Why wasn't 'Streets' played in Paris?

[CTU2fan]

Boy, and they did that a bunch didnt they?

Thats my point. Like I said, its not a hard a fast rule. But the reason I remember reading that they didnt open with it for alot of Euro shows (I obviously never said all) was because they didnt think it worked well with it being light out. That was the reason they went with the covers to open. I never said that meant they wouldnt do the covers for another show if it was dark? The question was why was there no Streets opening for the Paris show, I answered from my recollection. If you dont like it, ignore it.

Thanks

As I recall (without going through nearly 100 gigs checking), the Streets opening the encore was done mainly in US cities where they played multiple dates where the "change up the setlist" thing happened the 3rd night in. I'm thinking LA, Worcester, Hartford...can't remember if they did it in Jersey too but I think so. The "3rd night" setlist had Stand By Me opening, then Pride, and Streets opening the encore.

I'd agree that in Europe light was probably the reason. Think of the Vertigo tour. They opened with Vertigo a lot (which they played 2x most of the time in Europe), and then followed it with stuff that didn't require any special lighting (Elevation, Electric Co, IWF, NYD). They saved COBL for when it got dark, rather than as an opener like in most of the arena gigs.

 

[U2FanPeter]

For Leg 1 in 1987 Streets was played beginning the encore:

LA Forum 4/22 (night #5 of 5)
Worchester 5/4 (night #3 of 3)
Hartford 5/9(night #3 of 3)
Rutherford 5/16 (night #5 of 5)

Every other night was Streets opening. All shows indoors, with only Detroit being a Stadium.

u2fp

 

[U2FanPeter]

Leg 3:

Nassua 9/10 BTBS-->Streets
Nassau 9/11 BTBS-->Streets
Boston 9/17 BTBS-->Streets
Foxboro 9/22 Stand By Me--->Streets

Every 3 leg show opened with Streets as the first or second song. SBM->S was only done once in Europe and once in America. Although the 3rd leg contained Outdoor Stadiums in the late summer, only Foxboro has SBM as an opener. Nassua was the opening night on the final tour leg.

u2fp

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

Imagine if U2 made the same move in Europe during the Vertigo Tour in '05. Instead of Vertigo and IWF or OOC to start, the Euros got "Cupid" and "Good Golly Miss Molly".

Ahem - it really would have been brilliant. The European setlists were that "static" – not to use the phrase "boring" – I would have loved to read a surprise like that. They then might have played "Vertigo" later, maybe as the encore opener or at the very end (one version per concert is enough!).
By the way: The "Streets" version from Tempe '87, gained immortality in R&H, is the definite version for me. What an atmosphere, what colours, the light explosion, the voice and the interplay of never ending guitar sounds, bass and the real bunch of Larry building it more and more up - wow! The '05/'06 versions are only a shadow of what this song used to be. But I'm not missing it in Paris at all – I would have love to see the band back then, when the band was young and full of ambition, to change their world ...

 

[Axver]

I think it would be interesting for this thread to delve into what cities Streets was in the encore, where it was skipped in Europe and indoor/outdoor + arena/stadium shows.

Here's the record for Europe. Key:

S = Streets opened
S2 = Streets second after Stand By Me
SE = Streets lead encore song
N = no Streets in set

I = indoor venue
O = outdoor venue
If I give the venue name, it means I don't know it and am not sure if it's in- or outdoor.

Rome: S, O
Modena 1: S, O
Modena 2: S, O
London 1: S, I
Birmingham 1: S, I
Gothenburg: S, O
London 2: S, O
London 3: SE, O
Paris 1: S, I
Cologne: N, O
Basel: N, O
Belfast: S2, I
Dublin 1: S, O
Dublin 2: N, O
Leeds: N, O
Paris 2: N, O
Brussels: S, I
Rotterdam 1: S, O
Rotterdam 2: N, O
Madrid: S, O
Montpellier, S, Espace Richter
Munich 1: S, I
Munich 2: N, I
Cardiff: N, O
Glasgow 1: S, I
Glasgow 2: N, I
Edinburgh: N, O
Birmingham 2: N, I
Birmingham 3: S, I
Cork: N, O

Totals
Played at 18 out of 30 gigs

Excluding the Espace Richter gig as I don't know if it was in- or outdoor:

Played at 9 out of 12 indoor gigs. At least one gig had already been played in every city where it was skipped at an indoor venue.
Played at 9 out of 17 outdoor gigs. Six cities where Streets was skipped did not have another concert featuring Streets.

 

[pat132]

Excluding the Espace Richter gig as I don't know if it was in- or outdoor

It was indoor

 

[Axver]

It was indoor

I knew someone here would know. Thanks.

So that brings the total to Streets being played at 10 out of 13 indoor shows and 9 out of 17 outdoor shows.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Played at 18 out of 30 gigs

Played at 10 out of 13 indoor gigs[edit: update]. At least one gig had already been played in every city where it was skipped at an indoor venue.
Played at 9 out of 17 outdoor gigs. Six cities where Streets was skipped did not have another concert featuring Streets.

It's weird that it went 100% in America, but 60% in Europe. Not ignored in Europe, but not entirely embrace either. They did seem to tire of the song after about 9 Euro shows.

The daylight theory has some weight but doesn't vouch for the 3 indoor European shows that were Streetless or the fact that Streets was only played once in the non-daylight end of set when it was encored 4 times on leg 1.

Could a dislike of backing organ or click tracks be a reason to drop the song? I think WOWY and BAd are the only other songs that have it.

u2fp

 

[JanRodi]

As much as i know daylight was the main reason for Streetles Open Airs.
Also they made the other opening just as a surprise for last gig in town like Munich which was indoor.

And Streets as encore did not fit properly in the set in their opinion.

But they tried a lot and we have to accept they didn´t handled it as a law.

 

[CTU2fan]

And Streets as encore did not fit properly in the set in their opinion.

Good point. While they did it 4 times on leg 1 and the one London gig in June they scrapped that for the rest of the tour. On Lovetown it showed up later in the gig for some shows though.

 

[theu2fly]

I love listening to the 1987 version in Denver, CO. It's virgin, but yet brand new.... it has a feel of being on the edge (no pun) of something brand new, but you can feel the power that the band was putting behind it. Bono's vocals are simply on fire, and I love Adam's bass on it, hearing him playing the higher octave is awesome.