Setlists for a hypothetical late 2019 tour of Australia, NZ, Asia

[Axver]

Holy fuck that's absolutely crazy.

On the other hand it might stop some of the wacky queuing from 2pm three weekends ago?

 

[cobl04]

I just don't think I need to be on the rail to be honest. I wanna be within 20 or so metres.

Because I only log in whenever Halley's Comet passes by, thought I'd drop by and say that U2 are the biggest bunch of effin bastards and I'm not paying $350plus to sit in effin Adelaide Oval.

Instead I paid 200 effin bucks to be vaguely in the same postcode in Adelaide Oval.

It's a race to the end: whose bad back will give out first, mine or Bono's...

Hi folks!

Omg!! How are you?

You should've got GAs to join Bonnie, Vlad, and me. And friggin' Cobbler if he gets his act together. Hey Cobbs, don't wait until "closer to", there are STILL GAs available for Adelaide right now.

I get paid monthly, and I was paid short this month. If there's still GA by the start of July, then sure, but otherwise, it'll be a piece of piss to get one off facebook.

 

[Hewson]

Once again, possible evidence that many U2 fans have not stayed in shape as they have aged. How else would you explain not purchasing the ticket that gets you closer to the band at a lower price. Plus in a stadium, the seated sections are much further away from the stage when compared with the arena.

Not everyone is Harrison Ford.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Once again, possible evidence that many U2 fans have not stayed in shape as they have aged. How else would you explain not purchasing the ticket that gets you closer to the band at a lower price. Plus in a stadium, the seated sections are much further away from the stage when compared with the arena.

BREAKING: Fans Of Old Band Also Old

 

[kabigon]

That really Stings

 

[Axver]

Thank god nobody is adjusting their age for inflation.

Would like to adjust mine for deflation though. I'd even accept stagnation.

 

[edge4larry]

BREAKING: Fans Of Old Band Also Old

That would not be entirely true if they had retained the millennial aged fans they picked up in the 00s.

 

[lazarus]

Not everyone is Harrison Ford.

That really Stings

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

That would not be entirely true if they had retained the millennial aged fans they picked up in the 00s.

If you were 15 when All That You Can't Leave Behind came out, you are now 34.

So again - fans of old band are old. SHOCKING!

 

[Irvine511]

If you were 15 when All That You Can't Leave Behind came out, you are now 34.

it's hard to believe that ATYCLB can legally smoke, vote, and get a credit card in the US.

 

[lazarus]

Looks like GAF will no longer be sleeping with his copy.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

It takes a second, but once you get it...

 

[trevgreg]

That would not be entirely true if they had retained the millennial aged fans they picked up in the 00s.

 

[cobl04]

I would argue they did that pretty well. I think time just passed them by in between HTDAAB and NLOTH.

 

[bono_man2002]

How does the LiveNation pre sale work? Just login to your LN account and away you go? Gotta get dem Sydney 2 Ga's tomorrow.

Brisbane GA became available again. Hopefully Melbourne gets a second show, I do just wonder if the size of the SCG vs Marvel we may only get 1 show. I can't make Adelaide, Perth would be lovely. Would love to see the new stadium. Will wait on that later in the year.

 

[cobl04]

Yeah it's piss easy. Login in via LN, go to the get tickets page, and then when it opens you'll be redirected to TM/T.

 

[edge4larry]

If you were 15 when All That You Can't Leave Behind came out, you are now 34.

So again - fans of old band are old. SHOCKING!

Well, if you were 15 during the Vertigo Tour, you would be 29 now. Are you going to say 29 is old too?

 

[prbiker15]

Apparently Seoul has a few thousand GA’s still available. Don’t think there will be a 2nd show unless they’re waiting a while.

 

[lazarus]

I would argue they did that pretty well. I think time just passed them by in between HTDAAB and NLOTH.

If they had released a better single, hard to say what happens in 2009. The long album delay didn't help, either.

Of course, I'm not sure there was a single that would have had anywhere near the impact of Vertigo. Not Magnificock, that's for sure.

 

[The_acrobat]

When I go to a U2 show the majority of the crowd are in their 30s and 40s. I am 37, and I feel like my age group is the highest demographic. I see plenty of 20 somethings, as well as 50-60 somethings. A pretty widespread base, honestly. I also feel like songs from ATYCLB and HTDAAB are among the Greatest Hits now, and seem to get a bigger reaction than SBS, Pride, etc.

 

[rennowba]

I would argue they did that pretty well. I think time just passed them by in between HTDAAB and NLOTH.

This is very debatable. During that period u2 released a few singles that were still getting top 5 positions in the uk singles chart.

No line on the horizon was in the top ten biggest sellers of the year and by far the biggest for a band. It was also the fastest selling record at that time for the year.

Unfortunately for them no line on the horizon was absolute garbage and get on your boots as a lead single was probably single handily the worst decision of the bands career.

