An interesting look back on the setlist changes...

[theu2fly]

Here's 06-30-2009, Barcelona, the first night of the 360 tour...

Breathe
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Movin' On Up (snippet)
Angel Of Harlem / Man In The Mirror (snippet) / Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (snippet)
In A Little While
Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
MLK
Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One

encore(s):
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

And here's last night in Florida, 2 year later...

Even Better Than The Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until The End Of The World
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / The Promised Land (snippet)
North Star
Beautiful Day / Space Oddity (snippet)
Elevation
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo / La Bamba (snippet)
Crazy Tonight / Discothèque (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On

Encore(s):
One
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (snippet) / Where The Streets Have No Name
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender / Jungleland (snippet)

Interesting isn't it?

 

[pepokiss]

...

 

[Galeongirl]

So much improvement in two years.

 

[TheEdge_92]

I actually prefer the 2009 setlist. The opening with Breathe, and songs like UF and Ultraviolet. They were class songs, and the fact they played more NLOTH songs is a bonus. Even though the new set has the Achtung Baby opening, (which is amazing, i must say ) I think the set is missing songs like UF.

 

[Galeongirl]

UV is still being played, since it's rotational with Batman.

I do miss UF in the set, would probably put that over Miss Sarajevo. But if I had to choose between UF and Zooropa? Oh zooropa baby!

 

[zwervers2]

I actually prefer the 2009 setlist. The opening with Breathe, and songs like UF and Ultraviolet. They were class songs, and the fact they played more NLOTH songs is a bonus. Even though the new set has the Achtung Baby opening, (which is amazing, i must say ) I think the set is missing songs like UF.

Never understood why, of all the songs, they had the nerve to throw it away. Easily the highlight of the 2009 shows along with UV but NOOOOOOO they just had to do it again. I keep wondering, how are those " meetings' in general? Bono: "Guys: UF sounds fantastic, let's get it out of the set?"

 

[Popmartijn]

Never understood why, of all the songs, they had the nerve to throw it away. Easily the highlight of the 2009 shows along with UV but NOOOOOOO they just had to do it again. I keep wondering, how are those " meetings' in general? Bono: "Guys: UF sounds fantastic, let's get it out of the set?"

I think even the band would not be able to say why some songs get dropped. It just happens and everyone moves on. Willie commented on this in one of his diary entries (when discussing the return of EBTTRT):

Even Better Than the Real Thing was an absolute staple of the ZooTV and PopMart tours, then kind of fell off the map. Songs do that periodically. For reasons it's hard to put a finger on, a once-great song just goes cold, or at least just stops working quite as well as it used to. I've learned to go with this and not to try too hard to push against it - songs have a life of their own somehow, and it's probably wise to follow their flow rather than impose your own inappropriate will onto them. It was truly wonderful to have The Unforgettable Fire as a nightly regular for the first year of this tour but then again, for no readily discernable reason, it just lost that loving feeling Real Thing was in the Elevation show briefly, and I seem to remember us all being quite surprised that it just didn’t sit right.

 

[zwervers2]

I think even the band would not be able to say why some songs get dropped. It just happens and everyone moves on. Willie commented on this in one of his diary entries (when discussing the return of EBTTRT):

hmmm. funny actually when you think about. " why did you stop playing that fantastic song?" Bono: "I do not know, we all love to play it, it just dissapeared for some reason".

 

[Utoo]

I wonder if UF just didn't work as well in every venue. At the show at FedEx Field in Maryland, I felt like it was out of place-----it was great to hear it, but it sounded like far too much of it was either pre-recorded or played by someone in underworld beneath the stage. It just didn't feel very organic.

 

[prbiker15]

UV is still being played, since it's rotational with Batman.

I do miss UF in the set, would probably put that over Miss Sarajevo. But if I had to choose between UF and Zooropa? Oh zooropa baby!

Zooropa definitely - especially since I just saw it live. I'm sure they were tired of UF, though it worked great live.

The setlist has really improved, there's always some experimenting once the tour starts, but it took a while for them to get it right. The early setlists were good, though.

 

[catlhere]

Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

Was probably one of my favorite flowing block of songs in any U2 tour ever. I love how it all worked together.

Spoiler

And then the weird SBS transition came and ruined it

 

[Utoo]

As cynical as it is, this may be the real reason:

In 2009, they were marketing for the UF remaster.
In 2011, they're marketing for the AB/Zooropa remaster.

 

[Galeongirl]

You raise a valid point there.

 

[TheEdge_92]

As cynical as it is, this may be the real reason:

In 2009, they were marketing for the UF remaster.
In 2011, they're marketing for the AB/Zooropa remaster.

If they were marketing for UF remaster, wouldn't they have played more songs off the album. i.e. Wire.

I still think UF should still be played, it gets the crowd going, and they always pull it off as a performance.

 

[Galeongirl]

They played UF, Pride and Bad, that's about all UF songs that have been played in the last 20 years. Save the rare performance/carnage of ASOH.

 

[TheEdge_92]

Would love it if they start playing UF again though, the sound was great, as were the visuals.

 

[PhilsFan]

If you combine the different parts of the setlist from over the last three years, you can come up with a pretty great set.

