U2: Band in Crisis?

[doctorwho]

btw, I got 6 songs in Boston. I never got to hear Breathe. The highlights of the show for me were NLOTH, MOS, UF, YBR, Unknown Caller.

I've never really liked Unknown Caller - so I have no problem with that dropping from the setlist.

And I really strongly disagree with your statement that U2 "gave up" on the recent material.

Had U2 returned with the same set lists they did earlier in the tour, after that year break, many fans and critics would be "oh, same as it was before - nothing new." So then we'd have that criticism.

Admittedly, AB is being pushed more than other albums. The ultimate goal of touring is to promote a new or upcoming release and there's a certain remaster coming up. Plus those AB songs flow with the theme of 360 more than other albums.

I guess it really depends on what you like. If U2 did 7-8 songs off of NLOTH every night, it would be a challenge to have the variety they've shown later and fans and critics would complain about the static set list.

U2 had a lot of variety with the Love Town tour, but often it was just the order of the songs. They focused heavily on JT and R&H era songs. But that came at the expense of their earlier work. Other than Pride, I Will Follow, and maybe New Year's Day, a lot of older material was ignored (they'd occasionally throw in a Bad or October). With Love Town, the focus was so heavily on the new that the old was ignored.

This is why I like the current tour - it's a good mix of all. Given that I have personally heard Zooropa, Your Blue Moon, Hold Me...Kill Me, Ultraviolet, Even Better Than..., All I Want Is You, Miss Sarajevo, Scarlet and Unforgettable Fire, and boots of One Tree Hill and Out of Control and I'm VERY impressed.

And U2 did keep in one of the best songs they've ever written with MOS. That alone is a keeper, I hope, for many tours to come.

 

[Niceman]

I

U2 had a lot of variety with the Love Town tour, but often it was just the order of the songs. They focused heavily on JT and R&H era songs. But that came at the expense of their earlier work. Other than Pride, I Will Follow, and maybe New Year's Day, a lot of older material was ignored (they'd occasionally throw in a Bad or October). With Love Town, the focus was so heavily on the new that the old was ignored.

Frankly, I think that's how it should be. Yeah, you play a few of the biggest greatest hits. Yeah, a few old gems that feel like they fit in with the new material, but I think the new material should be the point.

It's how they did it on Lovetown, but also ZOOTV, POPMART, even JT.... (On UF and earlier, all U2 songs were 4 years old or less)

I'm cool with rotating out NLOTH songs for SOA. That's only natural. But rotating out new songs for old doesn't appeal to me.

 

[bono_212]

Different strokes, I'd hate a show that was all recent material. It's not clinging to the past to play rarely played old songs, it's catering to your fans that have loved your music from the beginning, rather than the casual and new fans.

And the fact is, not all of us, U2 included have spent every moment since ZooTV ended listening to bootlegs from that era, so for some of us who weren't so lucky to have been there, getting some of the stuff we're getting now and some of the stuff we got on the Vertigo tour is more than a treat.

 

[Salome]

since the internet made touring to push new album sales an outdated notion, I don't see how someone - personal preference aside - can try to maintain touring should be about playing mostly new stuff
a band's only job is to make sure that whoever paid tickets for their show will get the most value for their money and hopefully will pay for tickets again next time they're in the neighbourhood

 

[Niceman]

Different strokes, I'd hate a show that was all recent material. It's not clinging to the past to play rarely played old songs, it's catering to your fans that have loved your music from the beginning, rather than the casual and new fans.

And the fact is, not all of us, U2 included have spent every moment since ZooTV ended listening to bootlegs from that era, so for some of us who weren't so lucky to have been there, getting some of the stuff we're getting now and some of the stuff we got on the Vertigo tour is more than a treat.

It's a very new thing for a U2 tour to be about the whole career instead of the new material. If that's the way they go, then what's the real difference from one tour to the next?

What was it they used to say about there being no reverse gear in their tank? This shift in what the tour is about seems to me to signal a very big change in what U2 is about artistically. Yeah, maybe that's been coming since Elevation, but it's only all of a sudden that we have as few as 5 songs that are less than a decade old. That's what I call a nostalgia show.

