DevilsShoes
War Child
This is something I've felt quite alot over the last two tours (although less so with Vertigo), that the band have become slightly less daring and adventurous on stage.
The unpredictability of U2 as a live act has always been one of the key reasons for my fascination with them, the feeling that on stage a song could quite literally go anywhere and take on a totally different quality and life of its own has, for me, always been one of the most exciting prospects of being a fan. As we all know, on tour a song can take on a whole different variety of incarnations from night to night depending on how its performed, sometimes its energetic, sometimes desperate, sometimes euphoric sometimes even thoughtful and sensitive. Sometimes its all those things at the same time. This is part of what makes being a fan so interesting, I've heard countless versions of Bad, WOWY, Streets and AIWIY but no two performances are ever exactly alike.
When I think back to the eighties tours the first thing I always think of is how Bad transformed from this one dimensional mood peice on the album to this multi-layered epic showstopper on tour. Streets underwent similiar changes, becoming something far more spine-tingling and transcendent on stage. WOWY, Desire, AIWIY, BTBS all had long, dynamic solo's and unexpected snippets. The Lovetown tour kind of represents the peak of this spontaneity, when setlists were in constant fluctuation and performances could take on wildly different forms from night to night. You never quite knew what you would get.
The nineties were great too. Although ZOO TV had a 'script' and was more structured, the tour still had that sense of 'anything could happen', and performances could and often did go to some exciting and unexpected places. MW was transformed pretty radically, UTEOTW was far more intense and angrier, The Fly was more direct and powerful and Love Is Blindness was much starker. Popmart was also fantastic, Mofo was sharper and more frenetic, LNOE really unleashed itself, Discoteque was rockier and of course Please took on a life of its own and became so much more compelling.
So maybe this is really about reworking songs for a live situation. For me the songs on the last two albums didn't really develop all that much on stage. BD, SIAM, Elevation, Kite, New York, Vertigo, Sometimes, Miracle Drug, OOTS, and ABOY were all pretty similiar to their studio versions and were less interesting to me. I was pleased the band were more changeable with setlists during Vertigo but I felt the songs could have been re-explored and taken to new places as well. I think my favourite moments of Vertigo were those fantastic versions of Kite, U2 going back to being daring and unexpected, this is the kind of reworking I would have liked to have seen more of with the Bomb songs (and something I hope for on the next tour).
Well those are my feelings. What do you think?
The unpredictability of U2 as a live act has always been one of the key reasons for my fascination with them, the feeling that on stage a song could quite literally go anywhere and take on a totally different quality and life of its own has, for me, always been one of the most exciting prospects of being a fan. As we all know, on tour a song can take on a whole different variety of incarnations from night to night depending on how its performed, sometimes its energetic, sometimes desperate, sometimes euphoric sometimes even thoughtful and sensitive. Sometimes its all those things at the same time. This is part of what makes being a fan so interesting, I've heard countless versions of Bad, WOWY, Streets and AIWIY but no two performances are ever exactly alike.
When I think back to the eighties tours the first thing I always think of is how Bad transformed from this one dimensional mood peice on the album to this multi-layered epic showstopper on tour. Streets underwent similiar changes, becoming something far more spine-tingling and transcendent on stage. WOWY, Desire, AIWIY, BTBS all had long, dynamic solo's and unexpected snippets. The Lovetown tour kind of represents the peak of this spontaneity, when setlists were in constant fluctuation and performances could take on wildly different forms from night to night. You never quite knew what you would get.
The nineties were great too. Although ZOO TV had a 'script' and was more structured, the tour still had that sense of 'anything could happen', and performances could and often did go to some exciting and unexpected places. MW was transformed pretty radically, UTEOTW was far more intense and angrier, The Fly was more direct and powerful and Love Is Blindness was much starker. Popmart was also fantastic, Mofo was sharper and more frenetic, LNOE really unleashed itself, Discoteque was rockier and of course Please took on a life of its own and became so much more compelling.
So maybe this is really about reworking songs for a live situation. For me the songs on the last two albums didn't really develop all that much on stage. BD, SIAM, Elevation, Kite, New York, Vertigo, Sometimes, Miracle Drug, OOTS, and ABOY were all pretty similiar to their studio versions and were less interesting to me. I was pleased the band were more changeable with setlists during Vertigo but I felt the songs could have been re-explored and taken to new places as well. I think my favourite moments of Vertigo were those fantastic versions of Kite, U2 going back to being daring and unexpected, this is the kind of reworking I would have liked to have seen more of with the Bomb songs (and something I hope for on the next tour).
Well those are my feelings. What do you think?
