*Spoilers* Rehearsals Part 2

[YBORCITY]

I too wish they would give Crystal a spin, in fact I wouldn't mind if they gave a Lucifer's a chance also, kinda neat to see what they did with Stingray and I still really dig the chord changes.

 

[YBORCITY]

ASOH - if I could see that live just one more time.....

Not sure what anyone else thinks of WILATW, I think that would be pretty good live too.

 

[nitebusnitebus]

ASOH - if I could see that live just one more time.....

Not sure what anyone else thinks of WILATW, I think that would be pretty good live too.

that's a good song. Kite would be my choice from ATYCLB (as with most on the forum) but yeah When I Look... is a good song and deserves a shot. and Electrical Storm needs a second life in arenas. best song from that era

 

[BVS]

Sorry you failed to see the difference there.


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[jphelmet]

I've seen:
Boston 05 (best reaction)
Washington 05
Charlotte 05
Honolulu 06
Raleigh 09
Baltimore 2011

not lucky enough to live outside the US where the crowd would probably be much more into it

I was at two of those- and I didn't think poorly received. Maybe we are colored by our perception based on how much we personally like the song?

I still think WOWOY is going to be better received than anything that could play except for maybe a handful of songs.

 

[hibricc]

that's a good song. Kite would be my choice from ATYCLB (as with most on the forum) but yeah When I Look... is a good song and deserves a shot. and Electrical Storm needs a second life in arenas. best song from that era

I'm not sure what happened to it, but the live version of Electrical Storm from Edge's Picks was really missing something for me (maybe a second guitar line in the middle somewhere?). LOVE the studio version; HATE the live version. Any guitar aficionados out there who can tell me what they changed?

 

[TheUnknownCalle]

So would this be With or Without You's first ever non-encore appearance?

 

[nitebusnitebus]

I'm not sure what happened to it, but the live version of Electrical Storm from Edge's Picks was really missing something for me (maybe a second guitar line in the middle somewhere?). LOVE the studio version; HATE the live version. Any guitar aficionados out there who can tell me what they changed?

Bono not playing his guitar. you watch any video of it and he just does nothing with it

I think it deserves another chance, with some work it could be a really great moment in the show.

 

[SpiralStaircase]

So would this be With or Without You's first ever non-encore appearance?

Nah, first time they ever played it it was 3 from the end of the main set.

EDIT: First 5 times, in fact

 

[hibricc]

I'm not sure what happened to it, but the live version of Electrical Storm from Edge's Picks was really missing something for me (maybe a second guitar line in the middle somewhere?). LOVE the studio version; HATE the live version. Any guitar aficionados out there who can tell me what they changed?

Bono not playing his guitar. you watch any video of it and he just does nothing with it

I think it deserves another chance, with some work it could be a really great moment in the show.

Hmm, just found the "leaked" RadioOne mix online, and it sounds just like the live version. In particular, the guitar line during the chorus is completely different from the final recording.

I'd love them to give it another shot with the album version guitar line.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

Maybe we are colored by our perception based on how much we personally like the song?

Bingo...pretty much for the whole 'rarities/warhorse' debate...

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Then his bike accident happened. And the entire plan changed. Which is why some cities like Chicago have an odd number of shows.

Adam was projecting the "pairs of shows" idea right out of the gate when SoI was released. But obviously with Bono's accident the plan changed. The show dates themselves were already in place (just not public knowledge) when Bono's unfortunate accident occurred. If you recall, only a handful of shows were even announced at first. And then as the months progressed, shows were added (likely because Bono was recovering well enough to handle all the dates). The idea of "2 separate shows" has been condensed into a "set 1/intermission/set 2" setup now, with an encore tossed in most likely. So plans for "fan favorites" or similar may be on hold or put aside altogether in order to promote the album, get ready for SoE, and play the hits as well as throw in some surprises (aka a standard tour).

When the band moves to stadiums in 2016, we may get more of a shakeup. Kind of like in 360 when after a year's break due to injury, fan rarities like Zooropa became set staples. I was fortunate enough to see 360 during the first run (Tampa 09) and then again with the focus on AB and Zoo material (E Lansing and Pittsburgh in 2011).

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This quote by Bono was actually 3 months after the bike accident #meow

 

[hibricc]

This quote by Bono was actually 3 months after the bike accident #meow

Actually, Bono's "completely different feeling" quote was from the tour release on Dec3, only a couple of weeks after his Nov16 accident. However, see this article for a separate quote from Edge:

“One of the most unusual things that we’re doing, that we’ve never done, we’re going to be doing shows on consecutive nights that are quite different,” he said. “For people who do go to consecutive nights, they’re going to get a very different show and their (sic) loosely around the theme of innocence and experience, which is the name of the tour.”

So it hasn't just been Bono talking about different shows....

 

[popacrobat]

The idea of two different shows is/was bad, and the idea of an electric/acoustic night is even worse.

Bono and the band are right in the NYT article, you wouldn't want to spend money on a show and come away thinking you saw the B show.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

The idea of two different shows is/was bad, and the idea of an electric/acoustic night is even worse.

Bono and the band are right in the NYT article, you wouldn't want to spend money on a show and come away thinking you saw the B show.