 

[Niceman]

a band's only job is to make sure that whoever paid tickets for their show will get the most value for their money and hopefully will pay for tickets again next time they're in the neighbourhood

So, it's about money, not art?

 

[Salome]

your art serves barely a purpose if your audience doesn't want to see/hear it

 

[Niceman]

your art serves barely a purpose if your audience doesn't want to see/hear it

If U2 can't create a new album worth touring, I don't know who can.

But you said more than that. You suggested that their only responsibility was to make money. Sure, if we accept that, they should be playing all JT, AB, and ATYCLB. But, I dunno... the band I've been following since 1987 wouldn't have been cool with that.

 

[Salome]

no, I suggested that their performance should convince people to go see them again

 

[bono_212]

Lovetown:

Songs from 10 U2 albums have been played during this tour. Snippets are not counted.

· Rattle And Hum (8 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (8 songs)
· Cover songs (7 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (4 songs)
· War (3 songs)
· B-Sides (2 songs)
· Boy (2 songs)
· October (2 songs)
· Non-album songs (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)

ZooTV

· Cover songs (17 songs)
· Achtung Baby (11 songs)
· Zooropa (7 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (5 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· B-Sides (3 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (2 songs)
· War (2 songs)
· Boy (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)

Popmart:

· Cover songs (22 songs)
· Pop (11 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· Achtung Baby (4 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (3 songs)
· War (3 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (2 songs)
· B-Sides (1 song)
· Boy (1 song)
· Non-album songs (1 song)
· Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1 (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)

Elevation:


· All That You Can't Leave Behind (9 songs)
· Cover songs (9 songs)
· Achtung Baby (5 songs)
· Pop (5 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· B-Sides (4 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (3 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (3 songs)
· Boy (2 songs)
· Non-album songs (2 songs)
· War (2 songs)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)
· Zooropa (1 song)

Vertigo:

· How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (10 songs)
· Cover songs (8 songs)
· Achtung Baby (7 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (7 songs)
· All That You Can't Leave Behind (6 songs)
· Boy (6 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (3 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (3 songs)
· War (3 songs)
· B-Sides (1 song)
· Non-album songs (1 song)
· October (1 song)
· Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1 (1 song)
· Pop (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)
· Zooropa (1 song)

360 Tour:

· Cover songs (8 songs)
· No Line On The Horizon (7 songs)
· Achtung Baby (6 songs)
· Unreleased Songs (6 songs)
· All That You Can't Leave Behind (5 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (4 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (4 songs)
· B-Sides (2 songs)
· Boy (2 songs)
· How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2 songs)
· Non-album songs (2 songs)
· Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1 (2 songs)
· War (2 songs)
· Zooropa (2 songs)
· October (1 song)



What I'm getting at is that I do see your point, but it's a trend that U2 have slowly been going towards this whole decade. What makes this tour so special? To me, and many others it seems, it makes MORE sense for this tour to have steered away from the last album a bit BECAUSE of the long gap that existed within it.

 

[Niceman]

Lovetown:

Songs from 10 U2 albums have been played during this tour. Snippets are not counted.

· Rattle And Hum (8 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (8 songs)
· Cover songs (7 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (4 songs)
· War (3 songs)
· B-Sides (2 songs)
· Boy (2 songs)
· October (2 songs)
· Non-album songs (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)

ZooTV

· Cover songs (17 songs)
· Achtung Baby (11 songs)
· Zooropa (7 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (5 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· B-Sides (3 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (2 songs)
· War (2 songs)
· Boy (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)

Popmart:

· Cover songs (22 songs)
· Pop (11 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· Achtung Baby (4 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (3 songs)
· War (3 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (2 songs)
· B-Sides (1 song)
· Boy (1 song)
· Non-album songs (1 song)
· Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1 (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)

Elevation:


· All That You Can't Leave Behind (9 songs)
· Cover songs (9 songs)
· Achtung Baby (5 songs)
· Pop (5 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· B-Sides (4 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (3 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (3 songs)
· Boy (2 songs)
· Non-album songs (2 songs)
· War (2 songs)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)
· Zooropa (1 song)

Vertigo:

