Elevation vs. Vertigo...which is the better tour?

[Hoodlem]

IMO Vertigo wins hands down.

- Better setlists
- More variety
- Bono sounds a lot better
- Better performances of songs
- The new material is better (HTDAAB)
- Better looking Stage with the curtains and especially the european setup (the "ellipse" has all the benefits of the "heart" but without all the cheesiness of being a "heart". I may be alone but the heart always came off as cheesy to me)
- The "Boy" songs and "Gloria"!
- Zoo Station/Zoo TV encore!
- 40 as closer (or Bad)
- Sunday Bloody Sunday sounds good again instead of that slowed down grandma version they played in 2001.
- No "New York" to kill the momentum of the show

The list goes on and on...

Ok, so tell me how wrong I am or agree if you like.!

 

[zoopop]

Vertigo for me too.

-Production is better, not too little, not too much
-Bono sounds better
-There were no acoustic sets
-More rarities, Zoo Station, The Fly, First Time, Boy songs, Gloria, Miss Sav.,
-Lately hasn't been happening that much, but the rotating of songs was interesting.

After seeing U2 in Chicago on the 1st leg, my wife told me how much more rocking the Vertigo show was than Elevation. Haven't told her about the setlist recently though and we see them next week

 

[Axver]

Yeah, I second everything favouring this tour.

 

[pacemaker]

Yeah, I second everything favouring this tour.

Especially about the Elevation SBS performance... Including Bono's dreeeeeadful Get Up, Stand Up tag. Ew.

 

[sv]

Both tours are really outstanding, but I'd still vote Elevation:

1. Both shows rocked, but there was more "soul" on Elevation. People routinely cried during Elevation shows, even before 9-11 - the acoustic set was really superb. Fall Leg of Vertigo is better than Spring, but I don't find it as poignant as Elevation.

2. Band used the heart a bit more on Elevation and Bono was more physically active - ran around the stage, etc. That's a minor point, really.

3. I never got bored during the Elevation set. On Vertigo, the intermission of Sunday and the entire Bullet are absolute momentum-killers and really put me to sleep. While I like the Geneva Conventions video, the timing of it also stops the momentum (which, perhaps, it is intended to).

4. I dispute the contention that there's more variety during Vertigo. Seems about the same to me. So far they've played about 43 original U2 songs in completion - on Elevation they ended up around 46. No doubt someone here can be more precise and correct me if I'm wrong. I think the frequency distribution of songs is approximately the same too.

5. The best single thing about Vertigo to me is the Boy songs, and most specifically the Electric Co. I just can't get enough of that one.

SV

 

[God Part III]

IMO Vertigo wins hands down.

- No "New York" to kill the momentum of the show

But a Sometimes instead...

New York is a great song, and it's the best live song from ATYCLB.

Still, Vertigo is the best tour.

 

[Chizip]

Especially about the Elevation SBS performance... Including Bono's dreeeeeadful Get Up, Stand Up tag. Ew.

I much prefer the Elevation Sunday Bloody Sunday to the Vertigo version. I watched the Slane Castle version the other day and was shocked at how much better it was. I think the Coexist speech in the middle of it now just kills it.

I think the new songs are better on the Vertigo Tour, but the old warhorses were better during the Elevation Tour.

 

[God Part III]

Both tours are really outstanding, but I'd still vote Elevation:


4. I dispute the contention that there's more variety during Vertigo. Seems about the same to me. So far they've played about 43 original U2 songs in completion - on Elevation they ended up around 46. No doubt someone here can be more precise and correct me if I'm wrong. I think the frequency distribution of songs is approximately the same too.

SV

You sure you're not counting snippets or something. I don't believe it. Axver, help me on this one. He can't be right.

Can he?

 

[u2wedge]

Technology-wise... Vertigo Tour, no question. I've seen other tours though where I feel there's been more passion and Bono, in particular, being more 'inside' the production.