Which was a concern among many on interference also,


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[hibricc]

The idea of two different shows is/was bad, and the idea of an electric/acoustic night is even worse.

Bono and the band are right in the NYT article, you wouldn't want to spend money on a show and come away thinking you saw the B show.

I always thought it would have been cool to do something like the Stones did a few years ago, with two different shows in two different venues. Play a couple of big arena shows, along with one or two small club shows (maybe fan-club only?) in each city. The club shows could be more acoustic (not entirely, of course), and feature some rarely played gems. But here we are. It's U2, after all.

 

[BobGeorge]

So would this be With or Without You's first ever non-encore appearance?

And only because there are no encores this time.

 

[prbiker15]

And only because there are no encores this time.

I don't think that's a given yet.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

This is the tour I thought for sure i would get to hear Surrender or A Day Without Me


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[BobGeorge]

I always thought it would have been cool to do something like the Stones did a few years ago, with two different shows in two different venues. Play a couple of big arena shows, along with one or two small club shows (maybe fan-club only?) in each city. The club shows could be more acoustic (not entirely, of course), and feature some rarely played gems. But here we are. It's U2, after all.

There's just no comparison between the two bands.

 

[Harbinger]

I think it also comes down to marketing. Let's say that they decided to go with either an acoustic-ish/electric-ish or an innocence/experience 1st/2nd night. As long as they were clearly identified so that you knew which night you were getting tickets for, that could work. But the circumstances leading up to the tour didn't really make that feasible. Teh band also absolutely has enough material that they could rotate that would keep things from feeling like an A/B (quality wise) show.

The closest example with U2 that I can think of is Elevation, where they would swap out Bad/AIWIY, IWF/OOC, Gone/Discotheque, Sweetest Thing/Ground Beneath Her Feet, etc. The variety was there, and they paired up the songs so that you got something similar each night. Now, I wasn't there, but from the recordings and DVDs, it definitely doesn't seem to me like the second night was "B" grade material. Throw in the ability to rotate the ATYCLB material and the 2+ albums since then, and it doesn't seem a stretch to me to be able to construct two sets of comparable momentum and emotion.

Example, spoilered for space:

Spoiler

Using the rehearsal set with a tweak or two:

1. The Miracle
2. Out Of Control / Elevation
3. Vertigo / Electric Co.
4. I Will Follow
5. Iris
6. Cedarwood Road
7. Song For Someone
8. Sunday Bloody Sunday
9. Raised By Wolves
10. Until The End Of The World (with an unidentified outro)

Short break.

11. Invisible
12. Even Better Than The Real Thing
13. Desire / Angel of Harlem
14. Mysterious Ways / California
15. Sweetest Thing / Ground Beneath Her Feet
16. Every Breaking Wave (acoustic)
17. Bullet The Blue Sky
18. The Troubles / OSC || RTSS || Hands
19. Pride / New Year's Day**
20. With Or Without You / One
21. City Of Blinding Lights / Beautiful Day*
22. Beautiful Day / Miracle Drug*
23. Where The Streets Have No Name
24. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Bad || AIWIY** || whatever

* I might be a little biased here in being "meh" on COBL, but this gives them BD and they clearly have put a lot of work into the MD->Streets transition.
** Yes, I know it hasn't been rehearsed but it's fairly easy to play and filled the alternate slot on 360

That's a difference of 10/24 songs keeping the same structure, similar emotional content, keeping the first set fairly "static" as the NYT article suggested, and using [mostly] only rehearsed songs. For U2, that's a pretty diverse set.

Anyway, I went on far too long on that... but I take my setcraft pretty seriously

 

[BobGeorge]

I don't think that's a given yet.

You're right, I don't know. I'm just assuming because of the intermission.

 

[hibricc]

There's just no comparison between the two bands.

Agreed. I only used the Stones' touring plan as an example. Could have been any band. And again, because U2.

 

[bonorton]

Someone mentioned last night that Bono said his voice was overstrained, that is why he did not get out and greet fans.

This will clearly have a major impact on what the opening night setlist will be. Much less that he has back to back shows right out of the gate to start the tour.

Elevation tour he had a day break in between first 2 shows in Sunrise. Vertigo tour he had a day break in between first 2 shows in San Diego. Not sure why they didn't schedule it that way this time around just to be safe.

 

[BobGeorge]

This is the tour I thought for sure i would get to hear Surrender or A Day Without Me

I was thinking about ADWM before the tour but then I saw the usual suspects from Boy being rehearsed. I should have known better.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

There's just no comparison between the two bands.

I think there are plenty of comparisons between the two bands, actually.

 

[BobGeorge]

I think there are plenty of comparisons between the two bands, actually.

Actually you're right, that's true. I meant from a musicianship pov. The Stones rehearsed 90 songs for their bigger bang tour and played lots of rarities.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Gotcha

 

[hibricc]

This is the tour I thought for sure i would get to hear Surrender or A Day Without Me

My U2 holy grail is "I Fall Down", last played just over 30 years ago.

 

[ckonanz]

I was very surprised to see that they didn't play One at the dress rehearsal. The only reason that they may not play it is because Bono can't play the guitar. I saw that they rehearsed it but maybe they didn't like how it came up without Bono on guitar and decided no to play it.