· How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (10 songs)
· Cover songs (8 songs)
· Achtung Baby (7 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (7 songs)
· All That You Can't Leave Behind (6 songs)
· Boy (6 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (3 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (3 songs)
· War (3 songs)
· B-Sides (1 song)
· Non-album songs (1 song)
· October (1 song)
· Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1 (1 song)
· Pop (1 song)
· Unreleased Songs (1 song)
· Zooropa (1 song)

360 Tour:

· Cover songs (8 songs)
· No Line On The Horizon (7 songs)
· Achtung Baby (6 songs)
· Unreleased Songs (6 songs)
· All That You Can't Leave Behind (5 songs)
· The Joshua Tree (5 songs)
· Rattle And Hum (4 songs)
· The Unforgettable Fire (4 songs)
· B-Sides (2 songs)
· Boy (2 songs)
· How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2 songs)
· Non-album songs (2 songs)
· Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1 (2 songs)
· War (2 songs)
· Zooropa (2 songs)
· October (1 song)



What I'm getting at is that I do see your point, but it's a trend that U2 have slowly been going towards this whole decade. What makes this tour so special? To me, and many others it seems, it makes MORE sense for this tour to have steered away from the last album a bit BECAUSE of the long gap that existed within it.

I can understand your point about the gap to a small extent, but its compounded by the dearth of U2 material in the 00s. Why not play the other songs they're released more recently? How about Boy Falls From the Sky? Winter? One or two more from HTDAAB? Or how about releasing an EP to have 2-3 more new songs? What happened to the new SOA songs?

I guess part of it has to do with, from the beginning, 360 didn't have any connecting theme with the album. Even early on, there was a sense that it was a "U2 show" not a "U2's new album show." So, maybe that all adds up to get them where they are in summer of 2011?

I'm not crying doom. I'm not falling out of love with my favorite band. If they want a 2011 nostalgia tour, they can have it. But if the tour for the next album is all about songs written decades ago? I think that will be a bit sad.


EDIT: I should also point out the obvious that saying U2 played 7 NLOTH songs live on this tour doesn't factor in the fact that 4 of those 7 are gone by the end of the tour. THAT is the most unusual statistic, to have less than half still being played.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Can we rename this thread niceman vs the world?

 

[bono_212]

I think you've really answered your own question. There's no connection between 360 and No Line on the Horizon. Thus, it was never a tour about that album, so much as a show about itself and its stage. Therefore, they tailored the setlists a bit more towards achieving their goal, rather than promoting an album that, by the time the tour had even started, they'd about given up on.

Why is there no material and where did it go? Spider-man musical, baby. I mean, they've all but admitted that. Half the band's brains are somewhere else, so I'm not surprised they're not dragging out any new material right now.

 

[Niceman]

Can we rename this thread niceman vs the world?

If you want to ignore the comments which have agreed with me, and want to further feed my persecution complex, sure!

 

[Niceman]

I think you've really answered your own question. There's no connection between 360 and No Line on the Horizon. Thus, it was never a tour about that album, so much as a show about itself and its stage. Therefore, they tailored the setlists a bit more towards achieving their goal, rather than promoting an album that, by the time the tour had even started, they'd about given up on.

Why is there no material and where did it go? Spider-man musical, baby. I mean, they've all but admitted that. Half the band's brains are somewhere else, so I'm not surprised they're not dragging out any new material right now.

Yeah.

 

[partygirl43]

Can we rename this thread niceman vs the world?

I got Nicemans back....I think he's spot on. It sure is hard being a U2 fan who doesn't love everything they do. I think the 360 tour is boring, I can see most of these songs in one form or another on DVD.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

I got Nicemans back....I think he's spot on. It sure is hard being a U2 fan who doesn't love everything they do. I think the 360 tour is boring, I can see most of these songs in one form or another on DVD.

And here we come back to the blind fan/sheep comments, if your so bored of it why are you going to a show? And why just because someone likes this version of the show automatically mean they like everything the band does?

 

[partygirl43]

And here we come back to the blind fan/sheep comments, if your so bored of it why are you going to a show? And why just because someone likes this version of the show automatically mean they like everything the band does?

