Which would you prefer- Teleprompter or Solid Shows?

[Partyslammer]

Quite honestly, if mixing up the setlists with Bono not screwing up whole verses of rarely played songs meant Bono (or even the whole band) using onstage teleprompters, as a fan, I'd take that tradeoff. While sometimes mistakes might make the show seem more spontanious and "human," many times it can be incredibly distracting and even ruin performances of individual songs.

Springsteen has been doing it since the '99 reunion tour and I don't think it's intrusive or anything. I just know that the band are limited in regards to changing their setlists around or at least adding in a rarely played song on the scale of say Pearl Jam or Springsteen because they simply can't memorize songs on short notice like some other bands who do this on a nightly basis.

I think U2 *wants* to mix up the set more often and they're certainly trying with the last few shows, but just can't to the degree of pulling out complicated, demanding songs like Unforgattable Fire, One Tree Hill, Kite, etc on a one-off basis because of their limitations as musicians, especially Bono when it comes to remembering old lyrics.

Discuss.........

T.B.

 

[U2@NYC]

I do not mind the teleprompter for a couple of songs... after all, that is all the variety that we normally get.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

they already have a teleprompter.


next.

 

[Partyslammer]

I do not mind the teleprompter for a couple of songs... after all, that is all the variety that we normally get.

You know, I've seen Bono read off of taped lyrics on his monitor in front of his mic many times and Larry uses a music cue sheet and setlist in plain view so I wouldn't think it should be such a big deal for them to use teleprompters unless it's some sort of misplaced matter of pride or ego, especially on The Edges' part. Especially when you consider they use a click track, offstage added keyboards and taped effects, I mean, come on, go the full monty!

T.B.

 

[ramblin rose]

But Bono already has a teleprompter, at least on this tour. You can see it in the pictures that people have taken from behind the stage and I noticed that he used it diligently when they did WGRYWH during Boston III.

 

[Niceman]

The best way to go, is most of the set is stable, but they mix up 2 or 3 songs a night. That way we get polished and also risky in a single night!

 

[Chizip]

i dont understand why Bono has so many problems with lyrics. he gets paid millions and millions of dollars to perform. people are spending hundreds of dollars to go to shows. you think he could take the time to be sure he knew all of the lyrics.

its getting to the point where its embarrassing where he has to dig through sheets of paper during the show to find lyrics to a song.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i dont understand why Bono has so many problems with lyrics. he gets paid millions and millions of dollars to perform. people are spending hundreds of dollars to go to shows. you think he could take the time to be sure he knew all of the lyrics.

its getting to the point where its embarrassing where he has to dig through sheets of paper during the show to find lyrics to a song.

come on chizip... bono is just a man who gets stage fright and needs to drink massive quantities of vodka to get over it.

leave him alone.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

i dont understand why Bono has so many problems with lyrics. he gets paid millions and millions of dollars to perform. people are spending hundreds of dollars to go to shows. you think he could take the time to be sure he knew all of the lyrics.

its getting to the point where its embarrassing where he has to dig through sheets of paper during the show to find lyrics to a song.

i dont think earning so much money should come into it, as headache said after all he is still human, its quite amazing how people forget stuff, look how many takes movie stars have to do just to get one line correct

 

[LJT]

Maybe it is a memory problem?

or maybe it is because he has so much else on the go..his head just isn't full of lyrics at the moment...more facts and figures and other info on Africa...its probably shoved a lot of lyrics out of his head

 

[U2Girl1978]

i dont understand why Bono has so many problems with lyrics. he gets paid millions and millions of dollars to perform. people are spending hundreds of dollars to go to shows. you think he could take the time to be sure he knew all of the lyrics.

its getting to the point where its embarrassing where he has to dig through sheets of paper during the show to find lyrics to a song.

I'd really like to see you perform on stage in front of thousands of people with the number of songs that they have. I mean really! It's really hard to remember lyrics to all the songs even though they've played them before. Whatever....

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

haha people are actually quoting me in their response to chizip like they think i'm serious

haha

i rule.

 

[angelordevil]

I really don't see what the big deal is....I'm actualy using a teleprompter at the moment to write this post!

*new paragraph*

And I think it's helping me greatly!
Good night Chicago!

*end*

 

[Chizip]

i dont think earning so much money should come into it, as headache said after all he is still human, its quite amazing how people forget stuff, look how many takes movie stars have to do just to get one line correct

but if you are charging people hundreds of dollars to go to your show dont you owe them your best performance? its not like walk on is some obscure song from the early 80's. its on their last cd and they played it at every show on their last tour. how long would it take to go over the lyrics and memorize them? an hour or two at the most? i dont think that is an unreasonable thing to ask of him.

 

[U2@NYC]

Bono is getting old... he is forgetting stuff.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

true, but if he is what he says he is and a very nervous person, then when someone is so nervous the mind goes to different places, as i say we could all say the same about movie stars, and other musicians who i am sure there are plenty of who forget lyrics etc,

personally i found the walk on thing funny as hell

anyway glad you sort of had your u2 feeling back

 

[Partyslammer]

I agree with the fact that Bono is "just human" and like many singers, just can't do instant recall of tons of lyrics to songs, even ones they perform regularly. As I mentioned previously, Springsteen relies hevaily on a teleprompter nowadays and I think the audince benefits greatly when Bruce can throw in solid performances of 5 - 10 different songs per night.