Even Better than the Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until the End of the World
New Year's Day
Get on Your Boots
No Line on the Horizon
Breathe
All I Want Is You
The Unforgettable Fire
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Crazy Tonight/Discotheque (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On
Bad

One
Where the Streets Have No Name

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

All these songs have been played on this tour, and this order is pretty reasonable based on everything they've done. This would be one of the best U2 setlists you've seen, wouldn't it?

 

[TheEdge_92]

If you combine the different parts of the setlist from over the last three years, you can come up with a pretty great set.

Even Better than the Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until the End of the World
New Year's Day
Get on Your Boots
No Line on the Horizon
Breathe
All I Want Is You
The Unforgettable Fire
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Crazy Tonight/Discotheque (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On
Bad

One
Where the Streets Have No Name

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

All these songs have been played on this tour, and this order is pretty reasonable based on everything they've done. This would be one of the best U2 setlists you've seen, wouldn't it?

You've forgot songs like, Spanish Eyes and Love Rescue Me. Spanish Eyes is a must on any given set i think.

 

[Utoo]

to you both

 

[Axver]

If they were marketing for UF remaster, wouldn't they have played more songs off the album. i.e. Wire.

They actually apparently rehearsed Wire privately in Dublin before the tour began in 2009, but it didn't so much as make it to the Barcelona rehearsals.

They played UF, Pride and Bad, that's about all UF songs that have been played in the last 20 years. Save the rare performance/carnage of ASOH.

Don't forget MLK! They've played 40% of the UF album this tour, even if most of it has fallen off the radar this year.

 

[TheEdge_92]

They actually apparently rehearsed Wire privately in Dublin before the tour began in 2009, but it didn't so much as make it to the Barcelona rehearsals.



Don't forget MLK! They've played 40% of the UF album this tour, even if most of it has fallen off the radar this year.

I had totally forgotten about MLK and Bad for that matter

Does anyone think Wire would fit into the set in any way?

 

[digitize]

I actually prefer the 2009 setlist. The opening with Breathe, and songs like UF and Ultraviolet. They were class songs, and the fact they played more NLOTH songs is a bonus. Even though the new set has the Achtung Baby opening, (which is amazing, i must say ) I think the set is missing songs like UF.

Exactly.

 

[digitize]

They actually apparently rehearsed Wire privately in Dublin before the tour began in 2009, but it didn't so much as make it to the Barcelona rehearsals.

Whoa, what? Where did you hear about this?

 

[Axver]

Whoa, what? Where did you hear about this?

Not sure I should name names, but suffice to say the person who told me is a very well-connected source that I trust on this. Had you not heard this? It has been posted before (not by me).

Anyway, as for the original topic, the change hardly surprises me. In terms of time passed (though not in total shows played), this is U2's longest tour, and U2's setlists have always evolved over the course of the tour; I've posted before about the illusion of setlist diversity created by all the incremental changes U2 make. Right back in July 2009, I was wondering to myself how different the set would look come the end. What I do find surprising is that the setlist has improved dramatically as the tour has gone along, the dropping of UF notwithstanding. Normally it goes the other way around (e.g. compare Elevation leg 1 to 3, Vertigo leg 1 to 5). Second leg 2009 is quite possibly my least favourite leg of a U2 tour ever, while the current leg has one of U2's best setlists in a long, long time.

 

[corianderstem]

I hadn't heard about Wire being rehearsed either.

 

[The_acrobat]

2009 was the NLOTH tour. The setlist reflects that.

2010-11 is pretty much a seperate tour with the same stage. A confusing period for band and fans alike. All we know is they like playing for us, and we like seeing them play. Their plans went awry at some point during the 360 campaign, and the 2010 setlists show the band trying to find meaning in it all, before eventually just settling for the fact that this is now a Greatest Hits tour, and embracing that wholeheartedly. I personally think the 2011 show I just saw Sunday was miles better than the one I saw in 2009.

I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years the band admit that this current time was a very difficult time for the band. The relative failure of NLOTH, the Spiderman troubles, Bono's back surgery, the tour being forced to go on much longer than they expected, the shelved plans to release an album mid tour. And yet, even with all this going on, they're still putting on the most successful tour in history, which is probably an odd juxtaposition.

 

[TheEdge25]

What happened was, when Bono had his back problems, he had an anesthesia-induced hallucination where God appeared to him and said, "If you do not stop playing those blasphemous No Line On The Horizon songs, I will make sure you never rise from this bed again."

The next day, Bono called in Edge and said, "Throw them all out, replace Breathe with Beautiful Day. It will be the most perfect and lively setlist we've ever had - I've had REVELATION!!!!"

 

[nirniva]

The next day, Bono called in Edge and said, "Throw them all out, replace Breathe with Beautiful Day. It will be the most perfect and lively setlist we've ever had - I've had REVELATION!!!!"

Is it wrong that I read the last part of that as "REV! UH! LAY! SHUN!"?

 

[Popmartijn]

Is it wrong that I read the last part of that as "REV! UH! LAY! SHUN!"?

Very.






(So did I )

 

[tryan101]

VERY much prefer this current set list. saw 3 in 2009 and 4 in the past month.

Loved Anaheim 2 opening with 5 from Achtung Baby!