Dude, they live in a place where they’re lucky to get any tour at all because the members of this band are one fucking heart attack away from never touring again. Do you really think you’re being fair? And here I thought they were complaining too much. Why not just accept that it is what it is...? They’re fucking old.
As someone who saw at least the first incarnation of i+e and the JT revival, there’s no comparison. The former had a lot more energy and vitality to it. And regardless, it’s not like you have to hear a new album in full, it’s still only like 1/3 of the set.
Sorry, but I don’t think your position is valid at all. It’s people like you that are helping to usher in the death throes of any credibility they had left. It pains me to see a band making a move like this when they had always stuck by their new material, with the exception of the last legs of 360, and even after that they went back to playing a healthy dose of SOI and SOE on their respective tours, record sales be damned. One JT anniversary tour was hard enough to stomach, but you could at least stretch yourself to take them at their word for why they were doing it. The show made a good case for the material still being relevant. 2 years later after they already released more new material? Not so much.
Maybe you think it’s cool that the band caters to your country that’s stuck in the past, but I think it’s sad. U2 coming to these more remote areas should always be a privilege and they shouldn’t have to package it any specific way. Every tour has received great reviews regardless of how well the albums did so it shouldn’t matter what the fuck they play.
I don’t understand why anyone who calls themselves a fan wants them to turn into this. If you don’t like the newer material, then just stay away. Yes they could have gone the route of some of the other older acts you mentioned, but being the world’s biggest band is a mantle they feel obligated to still carry, for better or worse. And they can still get enough media attention for their releases and draw big name collaborators to keep that partial illusion going. But the ambition has always been a big part of what has made them great, not cranking out the hits for the olds.
I was hoping you'd be more empathetic than this.
I wouldn't know about i+e or e+i because
they don't fucking tour here. There is no excuse for them not to tour (Springsteen has toured here three times since U2 were last here), they're extremely rich, they've always enjoyed very strong support down under, and yet we've been stooged on Elevation and missed the entire SOI/E era altogether, and until today, overlooked for JT30. I saw the two LA JT30 shows and they were
incredible, both immediately went to #2 and #3 on my list of U2 shows I've seen, behind my first show, which will never be supplanted.
Here's another thing you can't seem to grasp. I've seen six U2 shows. I've loved the band like little else since 2004. And I've only been able to see six shows. And one-third of those shows were in the US, where U2 tours consistently, along with Europe. In 15 years of fandom, I've seen four shows in my own country, where most American and European fans with my level of fandom have the opportunity to see dozens. I'd have been happy if they came here with the explicit purpose of playing In a Little While 22 times, I don't give a fuck, I'm that happy to finally see my favourite band in my own country again. The last time, I was 20 years old. I was legally not allowed to drink in the States (went with family that same year). I was a virgin, and I wouldn't take a positive shift with my life until the following year. I am an incredibly different person now to what I was back then. This might be my last chance to see them. And if they get older and decide stick to US/Europe with future tours, which is a very real possibility based on their history, I'll have to fork out thousands of dollars to say goodbye.
I think your claim this is killing their credibility is laughable. Credibility with who?
How many of your friends are out here saying "man I'm not a big fan of U2 but I really respect that they're playing shit new songs instead of the only album that I actually liked?" The JT30 tour got U2 the only positive article they've had on Pitchfork in about a decade. Genuinely, who thinks this is killing their credibility aside from you? You and maybe a couple of others on this forum are the only ones I've ever heard complain. Everyone else who might complain stopped giving a shit about U2 when they forced SOI onto their phones, if not five or ten years earlier.
"I don't get how a fan could want this" "don't like the new stuff stay away". So what am I supposed to do? Not attend this tour out of protest and log off and listen to JT at home? What a stupid proposition.
And yeah you're right -- any tour would have gone over well. Of course it would have. They're great at live music. It SHOULDN'T matter what they play, you're right - and yet you're the one whinging about what they're playing. I'd have gladly taken IE/EI if that's what they did. I prefer this, because it means I don't have to fucking hear Best Thing and Own Way and half a handful of other SOI/E songs I don't like. And I think it's wanky as hell to be like "oh U2 are playing these songs I don't like but I RESPECT THEM for doing it". That's dumb as hell.
You're also right about their ambition, that's always been them and won't change now. But I will take a set full of songs I love over a set with a third of songs I strongly dislike eight days a week.
I absolutely love you man, and I truly, truly mean that, I owe you a lot and I hope to repay it someday, but I think it's strange you refuse to even try and sympathise with mine or many other Australians' point of view.