Is there an album on the horizon? (AKA New Album Speculation)

[corianderstem]

I honestly don't remember much about the crowd at the Popmart show I went to (Madison, Wisconsin). I was having too much fun to pay too much attention.

That's not quite true - I was in the 16th row or so, and everyone was standing for the first few songs. Then, inexplicably, everyone in the rows in front of us sat down! But everyone behind us kept standing, so my friend and I didn't have that weird "fuck, should we sit down so the people behind us can see" moment (I wouldn't have sat anyway, but I would have felt bad about it). So for the bulk of the show, I had an awesome view, with no one blocking my short ass's view.

So yeah, that was weird about them sitting down. No idea what the rest of the stadium was doing. But to hell with them. I enjoyed the hell out of it.

 

[BVS]

2. So should they have dropped RTSS? No. It was great. It got minimal applause and they kept it, good for them. Wish they still had that attitude. What other songs flopped?

You're really missing the point, and my guess is it's on purpose. You keep trying to pretend that casual fans are somehow not noticed, my point is that even at the height of their career a song that was on their biggest seller JT made it obvious that night there were lots of new or casual fans that tour. Now 20 years later when the band is not at the top of their popularity and not touring behind two of their biggest selling albums, you still want to pretend that casual fans don't cause a problem for an act like U2? If so, then so be it we can end this conversation.

3. At the Pop Mart show I was at the crowd loved it all. All the live clips I've seen from that tour have had amazing audiences for the Pop songs.

I'm glad your experience was much different than most

 

[PhilsFan]

I've been to shows where the band was getting booed and having things thrown at them. THAT is mood killing (and hilarious, because they really did suck - they were the opening act). People not going nuts for Running to Stand Still isn't mood killing.

 

[BVS]

People not going nuts for Running to Stand Still isn't mood killing.

Have you ever played on stage?

It's very easy to judge a crowd's reaction before the end of the song. You don't think after decades of having non-hit cuts getting only fair response it doesn't affect you? It doesn't start to shape how you choose songs?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

What does doing homework have to do with not liking a band anymore? I just stopped liking Pearl Jam and don't see them anymore, though I check out their albums

Why do radiohead fan boys get defensive when Pearl Jam is brought up?

 

[patternshirt170]

re: RTSS, pff, the same song from an album that sold about 20million+?? they even sped it up on the ZOOTV tour so the casual fan could tap his foot a bit... tut tut..

Stadiums are not the best places for gigs, I think I have enjoyed two in about 12 I've been to [well beyond shit weather killed dead a couple too] and yes of course the audience will be somewhat "diluted" from the hc fans... the last stadium show I was at was Zooropa in Glasgow, August 1993, which on the night felt like January 1833...

I remember Mark Knopfler said in a Q interview in 1988, that if you go to stadium shows you should watch the crowd at times and see just how many spend the night staring at the stands, the sky, passing aircraft, and at the general non musical spectacle, often it becomes more about the event than the gig for some of the.. erm.. less committed... but I've even been to see some bands where their biggest hits/songs get almost comedy groaned at now because they've overplayed them..

R.E.M.'s flexible setlist approach which is usually Peter Buck's role is great, the downside is they can sometimes pace the shows oddly some nights, so the vibe can be a bit hit and miss depending on which night you catch them on and yeah I also get irked by the fact Stipe has managed to get his favourite* songs in each set [[SIZE=-1]*ah maybe In A Little While and Ms Sarajevo are Bono's favs??] for the last decade [/SIZE]which are often or not the duller songs on each album, well sans Country Feedback, but Walk Unafraid has been in the set forever and gets such a "ah okay then, so..." reaction[SIZE=-1] from almost everyone...

[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Flawed logic would suggest; hey NLOTH sold 5million copies therefore aren't a sizable majority who attend a show owners of the album?

....they might well be doesn't mean they liked it....

[/SIZE]

 

[lemonfly]

Dude, U2 have sold over 100,000,000 records! If the people who buy those records don't go to the show, who does?

In 1999, Blur were pretty much the biggest band in England, and there were expectations for them to play certain songs and they didn't do it. That's my point: they played against expectation and did great shows.

That's true, but it's 100,000,000 records sold over 30 years and their two biggest selling albums were 20 years ago. And in the digital age it's so easy for anyone to download a select number of well known U2 songs and not get any of the albums. When they play stadiums as this point in their career you can bet your bottom dollar they are playing to more casual fans than at any other time in the last 30 years.
As for Blur, yes kudos to them for playing unexpected setlists, but they weren't playing stadiums night after night in 1999. They weren't having to keep 60,000 people happy twice a week for months. (If they did, the well known Blur anthems would have emerged). U2 do, it's a whole different ball game for them. There is just no comparison.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

The band was tearing it up, the crowd was into it, and I just smiled, shrugged, said "oh well," left early and got to bed at a reasonable hour.

This is shameful, and probably isn't something you should be broadcasting on a public forum.

 

[corianderstem]

I know. It's shameful.

And it was one of their hometown Seattle shows, too (they did 3, I think). That makes it even more shameful.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

 

[Hollow Island]

You're really missing the point, and my guess is it's on purpose. You keep trying to pretend that casual fans are somehow not noticed, my point is that even at the height of their career a song that was on their biggest seller JT made it obvious that night there were lots of new or casual fans that tour. Now 20 years later when the band is not at the top of their popularity and not touring behind two of their biggest selling albums, you still want to pretend that casual fans don't cause a problem for an act like U2? If so, then so be it we can end this conversation.

Unless the fans are abusive they should not be a problem for anyone, regardless of venue, size, or any other variable. The band should just do their thing, do the best they can, and hope people like it.

If people didn't like RTSS, fuck them. It's a great song, the Zoo TV performance was great. And it couldn't have been that much of a drag because they played it every night, and it was arguably the climax of the show.

 

[Sanchez]

Yes please lock this

 

[BVS]

Unless the fans are abusive they should not be a problem for anyone, regardless of venue, size, or any other variable. The band should just do their thing, do the best they can, and hope people like it.

If people didn't like RTSS, fuck them. It's a great song, the Zoo TV performance was great. And it couldn't have been that much of a drag because they played it every night, and it was arguably the climax of the show.

I'm out...

 

[digitize]

Letz start a new thread!1!!!!111!!!!!!!!!1!!

 

[Niceman]

Fuck casual fans. Seriously. For every band. Don't cater your live show to them.

Any band who caters their setlists to casual fans is doing it wrong. Not just for U2, for any band.