MERGED->What is wrong with Vertigo 2005?+Bono's singing. hmmm+Bono, your killing me

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really, an adult-contemporary soccer-mom album? huh?

is it just that you think SBS and Streets can no longer have any "meaning"? or that somehow they failed to infuse it with said for you?
My experience of 'those old warhorses' was this. Wow, amazing how vital these feel live (it was my first u2 concert, so that was undoubtedly a factor)! Wow, these are truly great songs.
Wow, when I first heard these all those years ago, they meant something else. They called up images of latin america, of northern ireland, of struggles I was out there protesting about...but now, now that I'm a middle-aged mom (yeah, my kid plays soccer too dammit!) it's a different venue for these struggles...it's civil wars in africa instead of in ireland (not that that one's wholly resolved, of course), it's raining bullets on civilians in iraq and not nicaragua.
And that 'self-serving' stuff is Bono and U2 sharing that with us. It might be harder for us to feel 'one' with the struggle in Sierra Leone or Rwanda or Sudan or any number of places in a continent so ravaged by problems than it was back then for us to feel the sentiment behind the songs...but I managed to let myself try during the show. I think that's what Bono's doing, trying to share that idea...

And that's what's hard to stage maybe here, because a lot of the Vertigo songs are very personal and have a looking back on life feel, not the yearning of prior days.
I liked the Zooset portion a ton myself, but that stuff was so different, as delicious as the fly and all that is...
the vertigo work strips away the irony and is very ...can't really find a good word...sincere?
anyway, cheers all!
 
corianderstem said:


No, that was ATYCLB.

:wink:
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Actually, it's both albums. If you don't think that U2 was aiming for AOR with the new album, take another listen to just about every damn song except LAPOE or possibly Yahweh (religious singles don't usually sell).
 
djerdap said:
Nothing is wrong. The negative reviews from U2tours.com are far from objective. They are written by men who had been to 20+ shows who have expectations so high they expect the Second Coming.
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What is an "objective" review, anyway? Whether your a longtime fan who is disappointed by the band's lack of passion on Vertigo, or a U2-obsessed fanatic like yourself who believes the band can do no wrong, everyone has an opinion. Therefore, there is no such thing as objectivity - only subjectivity.

Maybe, just maybe, the ever-increasing number of bad (or slightly disappointed) reviews on U2 sites is indicative that there are problems with the tour....after all, we don't all live inside the protective bubble that is U2 Feedback, where everything is the BEST SHOW EVER!!!, or THAT WAS THE GREATEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!!!!!
 
I think HTDAAB is more rock-y than ATYCLB and therefore AOR instead of MOR ... but what do you want them to be, actually? I'm not familiar with all of the abbreviated categories. Is there a set "slot" where you want U2 to be?

I think we're all coming to terms with the fact that U2 is an evolving band ... some of us are willing and eager to take the trip along with them, but not everyone is into it, and that's cool.

But all the arguing (and not from you, but what I've been seeing in general) about what fans think U2 should be doing isn't going to change anything. They're going to do what they want to do. Once a bands stops doing what it wants to do, they get bored. I don't think any of us want that.

I certainly wouldn't mind if they wanted to try something more along experimental lines again (let's face it - I'd be thrilled), but I have to admit that I'm really glad I like the newer stuff along with the older stuff.

Maybe, just maybe, the ever-increasing number of bad (or slightly disappointed) reviews on U2 sites is indicative that there are problems with the tour
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I tend to think of it more as growing awareness of places to talk about your concert experiences online. Five years ago, the internet was certainly hopping, but the public's knowledge of the internet and what you can do or find on it has grown exponentially.
 
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I tend to think of it more as growing awareness of places to talk about your concert experiences online. Five years ago, the internet was certainly hopping, but the public's knowledge of the internet and what you can do or find on it has grown exponentially. [/B][/QUOTE]


I agree with your assertion in that the internet has taken away the element of surprise when attending a U2 show. For Elevation, which was only 4 years ago, I had no freaking idea what they might play when I stepped into the arena. Everything was a surprise. Now everybody knows what the band will play, what snippets go where, what Bono says everynight, the cellphones, the confetti, Larry playing keyboard, etc...

I think that taking away the surprise factor has a negative impact on one's concert experience. I do firmly believe that the band's overall performance and the setlist isn't as good as the last tour, but the internet is only re-inforcing this point.
 
