U2 vs "reunion" Guns n Roses

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He wears a cork hat and always has a nosebleed seat.
You got the joke.
Yeah, the Pacific Amphitheater is in Costa Mesa, CA as part of the OC Fairgrounds. It's an outdoor shed with seating and a GA lawn that held maybe 15,000 people. In the 80's and 90's, the place had a pretty regular schedule of shows with (at the time) pretty big, current acts.

I liked this place a lot better than the nearby Irvine Meadows (which admittedly always booked much better acts) because it was a bit smaller, had better acoustics, much easier to get in and out of and even closer to where I live. During 1990-92, a friend lived right across the street from it so we could literally walk from her house with a pair of folding lawn chairs, a small cooler, hang out in the parking lot near the front gate and party and hear shows I'd otherwise never pay to see for free.

In the mid/late 90's neighbors petitioned and more or less got the place barred from hosting concerts due to noise complaints and traffic issues and it was more or less dormant until about 10 years ago when they were allowed to host a limited number of concerts with a greatly reduced seating capacity centered around the OC Fair season (which is now) which are mostly old b-list burnout classic rock acts.
You did not.
 
It may seem sac religious to say, but I’ve seen Springsteen a bunch of times, and the 3hr shows are better than the 4hr shows. After 10 minutes of “twist and shout,” you can get a little bored, especially in a stadium.

I suppose you have to had seen a 4 hour Springsteen show to be objective about it in that way. For the rest of us though, it's a life changing experience we never had. Jealous much.
 
Yeah, the Pacific Amphitheater is in Costa Mesa, CA as part of the OC Fairgrounds. It's an outdoor shed with seating and a GA lawn that held maybe 15,000 people. In the 80's and 90's, the place had a pretty regular schedule of shows with (at the time) pretty big, current acts.



I liked this place a lot better than the nearby Irvine Meadows (which admittedly always booked much better acts) because it was a bit smaller, had better acoustics, much easier to get in and out of and even closer to where I live. During 1990-92, a friend lived right across the street from it so we could literally walk from her house with a pair of folding lawn chairs, a small cooler, hang out in the parking lot near the front gate and party and hear shows I'd otherwise never pay to see for free.



In the mid/late 90's neighbors petitioned and more or less got the place barred from hosting concerts due to noise complaints and traffic issues and it was more or less dormant until about 10 years ago when they were allowed to host a limited number of concerts with a greatly reduced seating capacity centered around the OC Fair season (which is now) which are mostly old b-list burnout classic rock acts.



I saw Tears for Fears at the Pacific Amp in 2009. It was a good show. The venue is pretty small now.
 
I dont think bono and larry would hold up doing 3 hour shows over a period of time. U2 has never ever been a band that "jams" on songs or the instrument playing members of band doing a 5 min solo. Sorry if i missed it, but when has larry done a 5 min drum solo? (The end of 40 is not what im talking about lol) . Or a 5 min bass solo from adam , lol. Must of missed edge doing his eruption impression. Lol. Hes gonna hit the same note for 3 mins but the delay in his gear will carry it for another 3 , he'll be in the bathroom by the time the solo delay catches up with real time lol. As stated before, bruce and gnr can jam endlessly on songs and use solo breaks to rest. U2 dosnt work like that. Thier jamming is bono snippeting other songs and the transition from one song to another . Most notably streets. Thier 13 min version of bad is epic because of the emotion that goes into the performance and then out to the audience etc. And what bono might throw in there lyrically etc. Not because u2 is actully doing anything different musically.
 
I mean... Springsteen and E Street don't just go off on 5 minutes solid either, unless Kitty's Back is on the set.

I don't expect them to be playing 3 to 4 hour shows. But 25-27 song sets, 2.5 hours should be a fairly easy thing to pull off. That they fell off from that this tour so quickly is very disappointing.
 
Yea well grateful dead still doing 3+ hours and thier a good generation older . U2 just dosnt have it in them. If they really wanted to, i suppose if they added at least one more intermission break. And then a few songs thats just bono and edge. But then a couple songs where edge sings lead vocals and bono takes a break. The real trick is to find 2 songs where edge can leave and bono adam larry and the keyboard guy under the stage can do something without him. This should be the next setlist challenge.
 
Yea well grateful dead still doing 3+ hours and thier a good generation older . U2 just dosnt have it in them. If they really wanted to, i suppose if they added at least one more intermission break. And then a few songs thats just bono and edge. But then a couple songs where edge sings lead vocals and bono takes a break. The real trick is to find 2 songs where edge can leave and bono adam larry and the keyboard guy under the stage can do something without him. This should be the next setlist challenge.