The teleprompter, and Bono's inability to wean himself off of it this late in the tour, is somewhat surprising to me. He's got too many other things going on outside of music now to focus completely on the show. What I mean by that is that it'd be cool if between shows, the guys got together and practiced some rarely performed shows, etc. and they easily could if Bono didn't have to leave to attend political events and eat lunch with the president, etc. That's not minimizing the importance of the causes Bono champions, but it takes away from 'quality time', so to speak, with the band that could result in the Mofo's, and other songs that people have been begging for, being played. It's not like U2 tours every year like some other bands...

I truly, truly hope this is not U2's last tour, however if Bono's political clout continues to grow it may just be too much. I would hate to see a U2 show going from a Rock Star talking politics to a Politician singing a rock tune.

U2 rocks and there is nothing that compares to seeing them live, I am a lifelong fan... I just feel that there is change in the wind and I'm hoping that what the band preaches about having more albums and tours in them turns out to be true.

 

[Axver]

You sure you're not counting snippets or something. I don't believe it. Axver, help me on this one. He can't be right.

Can he?

I'm doing a detailed analysis of each tour right now, actually. I hope to have it done in a few days but no guarantees.

 

[sv]

No, I'm not counting snippets. Played in full:

1. I Will Follow
2. An Cat Dubh
3. Into the Heart
4. Out of Control
5. The Ocean
6. The Electric Co.

7. Gloria

8. Sunday Bloody Sunday
9. New Years Day
10. 40

11. Pride
12. Bad

13. Where the Streets . ..
14. I Still Haven't Found
15. With or Without You
16. Bullet
17. Running to Stand Still

18. All I Want Is You

19. Zoo Station
20. One
21. Until the End of the World
22. Wild Horses
23. The Fly
24. Mysterious Ways (I think)

25. The First Time

26. Discotheque

27. Beautiful Day
28. Elevation
29. Stuck in a Moment
30. Walk On

31. Vertigo
32. Miracle Drug
33. Sometimes . . .
34. Love and Peace or Else
35. City of Blinding Lights
36. All Because of You
37. Crumbs from your Table
38. Original of the Species
39. Yahweh

40. Party Girl
41. Fast Cars

I didn't count MLK, She's A Mystery, and In a Little While since only I verse was played.

OK, 41! That's perhaps one or two songs behind Elevation at the same point in the 2001 tour.

SV

 

[Chizip]

No, I'm not counting snippets. Played in full:

1. I Will Follow
2. An Cat Dubh
3. Into the Heart
4. Out of Control
5. The Ocean
6. The Electric Co.

7. Gloria

8. Sunday Bloody Sunday
9. New Years Day
10. 40

11. Pride
12. Bad

13. Where the Streets . ..
14. I Still Haven't Found
15. With or Without You
16. Bullet
17. Running to Stand Still

18. All I Want Is You

19. Zoo Station
20. One
21. Until the End of the World
22. Wild Horses
23. The Fly
24. Mysterious Ways (I think)

25. The First Time

26. Discotheque

27. Beautiful Day
28. Elevation
29. Stuck in a Moment
30. Walk On

31. Vertigo
32. Miracle Drug
33. Sometimes . . .
34. Love and Peace or Else
35. City of Blinding Lights
36. All Because of You
37. Crumbs from your Table
38. Original of the Species
39. Yahweh

40. Party Girl
41. Fast Cars

I didn't count MLK, She's A Mystery, and In a Little While since only I verse was played.

OK, 41! That's perhaps one or two songs behind Elevation at the same point in the 2001 tour.

SV

actually i think he was asking about the elevation tour's variety

 

[sv]

Just to review Elevation:

1. I Will Follow
2. Out of Control

3. Sunday
4. New Years Day
5. 40 (once, in a pre-show)

6. A Sort of Homecoming
7. Pride
8. Bad

9. Streets
10. I Still Haven't Found
11. WIth or Without you
12. Bullet
13. In God's Country

14. Desire
15. All I Want Is You
16. Angel of Harlem

18. Fly
19. Even Better than the Real THing
20. One
21. Until the End of the World
22. Mysterious Ways
23. Wild Horses (incomplete I think)

24. Stay

25. Discotheque
26. Staring at the Sun
27. Gone
28. Please
29. Wake Up Dead Man

30. Beautiful Day
31. Elevation
32. Walk On
33. Stuck in a Moment
34. Kite
35. In A Little WHile
36. Wild Honey
37. Peace On Earth
38. New York
39. When I Look at the WOrld (incomplete I think)

40. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
41. She's A Mystery
42. Sweetest Thing
43. Party Girl

I probably missed one or two . . .

