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

[The_acrobat]

I think in U2 by U2, Paul said that leapfrogging a stadium and arena set in 1987 was a logistical nightmare, and that they’d never do it again. Many other bands seem to do it just fine. On Coldplay’s last tour they would play stadiums on the weekends in the big cities, and do arena shows in smaller cities on weeknights. Seemed to work out alright.

Zoo and Vertigo had arena legs and stadium legs, but were only touring one stage at a time.

 

[DRay9911]

It’s because the Bonobot3000 can only be programmed for one tour at a time.

All the specs from the 2017 tour are being reinstalled for 2019.

Get ready for “Here we still are. Here you still are. Nothing’s changed. Everything’s changed!” and “Welcome to side 2 of the Joshua Tree cassette.” ad-libs another 13 times.

They can’t play stadiums AND arenas because it would require dual operating systems.

The Bonobot3000 is like those Roombas where it does it’s thing at the preset time.

If you go from larger settings to smaller ones it’s going to bonk into walls and crazy stuff like that.

 

[marik]

They really should do a Vegas residency.

Please no.... Please, please no, boys

 

[DaveC]

there's nothing wrong with doing a vegas residency, these days the stigma of it being something only the old and washed-up do is long gone. even just waiting for your bags at mccarran airport will make it obvious that a whole lot of current popular acts are doing them and making truckloads of money. it's actually probably a really good idea for the band to do one at some point in the next few years.

 

[lazarus]

They shouldn’t do what everyone else is doing.

Felt the same way about them selling songs for commercials, which they haven’t done in the most mercenary sense.

 

[DaveC]

i didn't say they should do it just because everyone else is, it just makes sense for them with the kind of shows they like to put on to have their own dedicated space for a while where i think they could create a cool totally new kind of U2 show if it doesn't require the staging and gear being able to fit in all sorts of various sized stadiums and being set up, torn down, and moved nearly every day. you're all about the band trying new things and not repeating what they've done in the past (ie JT2019) and this would be exactly that.

and to your second point, i mean, there was the blackberry commercial with crazy tonight. if that isn't "selling songs for commercials" then i don't know what your definition of that could be. and of course there's the whole apple thing.

 

[Iggy Fizz]

A Vegas residency would formally cement their status as a lounge act with zero ability for spontaneity.

They know what their critics say about them - on this subject alone - and there's no way they would cave and officially admit that they're right. U2 still like to fantasize that they are rock and roll. Punk even.

 

[Iggy Fizz]

It’s because the Bonobot3000 can only be programmed for one tour at a time.

All the specs from the 2017 tour are being reinstalled for 2019.

Get ready for “Here we still are. Here you still are. Nothing’s changed. Everything’s changed!” and “Welcome to side 2 of the Joshua Tree cassette.” ad-libs another 13 times.

They can’t play stadiums AND arenas because it would require dual operating systems.

The Bonobot3000 is like those Roombas where it does it’s thing at the preset time.

If you go from larger settings to smaller ones it’s going to bonk into walls and crazy stuff like that.

hilarious and true!

 

[dan_smee]

Bono always talks about how his voice hates the Vegas climate. Can’t see them doing this.

 

[lazarus]

i didn't say they should do it just because everyone else is, it just makes sense for them with the kind of shows they like to put on to have their own dedicated space for a while where i think they could create a cool totally new kind of U2 show if it doesn't require the staging and gear being able to fit in all sorts of various sized stadiums and being set up, torn down, and moved nearly every day. you're all about the band trying new things and not repeating what they've done in the past (ie JT2019) and this would be exactly that.

and to your second point, i mean, there was the blackberry commercial with crazy tonight. if that isn't "selling songs for commercials" then i don't know what your definition of that could be. and of course there's the whole apple thing.

Second point first: BlackBerry was a tour sponsor, and like the Vertigo iTunes ad, was equally promoting new U2 singles/tour as much as the product itself. Both products were for devices that played the music in question. I still draw a line between that and just throwing one of your greatest hits at some giant company for an arbitrary product. You may think it’s a flimsy line, but you know they’ve had countless offers to do the latter and haven’t bit yet. Let me know when they show up in a beer or car commercial but it’s not likely.

Now, the Vegas show: the band has enough money to realize any fantastical stage show they can imagine, and have for a long time. They’ve already put on some of the most ambitious tours in history. I’m not really sure what a Vegas venue/static location could provide that they don’t already have. We talk a lot about how often they tour the U.S. compared to other regions, and how they can often pander to American audiences. However, their interests and content of their songs is global, and their audience is global. Regardless of the tourism that Vegas attracts, I think the band is still populist in the sense that they like playing to the masses in various places, and they would quickly tire of being a museum exhibit. On top of that, these are sophisticated guys (well, three of them at least), and I can’t imagine them wanting to stay in that city for that long, even if they’re able to jet back to LA on the daily if they want to.

I honestly don’t see it.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I also feel like they’d end up in New York before Vegas.

 

[lazarus]

Bono & Edge doing a Springsteen on Broadway-type thing? Maybe.

But after Spider-Man I’m not sure they want to go that route again.

 

[DaveC]

Second point first: BlackBerry was a tour sponsor, and like the Vertigo iTunes ad, was equally promoting new U2 singles/tour as much as the product itself. Both products were for devices that played the music in question. I still draw a line between that and just throwing one of your greatest hits at some giant company for an arbitrary product. You may think it’s a flimsy line, but you know they’ve had countless offers to do the latter and haven’t bit yet. Let me know when they show up in a beer or car commercial but it’s not likely.

all fair points and i see what you mean. i am very thankful they've never strayed into the who's territory and let beautiful day be blared over shots of a jeep tearing up a mountainside.

