOWY or ISHFWlF and when that doesn't happen....not good.

Acrobat is a bit different to The Ocean though. It's a big rocker that will surely do as well as The Electric Co., and no doubt will be even more popular because it's from U2's second-best selling album. It's hardly an obscurity. If people recognised Ultra Violet they will recognise Acrobat; the two songs are of equal status in terms of who might have heard them.

The Ocean, if it even makes the set, won't last long, or will be an occasional rotation.

 

[RickFly]

I'm bringing my aunt who has never seen them. She's more of an 80s fan (favorite song is Pride, so at least that's looking good). It'll be a great time, but she'd like to hear at least one JT song.

I think we haven’t heard about them being played at rehearsal is that they recently finished the JTtour so needing to rehearse them would be less.

 

[trevgreg]

There are going to be~18k people a night that they play to. I would say on any given night there might be 2,000 hardcore fans that are going to go nuts for Acrobat and The Ocean and the other 16k are going to go take a piss. I imagine after a few shows of missing the magic and energy that those warhorses add to the show and how they help support the newer songs, they will add them back.

I get that people here are bored of these songs but the casual fan(vast majority of audience) want to hear the hits. They might be bringing their friend or family member to have them experience the awesomeness of Streets live or the really cool sing along of WOWY or ISHFWlF and when that doesn't happen....not good.

Yup.

Funny thing is that you could say this for just about any major act, with the appropriate songs in place of the ones you mentioned.

And if we're the type of people that like going to see all sorts of acts live, we're often on the other side of the aisle too.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Acrobat is a bit different to The Ocean though. It's a big rocker that will surely do as well as The Electric Co., and no doubt will be even more popular because it's from U2's second-best selling album. It's hardly an obscurity. If people recognised Ultra Violet they will recognise Acrobat; the two songs are of equal status in terms of who might have heard them.



The Ocean, if it even makes the set, won't last long, or will be an occasional rotation.

Fair point but neither will come close to capturing even half of what Streets brings to a show.

I’m in the US and have seen U2 on what will be 5 of the last 9 calendar years come me June and as I mentioned would be very disappointed not to hear Streets.

I think of people like you and Dan S. who haven’t seen U2 in ~7/8 years(assuming you haven’t traveled to see them) and I am astonished that you would be okay without that song in the set given IF they do make it their in 2018/2019, you might not get another tour for a half decade or more (so 13-15 years with no Streets....riots I tell you!!!)


I mean, I’m pretty sure you strongly dislike Elevation and you mentioned you were singing along when you last heard it while a few drinks in(great live moment in their shows BTW), so I’m thinking a few drinks + Streets has to put a smile on your face.

 

[Axver]

Fair point but neither will come close to capturing even half of what Streets brings to a show.

I’m in the US and have seen U2 on what will be 5 of the last 9 calendar years come me June and as I mentioned would be very disappointed not to hear Streets.

I think of people like you and Dan S. who haven’t seen U2 in ~7/8 years(assuming you haven’t traveled to see them) and I am astonished that you would be okay without that song in the set given IF they do make it their in 2018/2019, you might not get another tour for a half decade or more (so 13-15 years with no Streets....riots I tell you!!!)


I mean, I’m pretty sure you strongly dislike Elevation and you mentioned you were singing along when you last heard it while a few drinks in(great live moment in their shows BTW), so I’m thinking a few drinks + Streets has to put a smile on your face.

I saw JT30 three times, and you remember correctly: the one night I got well drunk is the one night I enjoyed Elevation (though Beautiful Day still didn't really connect).

It's not at all that I don't want to hear Streets. If it's in the set that's great, it's a live classic for a reason. But if it's not there I don't take it as a big deal personally. The fact we've got over a fortnight to go until the tour begins makes me think some of the concern is premature too, though it would be fair to note that Streets has often shown up early in rehearsals so the band can work on the transition.

