right. we get it. they didn't end the tour playing a lot off of No Line. I thought that was established pages ago?
they spent the first two legs playing a plurality of the show from No Line material. What do you want them to do, play Cedars of Lebanon nightly? I would have liked to see White as Snow get played, and maybe Being Born, but other than that, they covered pretty much anything off of the album. No Line, Magnificent, Moment, Unknown Caller, Crazy Tonight, Boots, Breathe. Those were the songs that were going to get played, quite obviously.
And yes, it might be a smaller portion compared to Zoo TV or PopMart or whatever because U2 have a much, much larger back catalog now than they had in 1992. They have more material to cover and choose from. I'd much rather hear One for the 42nd time live than hear Stand Up Comedy, and I suspect most in attendance would agree.
Great post!
My sentiments exactly.
They definitely could've given White As Snow a couple shots(and they were considering it according to Willie Williams- White As Snow ->October->NYD), and probably Being Born too.
But that doesn't make No Line, Magnificent, Moment, Unknown Caller, I'll Go Crazy, Boots and Breathe meaningless.
Plus, 21% was the highest number on Digitize's chart and that was NLOTH.
I saw 2 great shows in Boston in 2009, but Montreal 1 2011 and Philadelphia 2011 were far superior to those.
I think it's pretty irrelevant how many songs they play from the current release, so long as they're not out there playing 1 or 2 tokens to back a half assed greatest hits tour.
To my eyes and ears, U2 performed a hell of a lot better in 2011 than 2009 and that's what made the difference. Not necessarily the year the songs played were released.
Regarding the back catalog, spot on! I loved hearing Pride, One, Streets, I Will Follow, NYD, etc on 360 because they all sounded phenomenal. They were actually trying on these songs for the 1st time in a long time. I don't think anyone who had Bad on their setlist would have been happy with a swap for Stand Up Comedy.
Good points about the catalog being bigger now- it definitely gets harder as the years go on. There were plenty of complaints going back as far as JT tour about live staples like Electric Co, Out of Control, 11 Tick Tock and Gloria going on the back burner to make way for newer tracks. It hasn't gotten easier for them.