jick
Refugee
Back in the JT Tour in `87 and as early as April, U2 were already soundchecking One Tree Hill (minus the vocal). But Bono never sang it on the earlier shows because the memory of Greg Caroll's death was still very fresh in his mind and he would not be able to sing the song.
During the Zoo TV Tour, U2 never did Acrobat. There was a rumor (or was it confirmed?) that Bono didn't want to sing it because it was too personal for him and he'd have a hard time telling people that he does one thing and says something else.
During Elevation, Bono's song for his daughters was Kite. It was a personal song. It didn't get played for the first few shows until Phoenix I think.
Nowadays, in Sometimes You Can't Make It - Bono gets too emotional and chokes somewhere in the song - making him have problems singing the falsetto part "best you can do is to fake it". This diminishes the aural clarity, sound quality, and faithfulness to the original of the song.
The rumored setlists floating around also don't contain A Man And A Woman. Bono was quoted as saying "I shake when I sing it. It obviously touches a nerve." Perhaps this is why he is not singing it this time?
The setlists to date also don't contain Original Of The Species. I remember one interview with the Edge saying that the song reminded him of his daughter and the playback of the song was the last time he cried.
Another song, One Step Closer To Knowing, looks like it may not be played. And this is another song about Bono's dad.
There is an obvious pattern in all of the above. If the song is too emotional for U2, they won't play it. So in the end, the big loser is the U2 fan. Bono's emotional attachment to his songs greatly sacrifices U2's setlist felxibility as well as their actual performance quality (Bono choking on the falsetto of Sometimes).
I think U2 should take a detached perspective. They should approach emotionally challenging songs in a cold emotionless manner so that they can play all of them and not just limit their options. They shoudn't shortchange their fans.
Cheers,
J
During the Zoo TV Tour, U2 never did Acrobat. There was a rumor (or was it confirmed?) that Bono didn't want to sing it because it was too personal for him and he'd have a hard time telling people that he does one thing and says something else.
During Elevation, Bono's song for his daughters was Kite. It was a personal song. It didn't get played for the first few shows until Phoenix I think.
Nowadays, in Sometimes You Can't Make It - Bono gets too emotional and chokes somewhere in the song - making him have problems singing the falsetto part "best you can do is to fake it". This diminishes the aural clarity, sound quality, and faithfulness to the original of the song.
The rumored setlists floating around also don't contain A Man And A Woman. Bono was quoted as saying "I shake when I sing it. It obviously touches a nerve." Perhaps this is why he is not singing it this time?
The setlists to date also don't contain Original Of The Species. I remember one interview with the Edge saying that the song reminded him of his daughter and the playback of the song was the last time he cried.
Another song, One Step Closer To Knowing, looks like it may not be played. And this is another song about Bono's dad.
There is an obvious pattern in all of the above. If the song is too emotional for U2, they won't play it. So in the end, the big loser is the U2 fan. Bono's emotional attachment to his songs greatly sacrifices U2's setlist felxibility as well as their actual performance quality (Bono choking on the falsetto of Sometimes).
I think U2 should take a detached perspective. They should approach emotionally challenging songs in a cold emotionless manner so that they can play all of them and not just limit their options. They shoudn't shortchange their fans.
Cheers,
J
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