The Acrobat problem

[EvolutionMonkey]

I can live without Acrobat if they could just play Ultraviolet again like the good old Zoo TV days. Please Edge if you can see this then i'm begging you man to bring that incredible song back to the tour.

 

[starsgoblue]

See what I'm talking about?!

 

[phommel]

Maybe they should do 'Springsteen-sets' !! That would be great, playing for 3,5 - 4 hours ...

 

[starsgoblue]

4 hours of U2 in concert

 

[Salome]

personally I would say that just about every song that gets mentioned in threads like these in all reality never sounded as good live as they did on the album

I would guess that they never performed Acrobat live because they reckoned it just didn't work (your opinion based on some bootleg of the band rehearsing may differ, but perhaps that's why you're not a member of one of the greatest band this word has ever seen )

if songs had to be brought back I would mainly look at War and October
songs like Surrender, Two Hearts Beat as One, Rejoice and I Fall Down were great live and have aged well
I can see why they dropped these during the Joshua Tree tour since they wouldn't fit in the set list, but perhaps with a slightly more rocking album coming our way it would be possible again

or not

 

[bammo2]

I love Acrobat and would be so happy to hear it live. But, no offense, maybe it has too many words for Bono to remember.

 

[di_g]

i reckon the only way we'll ever all be happy is if we chain U2 to the stage and make them play through every album and every track they ever made

something for everyone that way :

 

[brownda7]

i reckon the only way we'll ever all be happy is if we chain U2 to the stage and make them play through every album and every track they ever made

something for everyone that way :

That can be the concert that dalkey (T_e E_g_) asked us if we wanted for interference members.

The band play everything ever recorded.how long will that take?

 

[starsgoblue]

An Interference fan concert....excellent. Hopefully in the midwest like originally suggested since that's where I live and am too poor to go anywhere else other than New England

 

[di_g]

That can be the concert that dalkey (T_e E_g_) asked us if we wanted for interference members.

The band play everything ever recorded.how long will that take?

well lets put it this way - if i set my entire u2 collection playing before i go to sleep its always still running when i wake up so thats a loooooong time. sure there are best ofs in there and b-sides but i would still give it a good 10 hours maybe!

the mother of all concerts!

 

[ylimeU2]

That can be the concert that dalkey (T_e E_g_) asked us if we wanted for interference members.

The band play everything ever recorded.how long will that take?

If they played full song versions, it would take a very, very longer time. I tried to listen to all my studio released (including R&H) CDs on a drive up to Cape Cod (9 hours) and I didn't get through all of them. I'd be willing to sit through a concert, though.

As far as Acrobat, I would love to hear it live/see it live, but I wonder if part of the great fasination with it is that it never has been performed live. And we get teasing statements like Bono and Edge having to meditate in a tree to play it. It creates a lot of interes and mystery around it. I think we stand a good chance of being disappointed by it, if we ever did hear it played live.

 

[djerdap]

You misunderstood. 90% of U2 fans that I PERSONALLY know have that song in the top 10 list. And the thing is - I understand your frustration that songs like In A Little While or Gloria are probably never going to be played again, BUT, and that's a big but, people, Acrobat was never played. Never.
Let me tell you a story from my town when a friend of mine had a promotion of this book that dealt with Ireland. During the presentation, U2 songs were played. Acrobat was one of them. There was a big ovation in the hall - even bigger than the regular classics, like Pride or Still Haven't Found. It's a hidden gem in the U2 catalogue. A classic song. And many people think that.
And Axver - I think you do exaggerate with your setlist comments. Acrobat could easily be played on ZooTV, like any other AB song. I would put it between Ultra Violet and Love is Blindness, where it belongs, and move With or Without You after Desire.

 

[pepokiss]

Mr The Edge... read this carefully

for the acoustic part, in the B-Stage...

New Year's Day and Acrobat...

and that's how you let to a masive orgasm... think about that

PS: COME TO CHILE!!

 

[ShellBeThere]

And we get teasing statements like Bono and Edge having to meditate in a tree to play it.

Sorry to be so stupid...
so the meditate-in-a-tree comment was about Acrobat?!

Wow...so maybe it's just so powerful to them that they can't bring themselves to play it live...
that's heavy!

Now I'm really curious but it feels like it might be too personally probing to ask The Edge if it's merely that they don't think it would work well/ be too challenging to perform live,
or if it's just not something they want to give to a live audience.

There's gotta be stuff they can't give, so if that's true it was a great gift to share it on an album.
I can imagine it might even satisfy an important need to hold something back, cause what they do is so soul-exposing in the first place...I'd want to let them have it without asking for it anymore if that were the case...

I'm sad now somehow...
come down off the vertigo thing at least, so that's good!

cheers all!

 

[Don't Panic]

Surprisingly and unjustly overlooked track. I really don't understand why they never played it live. (same goes for When I Look At The World) What a great mix of furious and tightly coiled intensity and great lyrics.

 

[djerdap]

At least I hope that Edge will give us a proper reason why the song hasn't been played live.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

At least I hope that Edge will give us a proper reason why the song hasn't been played live.

Come on man they just don't seem to want to play it. But I do think they will eventually play it, if not on this tour then definitely in future tours.

