I know this isn't the thread for it, and I'm beyond excited for SOE. In fact, I don't think I've been this eager for news since the time between NLOTH 2 and the No line album leak. However, am I the only one that is a little sad for how JT 30 ended? I'm going to miss it greatly. This is something a lot of us have wanted U2 to do for years- focus on their extensive back catalog and in true interference form, we forgot about it or worse, ripped them for extending it or not playing the songs we wanted or for doing it in the first place.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset that they didn't extend it, it's time to move on. It just seems that an excellent move that won them a lot of credibility and relevance back quickly lost the backing and interest of us fans- nearly all of whom were as excited as I was to hear songs like Running to standstill, In God's Country, Red Hill, Trip through your wires, One tree hill and Exit performed live every night.
It seems like we get a rarity back- TUF/Hold Me on 360 or Electric co/October on I&E and quickly get "sick of it" on account of reading it on U2 gigs every night. I am guilty of the same thing. However, in San Diego, I made a conscious effort to appreciate the entire show, especially the SBS-NYD-Bad-Pride opener and JT because we really are in uncharted territory here. Who knows how many of these songs we'll be hearing for a long time coming, if at all in the case of some of them. More material means fewer set list spots and we know U2, always focused on the future, will be eager to prove they're not the Stones or the Who despite what ideas people may have gotten from JT2017. I could very easily see them doing this on E&I: 8 SOE songs, 4 SOI songs, the post 80s big 4 (BD, Elevation, Vertigo, One), Streets, maybe 2 other 80s hits and a rarity.
I just hope that's what we all really want here- people should do more thinking on this- especially those who are always saying U2 post- 2000 can't hold a candle to what came before.
I'm just not ready to see this raw, energetic U2 go away entirely. I hope it doesn't. Though Real Thing was the best opener I've seen in person, this got the best crowd reaction.My first JT show was the 2nd Rose Bowl night. Of course, the die hards stood up at the start of "Rainy Night" and about 60% were standing by the time Larry appeared. I was blown away by how immediately the people still seated got up- at the exact same time- as soon as Larry started that SBS intro. Everyone standing, followed by the most unbelievable roar.