I’ve always thought they should do this. Have Bono take a couple songs off in order to make the sets longer, with Edge taking over. It could be something like Seconds or Van Diemens Land, or something Bono sang on record but isn’t an essential track (something like In God’s Country). The problem is, Edge gets no breaks. He is the one member of U2 that MUST be onstage at all times. Sure, Adam could strum an acoustic while Bono sings a song, but Adam can’t sing backup. Bono can’t play guitar anymore, if he ever could before!
 
Edge dosnt really play on mlk right? . Im trying to think how else to get em offstage. Some song arranged for piano, or if they did a song like the wanderer. I dont really think edge is essential to that song . Plus keyboards can produce sounds that sound like guitars that might work in some way. Im sure thiers something that could be just done on keyboard . Do mlk, intermission, plus some other song without edge and thats 15 mins right there . Plus another intermission he gets a break.. if bono knows hes gonna talk for legit 3 mins during the opening synths of one, then edge can get a piss break in there. Lol.
 
I know that at least in the 80's, Edge played the keyboards during MLK. But on recent appearances during 360 and JT17, he did not play the keyboards. So that would give him a little bit of a breather. That's basically the only song I can think of that doesn't require Edge onstage.
 
It may seem sac religious to say, but I’ve seen Springsteen a bunch of times, and the 3hr shows are better than the 4hr shows. After 10 minutes of “twist and shout,” you can get a little bored, especially in a stadium.

I strongly believe U2 should play longer sets, and they should toss in a freebie before or after the encore — 2.5hrs is just about right. But length for the sake of length, meh.

Bruce is a great show but the freaky long shows could use some trimming, if not else for the yap of the singer (looking at Bruce and Vedder, here). Some of the best shows can easily be, and often are, done in 2+ hours.

U2 should play 3 hours because... ? So Larry can keel over, or Bono lose his voice more often ?
 
Bruce is a great show but the freaky long shows could use some trimming, if not else for the yap of the singer (looking at Bruce and Vedder, here). Some of the best shows can easily be, and often are, done in 2+ hours.

U2 should play 3 hours because... ? So Larry can keel over, or Bono lose his voice more often ?

... they charge a shit ton for tickets and want to give fans their money's worth?

... they have a 4 decade spanning catalog of great songs?


So they're healthy enough to play for like 20 more years, but if they tack on a half hour more of show time they're going to keel over and die?

And, uhhh... the idea that Bruce or Eddie Vedder talk more during shows, or have more theatrical filler, than Bono or U2 is fucking laughable.
 
They do give the fans their money's worth. By getting innovative stage design and having a great frontman. They're not PJ or Bruce, and they never were re: setlists or marathon shows. Deal with it.

Larry needs an hour of physio before *and after each show, and was, by his own words, "dead beat" at the time of first indoor leg of Vertigo tour. Maybe, just maybe, he can't do half hour more on a regular basis. Maybe, just maybe, they want to pace themselves given Bono's health episode.

Who set the bar for a great show at 2,5 anyway ? Have you never seen a 2 hour great show ?

Bruce or Vedder talk as much as Bono, easily. BTW one of which is busy rocking out on Broadway, while the other tours far less (and both haven't released new stuff in years). But go ahead and label the one with 2 albums and 3 tours in 4 years lazy.
 
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Vedder does not talk as much as Bono. Not even close. As someone who has listened and attended plenty of shows from both bands, it is simply factually incorrect to claim that Vedder talks - relatively speaking to the length of the show - as much as Bono. Solo shows are a different thing, but we're comparing Pearl Jam and U2 here (and talking during solo shows is a much more comfortable thing, since it fits far more to the overall atmosphere in my mind).

And I'm not an expert on Springsteen, but his shows with the E-Street Band (not the Broadway stuff), are not nearly as talky as Bono's incessant speechifying on this tour.
 
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Ironically (like raaaaaaiiin on your wedding day), at one of the 2 Pearl Jam shows I saw this year (Fenway 1 on 9/2) Vedder's longest talking episode during the show was about Bono (about him losing his voice).
 
They do give the fans their money's worth. By getting innovative stage design and having a great frontman. They're not PJ or Bruce, and they never were re: setlists or marathon shows. Deal with it.

Larry needs an hour of physio before *and after each show, and was, by his own words, "dead beat" at the time of first indoor leg of Vertigo tour. Maybe, just maybe, he can't do half hour more on a regular basis. Maybe, just maybe, they want to pace themselves given Bono's health episode.

Who set the bar for a great show at 2,5 anyway ? Have you never seen a 2 hour great show ?

Bruce or Vedder talk as much as Bono, easily. BTW one of which is busy rocking out on Broadway, while the other tours far less (and both haven't released new stuff in years). But go ahead and label the one with 2 albums and 3 tours in 4 years lazy.