Also, i agree wishing U2 would throw in and out say 50% of a set every different night is asking way too much of these guys. While I don't care much for the set in Chicago night 2, I greatly respect the fact that they did a great job of switching out a fair number of songs between the two nights and rotating other semi regular tunes in unusual spots in the set.

T.B.

 

[Hallucination]

Axl Rose used telepromters that didn't bother me. I have no problem with it. But I mean if we know the words you'd think Bono could know the words. Actually I don't even care either way. If they had them that'd be great, if Bono forgets the words that's great too.

 

[angelordevil]

Bono's not 'old and forgetful'...that's not it. They're trying to reach a new level spontaneity in the band. Axver would be the expert on this, but I think they're stretching the limits of the standard u2 setlist, with a record number of previous songs included.

I blame Eddie Vedder, and his spontaneity influence the other night....but this is a good thing, in my opinion.

 

[U2@NYC]

Ok, so Bono is 'creatively' getting old...

 

[U2Girl1978]

Bono is getting old... he is forgetting stuff.

Oh no.

 

[Partyslammer]

but if you are charging people hundreds of dollars to go to your show dont you owe them your best performance? its not like walk on is some obscure song from the early 80's. its on their last cd and they played it at every show on their last tour. how long would it take to go over the lyrics and memorize them? an hour or two at the most? i dont think that is an unreasonable thing to ask of him.

To be honest, it's not just Bono who needs a lot of time to get a "new" song down for a show. The entire band has to work hard, maybe harder then most bands in their position to nail a song once they decide they're going to include it in a set. Plus, any visuals have to be worked out as well to enhance the perfomrance. This is why we rarely see a "full" version of a song make a mid tour debut at the drop of a hat. Discotheque was rehearsed and refined for several days straight before they included it in the set, same with the full version of Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.

On the other hand, a song like Desire, The First Time and most of the songs they play acoustically are very simple in that format and really don't take a lot of effort to "relearn" which is why most of the "surprise" tunes that pop up mid tour are almost always stripped down acoustic versions.

Which leads me to believe if we don't see a musically complicated, full version of a song like Unforgettable Fire at the beginning of a leg of a tour when the band have several days of rehearsals to fine tune the show, you won't see it suddenly make an appearance weeks into a tour.

T.B.

 

[Partyslammer]

To add to thsi, about the other band members, especially The Edge needing "help" remembering songs, look no further then the many botched versions of The Fly on this tour and The Elevation tour. I was just listening to Chicago 5/12/05 and once Edge gets into the solo, he's all over the map 'til almost the end of the song.

T.B.

 

[Utoo]

Folks, Bono's always had trouble with remembering lyrics, where he put things, where he has to be, etc. It's not age. It's not something that should or even can be remedied because he's charging $180 for a ticket. It's how he is & how he always has been. He's one of those creative, energetic people that has their head somewhere else all the time. Read the Unforgettable Fire. Read U2 At The End Of The World. Dozens of examples in there.

The only reason we know all the lyrics is that every time we sing along with a cd, we've got him singing in the background. Take out his voice & you'll probably only know the lyrics to half the songs you think you do.

The man has written so many songs, it's no wonder he can't remember every lyric. On top of that, realize that for each song, there were probably a dozen different versions of it while they were creating it. And listen to the Salome tapes---when he writes the lyrics, some come out of no where and fit, while others have to be worked on and changed and changed and changed. Hopefully, the right ones come out when on stage... Then, you want him to sing Dirty Day, Acrobat, Street Mission and I Threw A Brick--songs that he hasn't touched in years. This stuff just doesn't come out of nowhere. They'd have to rehearse that "new" stuff on top of keeping up with the current tour songs, traveling, soundchecking, and, God forbid, relaxing now and then.

Sure, he sang Walk On a few hundred times 4 years ago. So did I. I still mess up on that last part sometimes---even with Bono singing in the background.

 

[angelordevil]

I think it's pretty rock & roll of them to try new stuff in front of the audience. I wasn't around for the first part of their career, but from what I've read, these are bold new adventures for a band that has been very scripted, and yet, brilliant, throughout the years.

 

[kellyahern]

4 years ago. So did I. I still mess up on that last part sometimes---even with Bono singing in the background.

When I read about Bono messing up the last part of the lyrics of Walk On I thought it was funny .

Then I tried to remember the last part of Walk On without listening to it:

All that you measure
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All you create
All you . . . um . . . all that you wreck
All that you . . . um . . . steal something
Um . . . all you something else . . .

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

all that you measure
all that you make
all that you build
and all that you break
all that you fashion
all that you deal
all you count on two fingers
and all that you steal

hale hale... hale halelujah...

sprit is in the heart!

put your heart... put your heart in your soul
put your heart... put your heart in your soul
i got my heart in my soul
i got my heart in my soul
i got my heard in my soooooul



i remembered it and i'm drunk

 

[Utoo]

When I read about Bono messing up the last part of the lyrics of Walk On I thought it was funny .

Then I tried to remember the last part of Walk On without listening to it:

All that you measure
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All you create
All you . . . um . . . all that you wreck
All that you . . . um . . . steal something
Um . . . all you something else . . .

Exactly--I just did the same thing

 

[kellyahern]

At least I remember that it's "twinkle", not "sparkle", right rose?

 

[nurse chrissi]

At least I remember that it's "twinkle", not "sparkle", right rose?

I think that might be a form of brainwashing on Bono's part - yesterday I heard Vertigo on the radio and I caught myself singing sparkle