Oh, I agree with you there, for sure.

Part of me loves being able to follow along with the tour, and part of me misses the element of surprise that comes with hearing a bootleg.

I would have added "or seeing a show," but I have to admit - I loved all three shows I've seen so far, even though I pretty much knew what I'd be seeing and hearing.
 
I really tried not to follow the setlists on the tour before the Vancouver concerts, but curiosity got the better of me...
 
corianderstem said:
But all the arguing (and not from you, but what I've been seeing in general) about what fans think they should be doing isn't going to change anything. They're going to do what they feel they want to do. Once a bands stops doing what it wants to do, they get bored. I don't think any of us want that.

I certainly wouldn't mind if they wanted to try something more along experimental lines again, but I have to admit that I'm really glad I like the newer stuff along with the older stuff
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I agree heartily...
I like the new stuff along with the old stuff.
I think surely if someone's walking into the Vertigo tour show and doesn't really like HTDAAB, or think it's cookie-cutter or crap, it's going to affect the concert experience in a significant way.
 
What is wrong with Vertigo 2005??

Ah, I find myself saying the same thing. I too feel like there is something missing from the Vertigo tour. I saw them in Chicago May 10, Bono birthday and I though it was great show but it didn’t blow me away like the Elevation show. I can’t say it was well it was your first u2 concert because nothing really beats your first, Popmart was my first one and just watching ZooTv Sydney blows me away every time I watch it and that’s on video too.

What I felt is missing is u2 takes on a roller coaster ride with are emotions; we laugh and cry and cheer and cheer really loud, and it seems u2 plays the right song at the right time, and I don’t think they are doing that this time.

On the last tour we got UTEOTW we got it once so far this tour but will it stay?. It is one of the pick me rock songs and somehow need to be there. The other big one on the Elevation tour was Bad seg-wayed into AIWIY and then seg-wayed into a full effect of WTSHNN with a big blast of red lights rolling the panicle of the show. I know we don’t want the exact same songs as the elevation tour Streets has to stay but u2 are masterful enough to get something working. An example would we be the Fly on the Elevation tour it had whole new intro .
The vertigo stage is cool and all but if I remember they turned on the arena lights red but didn’t seem to have the same effect that it should have. I not sure if they used the stage lights racing around the stage during streets. Maybe if they used red stage lights racing building speed as the streets builds the sounds that would be cool.

For me some songs are not working like BTBS. It just doesn’t seem like there is enough power for this song because they slowed the song down so that Bono can sing the snippet for Hand That Built America and end it. It is a neat that edge plays it bluesy but over all I think this song need to be played more powerful.

Another song for me at least is Pride, I feel it does not work with Streets and the song after is One doesn't work either they should just end the set with streets and move One somewhere else along with pride. Like I said before there need to be a proper seg-way for this song.
These few changes could be the differences.

Another Though is.

Maybe that’s not what there going for maybe something different this. Someone brought this to my attention is that maybe they are going with a theme route this time. A Block of new songs, a ZooTv set. African awareness set and a Boy set. U2 don’t like to be repetitive.
It’s not necessary bad but different. Personally when I make u2 cd I make them how one song flows into the next getting that roller coaster feeling and really great cd. But on the other hand someone made me a cd based on a theme telling a story of u2 songs.

Just some thoughs
 
What's wrong with the Vertige tour?

I don't think they have confirmed any Australian dates yet.

Bummer!

I reckon that all you people who at least have an opportunity to see the show in your own country should be happy. lol

At this rate, I may only ever get to see the DVD.
 
You know, those of you who insist on living in the past are really annoying as fuck.

"Oh, the band is old now and they suck." "The band doesn't have the passion they used to have when they were 25 and so was I."

Whatta load of horseshit. Bands evolve and change. I'm not saying that they're good for a bunch of 45-year-olds, either. I'm saying they're GOOD, godammit. I am so sick of people wanting U2 to be like they used to be. Well, they're not. Fucking deal with it. You're not like you used to be either. Or maybe you still are and that's the problem. Maybe you haven't grown any in the last 20 years; maybe you're still stuck in the past.

