40 (snippet > Bad > 40 (snippet) - where did this come from?

[hatrickpatrick]

Just wondering if anyone knows where the idea of mixing "how long to sing this song" with Bad every time they play it live came from? When did they start doing this? It seems that every time the keyboard riff at the start of Bad comes on, the entire crowd starts roaring "Hoooooowwwww looooong, to sing thiiiiiis songgggggg...", and this has been the way apparently since at least the Elevation tour (going by the DVDs here) - where did it come from? It sounds so good that it's almost like the songs were specifically written to be performed together...

 

[Galeongirl]

Well, Bono probably started it and the fans took it along.

All in all, we've found 55 different snippets played during Bad:

40, Alison, All Down The Line, All I Want Is You, Amazing Grace, Biko, Candle In The Wind, Champagne Supernova, Cielito Lindo, Dirty Old Town, Don't Let Me Down, Elvis Presley And America, Everybody Hurts, Fight For Your Right (To Party), Fool To Cry, Help, Higher Love, I Want To Take You Higher, I'm On Fire, I'm Waiting For The Man, If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free, In The Garden, Irish Heartbeat, John I'm Only Dancing, Let It Be, Love Will Find A Way, Molly Malone, Ne Me Quitte Pas, Never Tear Us Apart, Norwegian Wood, Oh Holy Day, Old Man, People Have The Power, Rain, Ruby Tuesday, Satellite Of Love, Sexual Healing, So Cruel, Sweetest Thing, Sympathy For The Devil, Take Me To The River, The Drugs Don't Work, The First Time, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, The Maker, Time Is On My Side, Walk On The Wild Side, Walk To The Water, Waltzing Matilda, When I Look At The World, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Wild Horses, Yahweh, Yellow, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

I think Bad's the song with the most snippets.

http://www.u2gigs.com/show1074.html
That's the first show I can find with Bad/40(Snippet).

 

[U2387]

You're right, it started on Elevation.

Has not been done every performance since, however. A good amount of them, but not all of them. Vertigo tour had some snippets used in Bad in the past- like Ruby Tuesday and Dirty Old Town and also some new ones like People Have The Power by Patti Smith, or The First Time.

My guess as to why it started is trying to find a way to work in 40 without it closing the show on Elevation. Walk On worked quite well here.

I think on Vertigo, they liked to close with Bad on ocassion, but since 40 came back to close a majority of shows some legs, they snippeted it with Bad so the fans who had come to expect it did not completely miss out.

Just a guess.

 

[ramblin rose]

During the last Elevation show someone had distributed paper plates to the GA line so that we could write 40 on them. When they started to play Walk On all of us that were in the heart and had plates held them up. Bono saw them and added the snippet. A bunch of plates went flying like frisbees when he started the snippet .

Good times!!

 

[digitize]

I think Bad's the song with the most snippets.

Beautiful Day has more now.

All in all, we've found 59 different snippets played during Beautiful Day:

Across The Universe, Alison, All These Things That I've Done, All You Need Is Love, Amsterdam, Because The Night, Blackbird, C Moon, Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home), Cielito Lindo, Could You Be Loved, Dickes B., Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Dream On, Dubravka, Everybody Hurts, Far Far Away, Fix You, Flower Of Scotland, God Only Knows, Happy Christmas (War Is Over), Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, Here Comes The Sun, I Kissed A Girl, I Remember You, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, In God's Country, Jesus Walks, Jingle Bells, King Of Pain, London Bridge Is Falling Down, London Calling, Many Rivers To Cross, Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, Mensch, Miami, Michelle, My Sweet Lord, Night And Day, People Have The Power, Presence Of The Lord, Promised You A Miracle, Rain, Rainy Night In Soho, Rock 'n' Roll High School, Romeo Had Juliette, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, She's A Rainbow, So Long, Marianne, Solo Le Pido A Dios, The Hands That Built America, The Maker, The One I Love, The Sun Always Shines On TV, Ultra Violet (Light My Way), Under The Bridge, We Shall Overcome, You Are So Beautiful, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away