 

[Cyril]

I do like Acrobat (maybe not in my 10 favorites U2 songs but close ... Achtung Baby is my favorite album), and unfortunately, I doubt it will be performed during the next tour. It is a shame it was not performed more during the Zoo TV tour (I have a live recording, don't remember if it was an actual show or a rehearsal, maybe the Hershey tapes). But ask yourself how many people who enjoy U2's music but are not necessarily fans do know about Acrobat and do like that song? At each gig, at least 30 to 50% of the audience is not a U2 fanatic like us Interferencers are. The 40-50 songs performed over the next tour (25 per show, but 40-50 over the whole tour), for the most part, will be tracks from the two Best Of's, ATYCLB and HTDAAB. It sucks for us (okay, not that much), U2 fans.

-Cyril

 

[phommel]

The 40-50 songs performed over the next tour (25 per show, but 40-50 over the whole tour), for the most part, will be tracks from the two Best Of's, ATYCLB and HTDAAB.
-Cyril

Where did you get al this information from??

 

[goldmember]

I just can't comprehend why they won't play it. It doesn't seem too complicated to play...I play it on guitar and it isn't hard at all.

That's true, but I think it's the ambient of the song that's making it not suitable for live performances. Don't get me wrong, it's a great song, one of their best songs ever!

To take a cup, to fill it up,

to drink it slow, can't let you go.

I just love that part.

 

[Cyril]

Phommel, my comment on the 40-50 songs played over a tour is just based on U2's touring history. Also, I remember before the start of the Elevation tour, when they were rehearsing in Dublin, Edge said something like they had 40 songs ready for the tour. For this tour, we shall see. I guess it will depends how much they vary the setlists.

-Cyril

 

[Blue Room]

Personally, I think Acrobat is a good song but I'm not clammering for it live. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that it has only been done in rehearsals and never at a show. Its kind of like one of those holy grail songs as a result. I think Red Hill Mining Town is the same way. A full complete live version of Drowning Man would be awesome also. But lets face it, they probebly will never be done and the band has their reasons.

At least we know they will play most of the new album. Thats what I look forward to every tour. Hearing the new stuff live.

 

[u2head]

If I remember correctly, the band would not play Red Hill because Bono couldn't hit the high notes... Acrobat could be for the same reason, who knows.

Well, as long as they bring back "40" as the closer, I'll be happy!

Edge, you copy?

 

[bcrt2000]

Acrobat isn't meant to be played live.. and I'm pretty sure most of the people who go to live concerts don't know Acrobat well... plus its one of the things that keeps Achtung Baby special.. they may have done live versions of One, UTEOTW and some of the other songs that sound better than the studio versions, but then theres the non-big hit songs which really what brings AB a cut above the rest

 

[jacobus]

ACROBAT...this song is one of my fave U2 songs. the song is a phenomenal mindblowing experience. at the beginning of the song i see the dark clouds before a heavy storm and i feel the anger of desperation. the edge solo is the best he has delivered together with THE FLY. the angry sound of his guitar let me think on the noise of a derailing train (good metaphor and perfect support of the lyrics) and at the end his guitar is winding up in spirals to the happy end. adams bass and larrys drumming style with the machinegunlike break is so amazing...wonderful!
ACROBAT is THE KING of ACHTUNG BABY the album that has a song for every possible situatian in ones life. hey, and we are all acrobats aren't we???

does anybody know whether its true that The Edge came up with the first idea to ACROBAT during soundcheck on nov.10-11 at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland / New Zealand ???

 

[Axver]

And Axver - I think you do exaggerate with your setlist comments. Acrobat could easily be played on ZooTV, like any other AB song. I would put it between Ultra Violet and Love is Blindness, where it belongs, and move With or Without You after Desire.

Thing is, I think in U2's view, adding Acrobat without removing another song would have made the setlist too long. Plus, U2 rarely play songs live in the same order they appear on the CD, especially not three in a row (the only example I can think of where that happened was a JT tour show where they played Streets/Still Haven't Found/WOWY/40 as an encore). I think we all need to accept that U2 had their reasons for not playing Acrobat on ZooTV. They were the ones who practiced it, not us.

There's always a song or songs that aren't played live from each album. The only album U2 have played every song from live is Boy, and that was back in the day when U2 didn't have much else to perform. Also, if a song isn't played on the tour promoting the album it's on, a 25-year-long pattern says it will never be played. The song that comes closest to defying that pattern is Tomorrow, which was played 31 times but only two of those were on the October tour.

Look, I hope they do play Acrobat. I love the song and I would explode if they played it live. But I'm fairly confident in my opinion that U2 will never play it, and they had their reasons for not playing it on ZooTV. Can't change the past now, can we?

 

[Hawk269]

Nearly every album has a song that you would just die to hear live...

My top three are Hawkmoon 269, Acrobat, and When I look at the World.

Hawkmoon never got its due. What a waste of a great rock song.

AJ

 

[Blue Room]

Nearly every album has a song that you would just die to hear live...

My top three are Hawkmoon 269, Acrobat, and When I look at the World.

Hawkmoon never got its due. What a waste of a great rock song.

AJ

I actually like the live version of Hawkmoon from the Lovetown tour. Granted its different from the album version. But its interesting and at least its full band and not acoustic. It was actually played quite a bit on the Australian leg of that tour.

 

[pepokiss]

Acrobat should have been the comeback from the b-stage in ZOO TV, making the bridge to Bullet in the last "grind you down" part (hitting Bullet in DOWN)

 

[Seabird]

The "meditate in a tree" story is true. I was there when it happened. It was DC June 14, 2001. I was standing about 4 people down from the girl this happened to. If you hear a boot you will probably hear it just before "Stuck" which he sang as a replacement birthday song for the girl.