SV

 

[KUEFC09U2]

both tours were great, but think vertigo wins it for me, the boy songs, the european stage, the HTAAAB songs, the war trilogy (some people dont like but i love, especially BTBS), and even the U.S. stage

but elevation still rocked and i still get chocked when watching slane

but maybe the milan DVD will even outclass the slane DVD, doubt it, but you never know

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Just to review Elevation:

1. I Will Follow
2. Out of Control

3. Sunday
4. New Years Day
5. 40 (once, in a pre-show)

6. A Sort of Homecoming
7. Pride
8. Bad

9. Streets
10. I Still Haven't Found
11. WIth or Without you
12. Bullet
13. In God's Country

14. Desire
15. All I Want Is You
16. Angel of Harlem

18. Fly
19. Even Better than the Real THing
20. One
21. Until the End of the World
22. Mysterious Ways
23. Wild Horses (incomplete I think)

24. Stay

25. Discotheque
26. Staring at the Sun
27. Gone
28. Please
29. Wake Up Dead Man

30. Beautiful Day
31. Elevation
32. Walk On
33. Stuck in a Moment
34. Kite
35. In A Little WHile
36. Wild Honey
37. Peace On Earth
38. New York
39. When I Look at the WOrld (incomplete I think)

40. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
41. She's A Mystery
42. Sweetest Thing
43. Party Girl

I probably missed one or two . . .

SV

you should really say what was "accoustic" as some of them are. also belive wake up dead man was only really a snippet, just as Ol' Man River was a snippet at the end of one, also your forgetting miss sarajevo from your list

 

[Lemonfix]

No, I'm not counting snippets. Played in full:

1. I Will Follow
2. An Cat Dubh
3. Into the Heart
4. Out of Control
5. The Ocean
6. The Electric Co.

7. Gloria

8. Sunday Bloody Sunday
9. New Years Day
10. 40

11. Pride
12. Bad

13. Where the Streets . ..
14. I Still Haven't Found
15. With or Without You
16. Bullet
17. Running to Stand Still

18. All I Want Is You

19. Zoo Station
20. One
21. Until the End of the World
22. Wild Horses
23. The Fly
24. Mysterious Ways (I think)

25. The First Time

26. Discotheque

27. Beautiful Day
28. Elevation
29. Stuck in a Moment
30. Walk On

31. Vertigo
32. Miracle Drug
33. Sometimes . . .
34. Love and Peace or Else
35. City of Blinding Lights
36. All Because of You
37. Crumbs from your Table
38. Original of the Species
39. Yahweh

40. Party Girl
41. Fast Cars

I didn't count MLK, She's A Mystery, and In a Little While since only I verse was played.

OK, 41! That's perhaps one or two songs behind Elevation at the same point in the 2001 tour.

SV

25.5. Miss Sarajevo

 

[Axver]

No, I'm not counting snippets. Played in full:

1. I Will Follow
2. An Cat Dubh
3. Into the Heart
4. Out of Control
5. The Ocean
6. The Electric Co.

7. Gloria

8. Sunday Bloody Sunday
9. New Years Day
10. 40

11. Pride
12. Bad

13. Where the Streets . ..
14. I Still Haven't Found
15. With or Without You
16. Bullet
17. Running to Stand Still

18. All I Want Is You

19. Zoo Station
20. One
21. Until the End of the World
22. Wild Horses
23. The Fly
24. Mysterious Ways (I think)

25. The First Time

26. Discotheque

27. Beautiful Day
28. Elevation
29. Stuck in a Moment
30. Walk On

31. Vertigo
32. Miracle Drug
33. Sometimes . . .
34. Love and Peace or Else
35. City of Blinding Lights
36. All Because of You
37. Crumbs from your Table
38. Original of the Species
39. Yahweh

40. Party Girl
41. Fast Cars

I didn't count MLK, She's A Mystery, and In a Little While since only I verse was played.