The 360 was and still is ( not for long ) the biggest tour of all time . So you could definitely put up an argument for both sides

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Well, if you were 15 during the Vertigo Tour, you would be 29 now. Are you going to say 29 is old too?

So your argument, if I hear you right, is that the handful of 15 year olds who became U2 fans during the mid 2000s aren't pulling their weight?

The overwhelming number of u2's core fans are in their mid 30s and older, with the biggest numbers being over 40.

Fuck is your point here, guy who's totally not Sting?

 

[Axver]

Let's just say all those 15 year olds have definitely adjusted their wardrobe for inflation.

 

[DaveC]

get on your boots as a lead single was probably single handily the worst decision of the bands career.

 

[Axver]

It really says something about how dire a lead single Boots was that I cannot consider that Apple weirdness worse.

Sometimes I wonder if we would've even got the whole clumsy Apple launch and botched SOI distribution if NLOTH had not been compromised (in either lead single or overall content).

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

It really says something about how dire a lead single Boots was that I cannot consider that Apple weirdness worse.

Sometimes I wonder if we would've even got the whole clumsy Apple launch and botched SOI distribution if NLOTH had not been compromised (in either lead single or overall content).

I think Boots is the sound of what a 5 year old pile of shit would sound like if it could talk.

The Apple decision was still worse.

A bad single choice hurts your current situation. The Apple decision hurt their legacy.

 

[rennowba]

When I typed the original post I knew someone would quote the apple decision definitely a great shout

Think the only difference is in 2009 u2 probably still had a chance of reaching a new younger audience with new material. Radio 1 a 16-23 target audience radio channel played boots to death and u2 were still being played on the channel. If they had of released another beautiful day or vertigo then it could have been a huge album. Instead they released boots and it was all over as far as u2 being relevant

In 2015 it didn’t matter what u2 did new music isn’t going to catch on to a wide spread audience, think they knew this and that’s why they got desperate and did the apple thing. They definitely knew it was going to everyone’s iTunes aswell don’t care what they say

As regards the age thing I’m 33 and got into u2 because of atyclb. So I was 14 /15 when it came out

 

[DaveC]

there certainly wasn't "another beautiful day or vertigo" on no line, but i do think that no line (the song) would have done pretty well if they had pushed that as the first single instead of boots. i don't think boots is quite the atrocity some here make it out to be, but it shouldn't have been the song that announced to the world that "u2 is back with a new album", and it should probably have been saved for the second or third single.

 

[edge4larry]

So your argument, if I hear you right, is that the handful of 15 year olds who became U2 fans during the mid 2000s aren't pulling their weight?

The overwhelming number of u2's core fans are in their mid 30s and older, with the biggest numbers being over 40.

Fuck is your point here, guy who's totally not Sting?

The original U2 fan base(in the United States), people who became fans from 1985-1993, is once again primarily, 80% maybe, of their fanbase today. In the 00s, there was likely a significant number of new fans who came on board, the millennials. I think most of those fans are no longer actively following the band, based on the heavily reduced demand for U2 tickets seen in the shows for the Innocence And Experience tour back in 2015. They were going to do eight shows in LA in 2015, but were barley able to sellout 5 shows. They could not sellout two arena shows in Denver 2015, 28,000 combined attendance, when just 4 years earlier they played to 79,000 people in Denver.
I'd say over 80% of the fans who still actively follow them today are between ages 40 and 55. I would say the broadest demographic they had was on the Vertigo and 360 tours. But there seemed to be nearly no one in their 20s or 30s at the shows I saw in 2017 and 2018. All very speculative of course given there is no real hard data on ages of people at the shows, but its my best guess or observation.

I also don't think people who are 25, 30, or 35 are old. Few people from those age groups were at the shows in 2017/2018 I saw which made the crowd seem unusually old compared to the 360 shows.

 

[edge4larry]

When I go to a U2 show the majority of the crowd are in their 30s and 40s. I am 37, and I feel like my age group is the highest demographic. I see plenty of 20 somethings, as well as 50-60 somethings. A pretty widespread base, honestly. I also feel like songs from ATYCLB and HTDAAB are among the Greatest Hits now, and seem to get a bigger reaction than SBS, Pride, etc.

I felt like there were wide number of ages on all three tours in the 00s. Even on the 360 shows I saw in 2011. But then in 2017 with the Joshua Tree shows, it seemed like there was no one in their 20s or 30s. People in their 40s and 50s, and some teenagers obviously brought along by the parents. With the exception of the few teenagers, I felt like I was one of the younger people at the shows which I had not felt since ZOO TV in 1992, or POPMART in 1997. It would make sense to since the most number of people joined up in the years 1985 to 1993. Their increased success in the 00s I think was from a combination of older fans coming back to the fold and some newer millennials jumping on board. It seems those people have now left.


This is specific to the United States, although I sense in some other countries there may be some similar situations.