Now, the Vegas show: the band has enough money to realize any fantastical stage show they can imagine, and have for a long time. They’ve already put on some of the most ambitious tours in history. I’m not really sure what a Vegas venue/static location could provide that they don’t already have. We talk a lot about how often they tour the U.S. compared to other regions, and how they can often pander to American audiences. However, their interests and content of their songs is global, and their audience is global. Regardless of the tourism that Vegas attracts, I think the band is still populist in the sense that they like playing to the masses in various places, and they would quickly tire of being a museum exhibit. On top of that, these are sophisticated guys (well, three of them at least), and I can’t imagine them wanting to stay in that city for that long, even if they’re able to jet back to LA on the daily if they want to.

I honestly don’t see it.

everything you say here makes sense. it's certainly not something that they'd be made to do by anyone but logistically it's very easy for everyone involved to make a lot of money with one of these vegas residencies and they're becoming more and more common every year. it wouldn't surprise me if they end up doing one eventually, is all i'm really saying.

 

[cobl04]

I could definitely see a Broadway thing happening. They half did it when they did that stupid Dirty Day segment on the last tour.

They shouldn’t do what everyone else is doing.

Felt the same way about them selling songs for commercials, which they haven’t done in the most mercenary sense.

I don't reckon they would have got too many offers in the last decade.

A Vegas residency would formally cement their status as a lounge act with zero ability for spontaneity.

They know what their critics say about them - on this subject alone - and there's no way they would cave and officially admit that they're right. U2 still like to fantasize that they are rock and roll. Punk even.

Yes but they also say things like delaying SOE to make it more "political" and relevant is punk. Their idea of what is punk is laughable.

 

[lazarus]

Also, expanding on what I said above, this is a band that will always want to mix politics and social causes with their entertainment and personal material; they've become pretty adept at it in terms of segues and working with the ebbs and flows of a show (well, until the last tour, as Cobbler mentioned above).

People don't go to a show in Vegas to be inundated with any of that kind of thing; they go to get away from reality. So aside from like some kind of LGBTQ pride/support message at a Lady Gaga show, you're not going to see much serious stuff with a big ticket event.

I would be very surprised if U2 would self-edit like that, sticking only to the spectacle and the hits.

 

[cobl04]

I could see them doing a Broadway thing, but even I would be a little miffed if they did a Vegas residency.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Might a Vegas residency be contrary to their Live Nation contract? If they sign another one of those contracts then that’d rule it out straight away.

 

[DaveC]

i'm fairly confident that live nation has agreements with at least one of the huge vegas casino corporations regarding residencies for their artists. i'm in vegas somewhat regularly and it's hard to overstate how common these have become for established musicians, artists and performers of every kind over especially the last two years or so.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Springsteen did it so that's a whole pile of credibility right there.

 

[lazarus]

Doing a Vegas residency is not the same as a Broadway show in terms of credibility.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Clearly Lady Gaga is an artist void of credibility and relevancy, because only washed up fogies with nothing left to prove play Vegas residencies, because it's apparently still 1997 in some people's brains.

I'll now return to my summer hibernation.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

There was a void in the force from your absence.

 

[Hewson]

I'll now return to my summer hibernation.

Make it a quick nap, NBA free agency starts in 25 hours.

 

[lazarus]

Clearly Lady Gaga is an artist void of credibility and relevancy, because only washed up fogies with nothing left to prove play Vegas residencies, because it's apparently still 1997 in some people's brains.

I love how all I said was that they're not the same thing, and you turn it into some straw man statement you can easily strike down.

No one said every act who does a Vegas show is washed up, but nice try. Maybe you should stay in hibernation until you can actually discuss something without resorting to that shit.

I will add though, that before A Star is Born, when Gaga opted to do that Vegas stand, her popularity and relevance had certainly dipped well below what it was before.

And I'll repeat again that the thematic scope of U2's material as well as their live shows would not work within a static location, and with the kind of audiences they'd draw in Vegas.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Yea she's splitting the theater she performs in with Bruno Mars. Another act who's popularity is dipping, apparently.

The concept of a Vegas residency being where acts go die is a tired and old thought that's only believed these days by old fans of old bands.

Sort of like the idea that touring without new music is apparently beneath the legacy of a band. Utter horse shit.

But sure, maybe I just need to go away again. That's what it is.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Make it a quick nap, NBA free agency starts in 25 hours.

3 more weeks and I become GM by default :fingerscrossed:

 

[lazarus]

Yea she's splitting the theater she performs in with Bruno Mars. Another act who's popularity is dipping, apparently.

The concept of a Vegas residency being where acts go die is a tired and old thought that's only believed these days by old fans of old bands.

Sort of like the idea that touring without new music is apparently beneath the legacy of a band. Utter horse shit.

But sure, maybe I just need to go away again. That's what it is.

And yet you’re still ignoring the other reasons it’s unlikely that U2 would do this that have nothing to do with issues of credibility.

 

[Kieran McConville]

U2 Vegas Residency Off To Rocky Start

 

[lazarus]

Imagine Bono going to a different casino's all you can eat buffet every night.

He wouldn't survive the residency.

 

[Hewson]

Imagine Bono going to a different casino's all you can eat buffet every night.

He The Las Vegas restaurants wouldn't survive the residency.

Fixed