U2 at Elvis Costello's Spectacle

[last unicorn]

@u2.com is reporting that Bono and Edge taped an edition of Spectacle, a music programme hosted by Elvis Costello, yesterday in Toronto. The programme is a mixture of interviews and live performances. There is no date yet for the programme to air, but it will be on the Sundance channel.

Elvis Costello performed some U2 songs with his band:

"Please"
"Dirty Day"
"Mysterious Ways"

Bono and Edge performed the following songs:

"Stay" (Bono and Edge alone)
"Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad" (Bono, with Elvis' rhythm section)
"Alison" (Elvis and his band with Bono and Edge)
"Stuck In A Moment" (whole ensemble)
"Pump It Up/Get On Your Boots" (whole ensemble)



Wow, sounds fantastic

 

[Axver]

Already a thread on this over on the tour forum. This is only the second time Two Shots has been played live, so that's pretty cool.

 

[last unicorn]

I thought this forum needs a thread, too, since it's not really related to the tour

I'm also very excited about Two shots.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I hope this encourages U2 to bring out Dirty Day again.

THAT'D BE SO DAMN GOOD.

Anyway, I hope to hear this at some point.

 

[digitize]

Maybe this will remind Bono and Edge that Dirty Day and Please exist.

 

[last unicorn]

I'm sure they know these songs exist

 

[Vlaco]

Exciting news. Elvis Costello is a great artist.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Dirty Day......... holy crap. Was it full band, electric, ala the Zoo TV DVD?

 

[BVS]

Dirty Day......... holy crap. Was it full band, electric, ala the Zoo TV DVD?

Elvis Costello performed some U2 songs with his band

 

[Halup]

Already a thread on this over on the tour forum. This is only the second time Two Shots has been played live, so that's pretty cool.

Axver, I checked on U2gigs.com and saw some errors for the October 26, 2000 show. At this KROQ performance/interview, which I attended, during the interview portion, Bono did a short, impromptu version of Two Shots Of Happy which is not listed. Also during the interview, either Kevin or Bean made mention of Johnny Cash's recently released cover of One which prompted Bono to sing a portion of it mimicking Cash's voice.

 

[Lila64]

And there's been a thread in the Lemonade Stand about the Elvis Costello show 'Spectacle' for quite some time now

 

[Harry Vest]

Does anyone know when this will air???

 

[Axver]

Axver, I checked on U2gigs.com and saw some errors for the October 26, 2000 show. At this KROQ performance/interview, which I attended, during the interview portion, Bono did a short, impromptu version of Two Shots Of Happy which is not listed. Also during the interview, either Kevin or Bean made mention of Johnny Cash's recently released cover of One which prompted Bono to sing a portion of it mimicking Cash's voice.

Thanks ... will have to give it a listen to see if it's long enough to justify a full listing, especially the One portion. Either way, will add a note to the comments.

 

[Lila64]

Don't know when it will air, but you can always check the Sundance Channel's website for dates & times.

 

[bono_man2002]

Can't wait to see this, Elvis Costello would have done a great job at the U2 songs!

 

[DJFungus]

ooooo... anyone have audio or video of this?!?!?!?!

 

[Bono's shades]

OMG OMG OMG!

I have never been so glad in my life that I get the Sundance Channel. I am swooning at that set list.

I watched the first few episodes of Spectacle and thought they were pretty entertaining. I kind of got out of the habit of watching it though.

 

[Scorpionac]

I am really looking forward to this, too. Hopefully it doesn't take long to show up on CTV.

 

[schnumi]

Maybe this will remind Bono and Edge that Dirty Day and Please exist.

I sure hope so, it's a shame that Costello does play those songs and U2 just refuse to do it.

 

[jag0918]

wheres the torrent link

 

[BVS]

If this is anything like last year's schedule they would record the episodes almost 6 months before they aired.

 

[Salome]

I sure hope so, it's a shame that Costello does play those songs and U2 just refuse to do it.

yeah, they refuse to listen to about 150 fans yearning for these songs
they're rebels

 

[Lila64]

If this is anything like last year's schedule they would record the episodes almost 6 months before they aired.

This


Elvis is filming 3 days this week in NY City. If you were interested in the bands listed on the site, you could have registered to be in the audience. Don't know if that's still open or not, you'd have to check the Sundance website. And no, he's not filming more with U2, at least not that I'm aware of.

 

[last unicorn]

yeah, they refuse to listen to about 150 fans yearning for these songs
they're rebels

At least they listened to the 178 fans who demanded to hear Your Blue Room, so there's still hope.

 

[Morgoth321]

At least they listened to the 178 fans who demanded to hear Your Blue Room, so there's still hope.

I think it's more likely that Bono threw on the Passengers album one night, remembered the song that he occasionally claimed is his favourite ever, and lobbied hard for it to be put into the setlist. If U2 spent even half an hour on this forum, for example, they'd be in no doubt whatsoever about what songs 'the fans' want to hear. U2 somehow strike me as a group who rarely look backwards into the catalogue to see what they've done in the past, and they're not too sentimental either. If they try a song and it doesn't seem to work, it'll disappear - maybe for a long time, possibly for good. Or a great many songs never even make it as far as a soundcheck. (Even though their problem is, perversely, that they've been too successful over several decades. Therefore, their fanbase varies wildly in terms of age, preferences, performance style etc. In a 23-25 song set promoting a new album, or even if it was a greatest hits set, nobody will ever be truly satisfied.)

 

[gvox]

Why is it that everyone always assumes that it's Bono who comes up with the outlandish/rare picks for setlists and then pressures the band to perform them? Kindof like it's only Bono who wants the Tutu speech or the One campaign message and the rest of the band grudgingly goes along with it to appease him. It's silly to think that is necessarily the case.

 

[david]

I think the band realize they're in a position where there's songs that are just expected from their paying audience so they feel an obligation to play them.

I also think there's also the side of the band that doesn't want to get bored and also doesn't want to bore certain parts of their paying audience so they'll dig up old favorites or just try songs they never tried live before.

 

[doctorwho]

I've seen three shows (my fourth - and last - is tonight). And of the three, I've heard several different songs each night. I heard "Bad", TUF, MW, YBR, "Stay", "Stuck..." and "Until the End...". Each of these songs popped in and out of the setlist. Given that the band is routinely performing "Breathe", GOYB, "Magnificent", NLOTH, "Unknown Caller", "Crazy" and "Moment of Surrender" (7 out of 11 songs from the new album), and they probably feel they have to play a few "classics" ("Streets", WOWY, "One", etc.), that leaves them with several songs that can be varied. And U2 have indeed varied them. What I'm most happy about is NOT hearing "Pride" again. I love the song and it is my favorite, but even I've grown tired of "Pride" each tour (and I'm feeling this way about "One", but for now it remains). So I'm happy with the mix of the songs so far.

While I'd love for "Dirty Day" or "Two Shots..." I really can't see U2 adding this frequently to their setlist. But who knows - maybe they will when the tour resumes next year.

 

[Bono's shades]

I just visited the Sundance Channel Web site. The "Spectacle" ep featuring Bono and Edge will premiere on Dec. 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

 

[lauramullen]

I'll have to remember that.