Songs of Innocence Promo Tour - Discussion Thread #2

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Irvine511 said:
What's bullshit is cutting to reaction shots of that correspondent during the performance.

Yes, let's look to her to let us know that we should be in rapt attention.
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I think the camera-man wanted to capture her reaction as she was drooling
at the mouth, while looking at Bono :lol:
She has that look in her eyes of someone who is about to commit something illegal and that she might get arrested afterwards.

The band played great.
I can´t really put a negative mark on this performance either.
It was great.
But I would like to hear more violins. They have been travelling
around (since that BBC-2 performance with Jo Whiley 2 weeks ago)
with this string quartet and they would sound even better with
more violins! ... and they are forgetting the TUBA and the flutes!

Where is the TUBA player? :hmm:
 
The bridge part is odd. He seems to like this weird breathy delivery of it, which I think takes away from it a bit. He's not literally gasping for air like some seem to think. Just a style he chose that I don't really love. But he is really pouring himself into these performances. I do think they believe in this song.
 
Hollow Island said:
There's pushing past limits, and then there's just plain botching. This falls into the latter category. Bono could not hit the high notes in the chorus; I don't know why he bothers trying. Just sing it normally, stick to the melody. And that bridge...

Still, it's nice to hear Bono sing with such commitment. It's been a while.
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He certainly hit those notes in the chorus perfectly, the bridge is weird though...
 
Irvine511 said:
Reaction shots are cheap and manipulative.


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Yes, in most cases, but in the case of the Jools Holland show, reaction shots are absolutely not "cheap and manipulative", because this show's theme is centered around a collective of performances from 5 or more artists/bands, which makes it a very unique music show. It might have been cool to see the members of Interpol or maybe Sam Smith staring at Bono singing and in disbelief (or possibly indifference).

For instance I remember when Nick Cave was playing in 2008 on that show and one of the highlights was seeing Jack White on a nearby stage transfixed on Mr. Cave in total awe, and it was a 1 or 2 second reaction shot...that was more interesting than Nick Cave's performance. Reaction shots aren't always that bad.
 
They are always cheap and manipulative, but I agree that sometimes it's very much needed and appropriate. ;)


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thavidesco said:
He certainly hit those notes in the chorus perfectly, the bridge is weird though...
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The way he's been singing that bridge part lately reminds me of soul music. Finding this has made me appreciate this immensely and I wasn't too hot for it before making this awesome realization.

I'm awesome.
 
womanfish said:
The bridge part is odd. He seems to like this weird breathy delivery of it, which I think takes away from it a bit. He's not literally gasping for air like some seem to think. Just a style he chose that I don't really love. But he is really pouring himself into these performances. I do think they believe in this song.
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Yeah, he's not really out of air. Why would he be out of air on this part of the song? It's just a way of building up to the chorus.
 
They need to give EBW a break now. It's a beautiful song and I love it to death, but Bono's struggling with the vocals and it's time to play some new, previously not performed songs from SOI. While I really love the acoustic plus strings versions of EBW, I think they are overdoing it at the moment. It's increasingly hard for Bono to hit those notes (with some pause and recovery between those performances he will, but not right now) and the the song is overplayed. Time to get some new stuff out of the box, guys.

Btw, loved the Late Late Show interview. The guys looked very relaxed, human, down to earth and it was really a sense of "homecoming".
 
How are they overdoing EBW? It's been played seven times, and England is the only country in which it has been performed multiple times (twice, or thrice if you count the performance for Australian TV that was filmed but didn't actually air in England). Apart from hardcore fans, most people will have only heard it once. Given the positive response it has received, no doubt they'll keep playing it.

Obviously I'd love to see more songs (especially an electric Cedarwood Road), but I think it's hard to complain about this promo tour when they have already equalled their record for most songs from the album being promoted - six, equal with HTDAAB.
 
Yeah its only us diehards that watch every promo, people would have only heard the song once.

I really dont think Bono's struggling with EBW either. Infact he sounds amazing
 
The breathiness is definitely a stylistic choice, one that works better on some days than others (like anything does.) It was brilliant on Jools, and less so on 60 minutes. I'll take the attempt every time in order to get the occasional Jools-level performance.
 
Axver said:
but I think it's hard to complain about this promo tour when they have already equalled their record for most songs from the album being promoted - six, equal with HTDAAB.
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That is encouraging, isn't it?

Esp. given that they only played 7 from No Line from release through to the end of the 360 tour. And I think we're likely to at least hear one more from SOI (maybe Iris?) before the promo tour is complete..
 
Irvine511 said:
Reaction shots are cheap and manipulative.