OK, 41! That's perhaps one or two songs behind Elevation at the same point in the 2001 tour.

SV

In A Little While was done in full in Toronto, so add that. You're also missing Miss Sarajevo. And yes, Mysterious Ways is right.

 

[Jim]

VERTIGO wins for me without a shadow of a doubt... and I loved ELEVATION

 

[CTU2fan]

Forgot "All Along the Watchtower" on the E-tour (actually AATWx2! in Denver). And "What's Goin' On?".

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

Elevation.

1. This is Elevation Part Deux. I don't like sloppy seconds.

2. Pride into Streets sucks.


Edit to say: I do like the somewhat varied setlists....as in the amount of songs play on the tour......I just don't feel that same thing this time around.

Plus, the lottery just about killed this tour for me. Nothing like standing outside for 15 hours to be by the soundboard.

 

[Chizip]

Elevation.

1. This is Elevation Part Deux. I don't like sloppy seconds.

2. Pride into Streets sucks.

 

[Axver]

Besides the fact they're playing in arenas and have an enclosed section in the GA area, I really don't see the similarities with Elevation.

And before you point to Edge's appearance or something silly and inconsequential like that, let me ask you: was the October Tour just Boy Part II, or War just Boy Part III?

 

[bono_man2002]

Elevations version of Streets I prefer so much more than the Vertigti-Encore tours....
Bad , All I Want Is You and Streets belong together....

This tour has more variation, but prehaps...(and no pun intended) The Elevation tour had more heart.

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

Besides the fact they're playing in arenas and have an enclosed section in the GA area, I really don't see the similarities with Elevation.

And before you point to Edge's appearance or something silly and inconsequential like that, let me ask you: was the October Tour just Boy Part II, or War just Boy Part III?

I see what you are saying....however, in my opinion, everything they changed sucks.

And, for the record, I don't have a track record of basing my opinions on Edge's shirts.

I'm quite serious about my post.....I think the lighting is a bit better but I think the light curtans are laughable at best. This is a band that brought us PopMart and ZooTV. They can do better then a re-used catwalk and some cool lightbulbs on strings. Some of the images are cool (i.e. the American flag, African flags, etc.) but the Walking Man is so 1997.

I'm also very serious about Pride into Streets. Its terrible. For me (and I can only speak for myself) Streets is one of the defining moments for me at a U2 show. Streets on Elevation was incredible. The most played song on my ipod is the Boston "Bad/40/Streets" medley. That is pure magic. Pride into Streets is not magic.

The lottery is terrible. There is no doubt in my mind why they did the lottery system (to rotate fans) and that sucks too.

 

[Chizip]

Besides the fact they're playing in arenas and have an enclosed section in the GA area, I really don't see the similarities with Elevation.

dude, even the designer of the tour admits they are pretty much the same thing

Having no previous indications of how the Vertigo staging would look, it was an exciting moment when I walked into the empty arena in San Diego to catch my first glimpse. I was actually taken aback by what first appeared to be something not a million miles away from the Elevation concept — a main stage, in front of which was a heart-shaped walkway, with both areas divided by a mosh pit or exclusive club environment for lucky fans.

This time, the walkway is an elliptical shape with some very clever LED integration, and although the decoration of the stage area is different, the basic idea — including four I-Mag video screens above the stage — has been retained. Jake Berry commented: "People have asked why it looks the same. But wasn’t Elevation one of the most perfect tours ever? It provided both a huge spectacle and an opportunity for fans to get very close to the band, by way of the center pit. I equate it to being like the manager of a soccer club. If you’re winning, don’t change your manager, and this was a winning formula, so don’t change the basic design."

