IMO, the show should begin with Blackout NOT INSIDE THE SCREEN, but on the stage where everyone can see them! Then Best Thing (full band electric version) should come right after. The 1-2 punch of the albums most upbeat rocker combined with their most recent, semi successful single would get things going pretty good. Then play I will follow, and the show could go on as usual. My only real gripes were the presentation of Blackout, and wasting Best Thing in the bathroom break slot. Also, the encore needs one rocker at the beginning.
Edit- yes, I realize I left out Lights of Home. Leave it out, and plug in Red Flag Day or Little Things elsewhere in the set.
So I know I have been complaining a lot and sound like I belong on the “other side” of this forum but I have another grip....
LOH strings is a good version of the song(I like it more than the album cut) but in the live show the strings are canned and that just sucks. I mean it’s not atmospherics that are canned but one of/the most prominent aspects of the song. They can’t take a few strings players on tour with them for LOH and even use them in Blackout for the chorus (wow that would be cool) , LIB and a few other songs?
So, U2s live show starts off:
1-lip synced Bono only version of LIAWHL
2- 80% of Blackout the band is hidden and you are just watching pre-recorded images on a screen
3-LOH with the most prominent part of the song pre-recorded and playing over the performance
I balked at paying $350 per ticket and got what turned out to be very good seats in the 311 section at MSG for $112 and I am very happy I did because of the above + no streets, no with or without you(I love how it engages the crowd) and instead of Gloria I got the 2005 smash All Because of You(I know, that’s a Cosmo issue).
I don’t want to end on more negativity, so I will say that I was pleasantly surprised how great(yes, great) American Soul sounded....even with that fucking ridiculous bull horn......wait, I still ended negative. Ok, well, Love is Bigger sounded wonderful and is a beautiful live song!
Ok.....that is all.
Word for word agreement with both of these excellent posts!
The lip synch-screen-canned horns opening was a major sore point with me and one that took down the vibe of the show as much as I expected. We all know about acoustic best thing later on.
- So taking The Acrobat's suggestion, rearranging Blackout, moving Best Thing and dropping Lights, we eliminate two big issues right off the bat.
- Blackout-Best Thing-I Will Follow-Gloria and so on........
High energy U2 opening. You've sent the "hey, we still rock, we've still got (relatively) successful new stuff and we're still knocking the oldies you remember out of the park" message very well.
I don't know what the hell they were going for with this opening- I get the narrative of being almost dead, coming back, then right back to the beginning to tell the story-
but what's a narrative when the performance suffers?
Come to think of it, that may be the central question raised by this tour right there!
All I know is the crowd around me in Boston was confused as hell by Love is all-Blackout and had a very "meh, this is a U2 show? " reaction to Lights of home.
Nobody was standing up at all during this time. The split second that Edge started I Will Follow, the entire place stood up in unison.
Everyone was thinking "finally, a real U2 song!" And like it or not, this is how people think. I am all for U2 promoting their new stuff, it sets them apart from so many others. But the days of trying to fire off 3 or 4 in a row like they're still as relevant as they were in 1992, 2001 or 2004 should be LONG over. Especially given how well I&E's opening salvo went off.
At this point in the game, the opening group of songs needs career balance.
What frustrated me so much was the fact that the band HAD to have seen that reaction dozens of times throughout the tour but continued to stick to this opening.