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Of course they're cheap and manipulative. But I don't mind them, they're part of the show, and considering that for the most part all these shows are cheap and manipulative by design, the reaction shot is just another element of that. The host pretending to like music they don't give a f*ck about is cheap and manipulative. Applause cues are cheap and manipulative. Pre-scripted banter is cheap and manipulative. These shows are designed to manipulate you long enough to get to the adverts (unless you're watching BBC), so you can be manipulated some more. The whole thing is designed to manipulate you, and if you're not into being manipulated by media, better to just turn off the TV.
 
Gonna Run 2 U said:
Every breaking wave is getting the treatment of "one" right now. It isn't worthy at all in my opinion. The song makes me cringe.
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I heard several u2 fans saying something like this about One in relation to With or Without You.

Only time will tell if it's worthy or it isn't, but as long as people is liking it, they'll keep playing it.

TheEnd said:
Right, but some people like a performer who pushes pass his or her limits in a performance. An example would be my girlfriend.
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Quoting because it's fun.
Hilarious jokes aside, you're totally right... Matt Bellamy sounds asthmatic in every single song and many people love it.
I love Roger Waters screaming style.

womanfish said:
The bridge part is odd. He seems to like this weird breathy delivery of it, which I think takes away from it a bit. He's not literally gasping for air like some seem to think. Just a style he chose that I don't really love. But he is really pouring himself into these performances. I do think they believe in this song.
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Agree on everything: it's a choice, I don't love it too much and they do believe in this song (and in this version particularly?).
 
Why do I have a feeling that if this were 1984, we would be talking about how Pride is overrated and is no I will Follow.

Some other topics:

1-ugh, why would they put a castle on the cover.

2-love comes tumbling should have been on the album...best song ever!

3-they've peaked, all down hill from here

4- MLK is so boring(it actually is :) )

5- 10 song album?? Really!

6- we waited a whole year for this?????

7-Why wasnt Mercy on the album?

8- Edge should start wearing a hat, he's getting thin up top


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
Nick66 said:
Of course they're cheap and manipulative. But I don't mind them, they're part of the show, and considering that for the most part all these shows are cheap and manipulative by design, the reaction shot is just another element of that. The host pretending to like music they don't give a f*ck about is cheap and manipulative. Applause cues are cheap and manipulative. Pre-scripted banter is cheap and manipulative. These shows are designed to manipulate you long enough to get to the adverts (unless you're watching BBC), so you can be manipulated some more. The whole thing is designed to manipulate you, and if you're not into being manipulated by media, better to just turn off the TV.
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Girl, I work in exactly this medium, and I love reaction shots and use them. They are always cheap and manipulative, and effective when done well. To cut to some host looking blissed out whilst listening to Bono sing is bad manipulation because it looks cheap (not because it is cheap).

One can cheaply manipulate and do it well, that wasn't done here.


Sent from
 
Nick66 said:
Of course they're cheap and manipulative. But I don't mind them, they're part of the show, and considering that for the most part all these shows are cheap and manipulative by design, the reaction shot is just another element of that. The host pretending to like music they don't give a f*ck about is cheap and manipulative. Applause cues are cheap and manipulative. Pre-scripted banter is cheap and manipulative. These shows are designed to manipulate you long enough to get to the adverts (unless you're watching BBC), so you can be manipulated some more. The whole thing is designed to manipulate you, and if you're not into being manipulated by media, better to just turn off the TV.
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Well said, I couldn't agree more. :up:
 
Irvine511 said:
Girl, I work in exactly this medium, and I love reaction shots and use them. They are always cheap and manipulative, and effective when done well. To cut to some host looking blissed out whilst listening to Bono sing is bad manipulation because it looks cheap (not because it is cheap).

One can cheaply manipulate and do it well, that wasn't done here.


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So what if the host isn't blissed out and instead yawning and checking his phone or watch to see when the performance is over? Is that less cheap? I guess a negative reaction has more clout these days than a fake positive phony sugarcoated reaction.
 
u2station said:
So what if the host isn't blissed out and instead yawning and checking his phone or watch to see when the performance is over? Is that less cheap? I guess a negative reaction has more clout these days than a fake positive phony sugarcoated reaction.
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what are you even talking about?

there shouldn't be a reaction shot of the host of a TV program featuring a band performing a song at all. they aren't singing for the host, they are singing for the audience. any good host knows this.

one exception, that proves the rule, would be when Bette Midler sang *for* Johnny Carson on his last ever episode. that's appropriate, because it was a song *for* Johnny Carson.

from an editorial standpoint, the cut to the correspondant (twice!) was totally inappropriate for the context of the performance, and any reasonably talented producer would have known this and cut it.

this isn't even about manipulation, it's about bad TV and poor producing.
 
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