Frankly, although I understood Berry's practicality, I was shocked by this remark as it flies in the face of U2's career-long mission of constant reinvention. In tandem with their recorded output, Zoo TV, PopMart and Elevation represented huge leaps in terms of their live presentation. By contrast, Vertigo appears to be a short hop.

I asked Willie Williams, U2's lighting guru since 1982 and now their overall show designer, to comment on this observation. He said: "It's a fair statement, but it’s interesting how some functional elements of a show are never questioned. We had exactly the same backline last time. We had the same PA last time, and yet no one’s saying, 'gosh, how dull, it’s repetition, have they run out of ideas?'"

We really questioned whether we should do something completely different, or whether we should use that format again. But, in the end, the only reason to not do it would be because we did it last time. And to put them in a less successful performance situation, for no good reason, just seemed churlish. Another major factor which prompted those decisions, was the fact that we are actually playing in many of the same buildings."

when the curtains of lights are not in use, it is pretty much the exact same production as elevation tour

 

[Chizip]

by the way, this quote:

"People have asked why it looks the same. But wasn’t Elevation one of the most perfect tours ever? It provided both a huge spectacle and an opportunity for fans to get very close to the band, by way of the center pit. I equate it to being like the manager of a soccer club. If you’re winning, don’t change your manager, and this was a winning formula, so don’t change the basic design."

has always bugged me and always will. the, it worked before, so lets do it again, attitude is everything u2 used to be against. it's called complacency. the zootv tour was the greatest tour of all time (thoug i know axver doesnt agree with that), yet they didnt do it again because it was so successful, they tried something new and daring. that's the u2 i fell in love with.

 

[Sken]

From watching numerous boots I would say Elevation is better, it just seemed more fun, Vertigo comes off as a bit too serious I think.

I like the boys when the are having fun, running a muck, and not taking themselves too seriously.

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

the, it worked before, so lets do it again, attitude is everything u2 used to be against. it's called complacency. the zootv tour was the greatest tour of all time (thoug i know axver doesnt agree with that), yet they didnt do it again because it was so successful, they tried something new and daring. that's the u2 i fell in love with.

I agree completely chip....it actually startled me the first time I read it. totally against everything i thought this band stood for....

 

[u2wedge]

by the way, this quote:

"People have asked why it looks the same. But wasn’t Elevation one of the most perfect tours ever? It provided both a huge spectacle and an opportunity for fans to get very close to the band, by way of the center pit. I equate it to being like the manager of a soccer club. If you’re winning, don’t change your manager, and this was a winning formula, so don’t change the basic design."

has always bugged me and always will. the, it worked before, so lets do it again, attitude is everything u2 used to be against. it's called complacency. the zootv tour was the greatest tour of all time (thoug i know axver doesnt agree with that), yet they didnt do it again because it was so successful, they tried something new and daring. that's the u2 i fell in love with.

What did you want them to do, get rid of the ellipse? That's a pretty big component of their show and allows twice as many people to get close to the band. If they took away the ellipse this tour you KNOW people would complain about that as well.

If PopMart worked, they'd not have done Elevation the way they did. ZooTV was awesome, in my opinion, but you could never repeat that without people saying "WTF?" even more than they are with this comparison between Vertigo and Elevation.

There IS a formula to the setlists though between the two tours and I've been thinking about this lately...

the COBL/Vert opener seems to be a viable replacement to Elev/BD opener on Elevation Tour.

This tour's 'Stuck/Kite' is 'SYCMIOYO/Miracle Drug'

This tour's 'New York' is 'LAPOE', both almost a pseudo "Bullet-esque" also this brings the drum kit to the tip a la Elevation as well.

This tour's 'Charlton Heston Vid' is 'Human Rights Vid'

Any other similarities relating to the general progression of the show?

(and I still hate the teleprompter.)

 

[Axver]

dude, even the designer of the tour admits they are pretty much the same thing



when the curtains of lights are not in use, it is pretty much the exact same production as elevation tour

The thing is, can't exactly the same be said for every single eighties tour?