Jesus. The man's daughter is sick with a disease that could be fatal. So they're a tad distracted. It's still a great show full of incredible music. You voluntarily paid too much money for your tickets. If you think the shows you've seen so far suck, then sell your fucking tickets on ebay and stew at home, listening to your old bootlegs of when they used to be good. :rolleyes:
 
martha said:
You know, those of you who insist on living in the past are really annoying as fuck.

"Oh, the band is old now and they suck." "The band doesn't have the passion they used to have when they were 25 and so was I."

Whatta load of horseshit. Bands evolve and change. I'm not saying that they're good for a bunch of 45-year-olds, either. I'm saying they're GOOD, godammit. I am so sick of people wanting U2 to be like they used to be. Well, they're not. Fucking deal with it. You're not like you used to be either. Or maybe you still are and that's the problem. Maybe you haven't grown any in the last 20 years; maybe you're still stuck in the past.

Jesus. The man's daughter is sick with a disease that could be fatal. So they're a tad distracted. It's still a great show full of incredible music. You voluntarily paid too much money for your tickets. If you think the shows you've seen so far suck, then sell
your fucking tickets on ebay and stew at home, listening to your old bootlegs of when they used to be good. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Testy, are we?

1) It is fair to compare different eras of the band's evolution.
2) Talent sometimes withers with age, and there is no shame in that.
3) I don't doubt the man is distracted. Perhaps he should be at home with his family instead. By going out on tour in this state, the man is shortchanging both his family and his fans.
4) Yes, we voluntarily paid big money for tickets, but in all fairness, we expected better. I paid the same amount last tour, and went away ecstatic.
5) You seem to be upset because other fans are not willing to lower their expectations as you have so obviously done. Some of us don't want the band to turn into a MOR nostalgia act, like The Who or Stones.
 
Aren't we all tired yet of trying to convince each other that our own opinions are fact?

Some of us love the tour. Some of us are disappointed.

For the love of pete, maybe it's time to agree to disagree and just LET IT GO.

Not that it'll ever happen. Fifteen more threads devoted to bitching about the tour / defending the tour will pop up in the next week.

But I think I'm done.
 
starvinmarvin said:

5) You seem to be upset because other fans are not willing to lower their expectations as you have so obviously done. Some of us don't want the band to turn into a MOR nostalgia act, like The Who or Stones.
Click to expand...

I have not lowered my expectations. I was blown away by the three Vertigo shows I've seen.

I've seen other tours and this is the best one yet.

The last two albums weren't all that I wanted them to be either. But I'm a fan, so I don't spend my time bitching and complaining. I spend my time listening and enjoying. The band doesn't owe me a damn thing.
 
I came in here to post something else, but Martha pretty much just said what I was going to say ... although I don't think this is the best tour yet. But hell - I enjoyed myself a LOT at the three shows I've seen.

I thought Zoo TV was a better tour, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy this one.

Anyway. This thread has had some good discussion, so I hope we can keep that up, rather than it dissolving into "OMG this tour sux" / "No, it rawks, U suk!"

My last post was a knee-jerk reaction to the anger I saw in Martha's previous post.
 
Bono, your killing me

I love the man but how many times is he gonna mess up the opening line to City of Blinding Lights.

Bono, if you're reading this, which I presume your not (rightfully so, you should be resting your back) the opening line to the song is as follows:

The more you see the less you know

He has messed up the first line so many times. It was understandable when Bono messed up the line in Brooklyn and then again in San Diego, but half way throught the tour he continues to mess it up, most recently, 5-12-05 - Chicago.

Its just very frustrating and a very noticeable mistake. It ruins the fantastic almost 2 minute intro to the song with that opening line mistake.
 
Maybe he's decided to make it a permanent change.

I still haven't gotten over the fact that he continues to say "sparkle" in instead of "twinkle" during Vertigo.
 
ramblin rose said:
Maybe he's decided to make it a permanent change.

I still haven't gotten over the fact that he continues to say "sparkle" in instead of "twinkle" during Vertigo.
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shocking, i bet you cant sleep after that? lol :)
 
I'm not sure about the permanent change. At the 5-12-05 Chicago show Bono starts sings the line "the more you know the less you know" (i'm not an english major but that can't be right).
 
Guys, if you were singing night after night, wouldn't you probably forget the words? I would and I still do. I listen to U2 songs from way back in the day, that I know and I still mess up the words. It could also be because I have smoked so much weed in the past , that my brain is fried with two pieces of bacon.
 