Horse shit.

They do not speak as much as Bono. Bruce more or less talks at length once - during his local food bank plug before the encore. He stopped doing long winded stories as song intros probably about 30 years ago.

Pearl Jam's members are prolific in their touring and releasing of material. While PJ is not constantly releasing new songs themselves, the combined members of the band are recording and touring non stop.

You also can't have it both ways... you can't argue that U2 are healthy enough to continue for 20 more years while also arguing that they're not healthy enough to last for more than 2 hours on stage without dropping dead.

Does U2 give fans their money's worth? Historically yes, they do. But this tour literally recycled half of the last tour, while recycling the same stage with a few minor technological upgrades. So the "what will they do to top themselves" thing went away this tour - which eats in to the value of their tickets.

I'd be fine with them keeping this setup forever - but at that point they need to open up the catalog a bit more to keep that ROI high.


Oh - and if you think playing 197 shows in 14 months is "lazy" simply because it's all at the same venue? Yea. No.
 
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Horse shit.

They do not speak as much as Bono. Bruce more or less talks at length once - during his local food bank plug before the encore. He stopped doing long winded stories as song intros probably about 30 years ago.

Pearl Jam's members are prolific in their touring and releasing of material. While PJ is not constantly releasing new songs themselves, the combined members of the band are recording and touring non stop.

You also can't have it both ways... you can't argue that U2 are healthy enough to continue for 20 more years while also arguing that they're not healthy enough to last for more than 2 hours on stage without dropping dead.

Does U2 give fans their money's worth? Historically yes, they do. But this tour literally recycled half of the last tour, while recycling the same stage with a few minor technological upgrades. So the "what will they do to top themselves" thing went away this tour - which eats in to the value of their tickets.

I'd be fine with them keeping this setup forever - but at that point they need to open up the catalog a bit more to keep that ROI high.


Oh - and if you think playing 197 shows in 14 months is "lazy" simply because it's all at the same venue? Yea. No.

Vedder and Bruce talk plenty :shrug:
PJ hasn't released an album since LB. They, yeah, tour annualy, but nowhere near what U2 has in the last three years.

20 year debate happened pre current intermission in the show. What makes you think they *can do 2.5 hour shows ?
It's the same tour stage and some of the same songs because , y'know, SOI and SOE are sister albums. Still innovative stage design. The difference in the setlist now is considerable since all of SOI went out and AB got in. They added a new song in the set ... 2 or 3 shows before the end of tour.

Residencies are lazy, yes.
 
Blah blah blah

Since lightning bolt PJ have released 4 side projects, toured every year but one, and toured Temple of the dog, Soundgarden and Eddie solo. But yea, they're being quite lazy.


And oh my word! U2 added a new song 3 shoes.before the end of the tour?! Woah! That's unheard of in music history!
 
you can't argue that U2 are healthy enough to continue for 20 more years while also arguing that they're not healthy enough to last for more than 2 hours on stage without dropping dead.

One could argue that the only way that they could continue for 20 years is if they did limit themselves to two hours a night.

No incongruity there.

I don't doubt they will continue if they can. Outside of a greatest hits tour they won't be able to pack a stadium anymore. but If their ego can handle fewer shows in major markets (L.A. & Chicago) and fewer sold out shows . . . they will continue awhile longer if possible.
 
I don't know about the USA and other markets but they certainly could sell out a UK stadium tour in the summer.

In my opinion U2 should actually shorten their show to 2 hours and just give us a good 2 hours. I cannot see how they can play 3 hours and keep the quality up.

I do understand people want long shows - particularly because of ticket prices.

I've seen the 3 other bands mentioned here all in the past few years GnR, Springsteen and Pearl Jam and I think its fair to say out of all of them U2 or Bono certainly is the one that struggles the most shall we say as the show goes on so I don't see a 3 hour show happening.

I also agree with another post that very long shows like Springsteen can start to drag on after 3 hours..........!
 
Axl has a microphone on the side of the stage that goes into the musicians' monitors to let them know when he's ready to come back out from breaks.

So why can GNR do a 3 1/2 hour setlist?

Slash & Duff's ability to jam and extend any song in their arsenal.

The setlist is constructed in a way where Axl can get long oxygen breaks during solos/between songs.

GNR hasn't changed their setlist once in two years because its constructed in a way to help Axl's voice throughout the show.

I saw GNR twice the passed 2 years in Chicago and their arena show had no opening act and played passed curfew. - AND IT ROCKED!

With all of this being said, I do not suggest this for U2.

This forum will be screaming armageddon the minute Bono goes for oxygen between songs.
 
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