Opening concerts any good?

[mags]

I was wondering what the opening night in Brisbane would be like. Are opening shows any good or are they still warming up for the rest of the tour? Does the nervous energy of an opening show make it special?

Also does anyone know where I could check for an extra ticket for the Brisbane show on 7 Nov 2006?

 

[Neilz]

opening concerts are always special!

things might go wrong, but that means that the band is focused and maybe even nervous... at least no tourine the first night...

i've been to the european premiere of Popmart and it was great...

 

[bazza]

really they havent had too much time off...so they'll be in fine form. generally there are 'years' btwn tours - we only talking a few months

 

[bono_man]

After being initially skeptical, I did a bit of research into breaks between tours (U2: A Concert Documentry is great for these things!).

U2 have had breaks of this size in the past. Joshua Tree to Lovetown was about 8 months I think. The end of the War tour in Japan and start of the Under Australian Skies tour of 1984 was even longer I think.

Im sure the band will rehearse somewhere before (maybe Brisbane?). I was thinking they might even do a warm-up gig in a small venue somewhere...

The opening night will no doubt have its moments, but I reckon by Sydney 2 they will be in fine form!

Oh yeah! I am so fucking excited!

 

[Axver]

U2 have had breaks of this size in the past. Joshua Tree to Lovetown was about 8 months I think. The end of the War tour in Japan and start of the Under Australian Skies tour of 1984 was even longer I think.

Nope. The War Tour dates in Japan were late November 1983. The first UF Tour date, as part of Under Australian Skies, was on 29 August 1984, less than a year later.

The final JT Tour date was 20 December 1987. The first Lovetown Tour date was 21 September 1989, almost two years later.

U2 have never had a mid-tour break this long before. The previous gaps of this length were between tours. The longest previous mid-tour gap was on ZooTV; the third leg's final date was 25 November 1992, the fourth leg's first was 9 May 1993. U2 weren't too rusty then.

U2's opening nights are notoriously bad going back to the JT Tour. The first show of JT, Bono had lost his voice due to over-use in the dry desert air during rehearsals. The first Lovetown concert was rough, but good. Same can be said for ZooTV. The first Popmart show was infamous for its flaws. The first Elevation show, Bono fell off the stage. The first Vertigo show, Bono struggled to remember the lyrics (Zoo Station and The Fly being particularly bad).

However, I don't really think the curse of the opening night will strike this time around. It may be a nine month break, but the band will hopefully find it pretty easy to pick up where they left off in March. All of the songs have been adapted to the live settings; it's not like this is their first run-on.

 

[discothequeLP]

All of the songs have been adapted to the live settings; it's not like this is their first run-on.

with the exception of 'All My Life'

 

[ZooMacPhisto800]

After being initially skeptical, I did a bit of research into breaks between tours (U2: A Concert Documentry is great for these things!).

U2 have had breaks of this size in the past. Joshua Tree to Lovetown was about 8 months I think. The end of the War tour in Japan and start of the Under Australian Skies tour of 1984 was even longer I think.

Im sure the band will rehearse somewhere before (maybe Brisbane?). I was thinking they might even do a warm-up gig in a small venue somewhere...

The opening night will no doubt have its moments, but I reckon by Sydney 2 they will be in fine form!

Oh yeah! I am so fucking excited!

You call that research?

 

[Axver]

with the exception of 'All My Life'

I like your optimism.

 

[Nate Dogg]

The first Elevation show, Bono fell off the stage.

Besides this, the band were pretty well rehearsed, with the club dates prior to the tour. It wasn't the best U2 show ever, but I don't recall any major flubs...

 

[Axver]

Besides this, the band were pretty well rehearsed, with the club dates prior to the tour. It wasn't the best U2 show ever, but I don't recall any major flubs...

Just going off my memory of the bootleg, some of the songs/transitions weren't developed to the levels they were later on tour, notably Bad --> Streets.

Obviously, all Vertigo Tour segues have been developed, so assuming U2 don't radically change the set, Brisbane likely won't have any issues with anything not being fully developed.

 

[LMP]

I'm interested in what they'll do with the setlist, I was really digging some of the later South American sets.

Especially with All I Want is You closing, I hope Bono adds a Never Tear Us Apart snippet in there somewhere.

 

[Carek1230]

My 1st U2 live show was the opening show on the Vertigo tour. It was absolutely amazing. Unforgettable experience.

 

[bono_man2002]

The first Vertigo show, Bono struggled to remember the lyrics (Zoo Station and The Fly being particularly bad).

Correction, at least the first 5 Vertigo Shows.....

 

[adrball]

I would just love to go to an opening show. Always sharp around the edges but special and memorable I guess.

Don't think 9 months off and coming back to do the same show really will prove at all difficult to the band...I thinks everything will click very quickly back into place with a few rehearsals.