It's his prerogative to switch words if he wants, and maybe he just forgets - he's probably really tired from touring of course...but hey I forget things all the time...
of course when he changes things it throws us all off as we're singing along :huh: lol
 
He's improvising. I like that he's not singing the same thing night after night. It shows that he's really getting into the songs instead of just mechanically performing them. I don't think he's forgetting at all.
 
It's always interesting to see people's opinions, but that after all is what they are, just opinions. The only thing that can be negative about them, is if someone is not prepared to accept someone else's opinions. And when I say "opinions", I don't mean off the cuff comments like "they were shit" or "they've sold out" - I mean someone actually identifying and giving a reason for their grievance.

It's a shame that some threads can and do degenerate into slanging matches, but then we can become defensive very easily when someone disagrees with us - no matter what the subject. I can understand people not feeling the same way they did on the Zoo tour, or Popmart, or Elevation, because just as the band changes - so do we.

What excited us 10 years ago may not be our "thing" now, but that's ok and I think U2 are well aware that some fans will have left the journey in the last 10-20 years. I think it's fair to say that as U2 continue to change, fans will go - however, they will also pick up new ones and they have to cater for them too.

I know there's been criticism of setlists, but you just can't create a setlist that absolutely everyone will enjoy. Bono has changed lyrics or just forgotten them on occasion too, but hell, he wrote them and I guess he's pretty much allowed that latitude. Some have said the passion isn't there, but is it the band or their perception of the band that's the problem? And even if they have occasionally screwed up, how many people have gone thru a week or month at work when they didn't have an "off day"?

Will I enjoy Vertigo in Glasgow next month? Yeah I'm sure I will. Will I feel the same way about it as the previous tours? Who knows?

I'm looking forward to finding out.

PS Bet you I'll still cry if they play WOWY tho! :wink:
 
Hawkfire said:
The only thing "wrong" with the Vertigo tour is that it inevitably is going to go head to head with U2's previous tours and sadly, the comparison isn't a good one for Vertigo.

The fact is U2 is touring behind a AOR adult-contemporary made-for-radio soccer-mom friendly mid-tempo middle-age mass consumer album. The music on HTDAAB is capable and competent, but the U2 of 1980-1998 wouldn't have put out product that was merely capable and competent, it also had to be CHALLENGING and expanding the band's own BOUNDARIES. The worse offender on HTDAAB is the trite cliche and deliberately vague lyrics that read as if Bono wrote them in about 2 weeks time.

So when you have a show bogged down with 7 or 8 tunes like this, the pace/energy invariably lags (need proof? witness the "Beer Rush" during Miracle Drug). The decision to include some real oldies I very much enjoy, but the "warhorses" portion of the set (Bullet/Pride/SBS/and amazingly even Streets) are all very tired and don't have anything on their previous incarnations this go around. Listen to the Bullet on the Stay single for what Bullet sounded like when it MEANT something. Watch UABRS again at Red Rocks when SBS wasn't just a sing-along. Any incarnation of the incomparable Streets was THE high point of a U2 show, I was shocked how limp the Vertigo version is. If the band is going to put absolutely no effort into these songs, they should just put them out of their misery and retire them.

The heavy-handed preachiness and awkward "United Nations"/cell phone crap further undermines the band and that whole segment is contrived and appears self-serving.

Thankfully, last Thursday after all the above U2 came out for encores and absolutely ROCKED and played like they CARED (Zoo set, WOWY, epic version of BAD) that totally salvaged the show for this viewer.

I was at Slane, I have seen the band countless times in many venues, and yeah you're darn right I have SUPER HIGH expectations every time U2 takes the stage. They didn't fully meet those expectations, and I don't think my expectations are unreasonable. I hold U2 to a very high standard - a standard they themselves have set.

Vertigo simply doesn't meet those standards. Does it mean its a bad show or one not worth seeing? Absolutely not. But are we on the slippery slope toward the Rolling Stones, part II??? I fear very much we are.
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Amen. And no, no one can have my tickets.
 
marths post sums it all up for me imo, how can 2 months into a tour people can say "it wont be as good as the last tours" thats one of the most stupid comments, 2 months into a tour and people are saying that? look how long popmart took to evolve, and vertigo is already streets ahead of that
 
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