U2 have enough hits that I think they can drop any one of them and most of the crowd will still be happy with whatever other hits are there. The people most likely to be upset about the absence of Streets are hardcore fans who've built up Streets into this religious experience that absolutely must not under any conditions be absent from a U2 show, and probably write faith-based thinkpieces for atu2. With a massive catalogue and only about 20-25 setlist spots, you're going to be letting down a whole bunch of people no matter what hits make it and what ones don't. Cut One? There are plenty of people missing out on a personal favurite. Cut Beautiful Day? Plenty. Cut HMTMKMKM, AIWIY, Pride, SBS, Desire, NYD, Bad, ISHFWILF, EBTTRT, Mysterious Ways? Plenty. But also plenty of others who'll be particularly happy with whatever of their favourites are in the set instead. No need to treat Streets as the one uncuttable song.

So, what I'm saying is, I'd prefer Streets to be around, but I'm chill about whatever happens. And if I copped an 18 November 1989-esque show where Gloria took Streets' place, shit yeah I'll take Gloria, not every day you get that live.

 

[martha]

I can imagine that Acrobat could be a fucking monster live. Even casual fans like to rock the fuck out now and again.

Same for HMKMKMNKM.

 

[david]

So with Acrobat being played live pretty much Boy, TJT and Achtung Baby have now been anointed only albums to have all their songs played live?

 

[Axver]

So with Acrobat being played live pretty much Boy, TJT and Achtung Baby have now been anointed only albums to have all their songs played live?

Yep, with Pop just trailing them: 11 played in full and Playboy Mansion snippeted (and rehearsed on Elevation and before IE, so painfully close to getting that 12/12). If One Step Closer had made it out of IE Tour rehearsals then HTDAAB would've reached 11/11.

 

[hennesd72]

shame they dont try " a day without me" or " like a song " both would keep tempo going in a gig

 

[CosmoKramer]

shame they dont try " a day without me" or " like a song " both would keep tempo going in a gig

I always liked “Like a Song” and would love to hear it live

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

You guys are so right.

When I go to Pearl Jam or Springsteen shows it's always just 2000 people in the arena bowl and everyone else is on the concourse taking a shit.

I'm amazed anyone even bothers showing up anymore knowing that there's no guarantee of Jeremy or Thunder Road.

They should probably start playing clubs.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

The people most likely to be upset about the absence of Streets are hardcore fans who've built up Streets into this religious experience that absolutely must not under any conditions be absent from a U2 show, and probably write faith-based thinkpieces for atu2.

I just spit my coffee a solid 12 feet across the room.

 

[PopFly]

Playing both 13 and Song For Someone seems like a waste of time. If some of the I&E imagery and general setlist idea is being reused, why not just slot 13 into the old SFS spot?

 

[YBORCITY]

Yes to very yes:
Lights of Home
An Cat Dubh (no into the heart???)
Cedarwood Road
Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Acrobat
Until the End of the World with snippet of Sympathy for the Devil
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Desire
Staring at the Sun (Acoustic)
City of Blinding Lights
Love is Bigger Than Anything in its Way
13 (There is a Light)

Eh:
Love is All We Have Left (Likely recorded) (moves up to yes if not recorded)
Beautiful Day
I Will Follow
Song for Someone
Elevation
Vertigo
The Showman (Little More Better)
Pride (In the Name of Love)
One

No:
The Blackout
You’re The Best Thing About Me
Get Out of Your Own Way
American Soul

Indeed to very Indeed!

 

[CosmoKramer]

You guys are so right.

When I go to Pearl Jam or Springsteen shows it's always just 2000 people in the arena bowl and everyone else is on the concourse taking a shit.

I'm amazed anyone even bothers showing up anymore knowing that there's no guarantee of Jeremy or Thunder Road.

They should probably start playing clubs.

Ugh... no one said people wouldn’t bother showing up anymore.

My point is that U2 are able to charge $350 a ticket because of their hits. Take those away and replace them with other hits...ok. But take them away and replace them with Acrobat, The Ocean, 13, Cedar wood Road....not going to fly.

Do you really think that Acrobat is going to energize the crowd? There will be hardcore fans that really want to hear it and will flip out and then there will be the rest of the arena. It will likely be the same reaction that the back half of JT got during the JT30 tour with people enjoying the songs but not singing along and not really engaged like they were for the hits.

But maybe I’m wrong and when I watch the clips on YouTube of opening night the crowd will go wild for Acrobat and the song will energize the arena....hope so.

 

[kabigon]

They already have the money. If people don't attend the next tour, it won't be because the ratio of hits to pissbreak songs was out of whack.