Well I sold all of my tickets for this leg of the tour, but kept my Red Zone for Pittsburgh. I'm sure Bono and Co. Will do something to charm my panties off, but I really love NLOTH and think it got the shaft (Ahem)

 

[bono_212]

I got Nicemans back....I think he's spot on. It sure is hard being a U2 fan who doesn't love everything they do. I think the 360 tour is boring, I can see most of these songs in one form or another on DVD.

Wooooow....

 

[trojanchick99]

Here's the thing. As a fan who first saw the band during Elevation, hearing EBTRT, HMTMKMKM, AIWIY, Stay and FREAKING Zooropa on this leg is incredible. Yeah, I've seen them on DVD but come on, you can't compare seing a performance on DVD to actually being at a live show. Being there is so much better. What's also great is that even with songs they've played before they are tweaking arrangements. EBTRT sounds amazing on this leg. To me the setlist isn't as big of a deal as the actual performance and it's my opinion that they are performing better on this leg than 2009.

I am however ashamed that as I am not going to any shows, I am abandoning them in their time of crisis. I don't know how I will live with myself.

 

[bono_212]

Here's the thing. As a fan who first saw the band during Elevation, hearing EBTRT, HMTMKMKM, AIWIY, Stay and FREAKING Zooropa on this leg is incredible. Yeah, I've seen them on DVD but come on, being there is so much better. What's also great is that even with songs they've played before they are tweaking arrangements. EBTRT sounds amazing on this leg. To me the setlist isn't as big of a deal as the actual performance and it's my opinion that they are performing better on this leg than 2009.

I am however ashamed that as I am not going to any shows, I am abandoning them in their time of crisis. I don't know how I will live with myself.

It's ok TC, you've got the DVDs. You're set for life.

 

[LemonMelon]

I got Nicemans back....I think he's spot on. It sure is hard being a U2 fan who doesn't love everything they do. I think the 360 tour is boring, I can see most of these songs in one form or another on DVD.

I had no idea it was so easy to join the Blind Sheep. I did it accidentally.

 

[Niceman]

DVDs are fine, but I've seen 13 or more U2 shows since 1992 and most of these Achtung Baby songs have been played at ALL of them...

 

[trojanchick99]

It's ok TC, you've got the DVDs. You're set for life.

You're right. Watching boots of the shows on my iPod while squished in the subway and it will be just like I was there!

 

[bono_212]

You're right. Watching boots of the shows on my iPod while squished in the subway and it will be just like I was there!

Don't get too bored though, those same songs again and again would be enough to drive anyone mad. Zooropa? I've already heard the boot 20x.

 

[Niceman]

I don't think the fact that some fans are 12 years old is a good enough reason for U2 to re-play the tours of years gone by...

 

[theedgeu2]

U2's current set fucking rocks. This leg of the tour > everything after PopMart.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I think you've really answered your own question. There's no connection between 360 and No Line on the Horizon. Thus, it was never a tour about that album, so much as a show about itself and its stage. Therefore, they tailored the setlists a bit more towards achieving their goal, rather than promoting an album that, by the time the tour had even started, they'd about given up on.

i disagree with that... they played a lot of No Line for most of the first part of the tour. No Line went out after the back surgery and delayed dates.

 

[bono_212]

In comparison to other albums though? They really DIDN'T play that much of it.

 

[doctorwho]

Don't get too bored though, those same songs again and again would be enough to drive anyone mad. Zooropa? I've already heard the boot 20x.

Oh... Then I can only imagine how you must feel about Streets, WOWY, One, Even Better Than..., Pride, Ultraviolet, Breathe, NLOTH, GOYB, Magnificent, Crazy, MOS, Unknown Caller, Unforgettable Fire, Until the End of the World, Mysterious Ways, All I Want Is You, Beautiful Day, Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights, Stay, Miss Sarajevo, I Will Follow, Out of Control, New Year's Day,One Tree Hill, etc. Because you must have heard those boots 1000000x.

In comparison to other albums though? They really DIDN'T play that much of it.

They played 7 NLOTH songs early on. U2 also played 7 ATYCLB songs, 7 HTDAAB songs and I believe 7 Pop songs in their respective tours. AB did get more songs. But by those later albums U2 had more of a back catalog.