Do you think the band is sick of Moment Of Surrender?

[theu2fly]

Judging by the last few setlists, I'm going to go with "yeah" on this one.

Glastonbury, after MOS, they played Out Of Control
Nashville, All I Want Is You
Chicago, One Tree Hill

Can't help but wonder if they'll start doing it more towards the end of the leg?

 

[corianderstem]

I like that they've had a few spontaneous moments, but no, I don't think it's because they're sick of it.

I do hope they keep it up, though.

 

[coolian2]

how does continuing to play the song suggest anything about them being sick of it?

honest to god, you've added 2+2 and managed to get 36.

 

[corianderstem]

It's New Math.

 

[Utoo]

I'm not the biggest fan of the song, though I don't mind that they haven't closed with it at every show recently. I kind of hope they close with something else at Philly...

I'd say that those examples are all pretty unique. At Glastonbury, they probably wanted to go out with a bang, hence OOC. In Nashville, it looked like Bono decided last-minute to do AIWIY after returning his attention to that fan's sign. And in Chicago, it was close to the anniversary of Greg Carroll's death, and stories of there being an original setlist without OTH and a revised setlist with OTH seem to indicate it was a last-minute addition.

I hope they keep it up, though I don't think it's necessarily that they're getting tired of the song. They may, however, be finally recognizing that it's not the greatest closer.

 

[corianderstem]

YES. I always feel so bad for them (and for me!) when WOWY is met with thunderous response, and MOS gets such a half-assed round of applause at the end.

 

[theu2fly]

YES. I always feel so bad for them (and for me!) when WOWY is met with thunderous response, and MOS gets such a half-assed round of applause at the end.

The 2nd encore confuses me, they go with a big opener like Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, to a slow song like WOWY, to almost a dud like MOS... Wouldn't it make more sense to play a tune that segue's into the next?

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
If You Wear That Velvet Dress
With Or Without You
Moment Of Surrender

 

[coolian2]

fast-slow-faster-very slow-mid tempo?

 

[cobl04]

Hold Me Thrill Me
Ultraviolet
Moment of Surrender
With or Without You
40

Might be a lot better.

Seriously though, your original post is almost as big a leap as that Morrissey thread.

 

[Utoo]

Hold Me Thrill Me
Ultraviolet
Moment of Surrender
With or Without You
40

Might be a lot better.

 

[Jeannieco]

Hold Me Thrill Me
Ultraviolet
Moment of Surrender
With or Without You
40

Might be a lot better.

Seriously though, your original post is almost as big a leap as that Morrissey thread.

40 is the perfect way to end a show IMO. It hasn't been sung yet this tour right?

 

[theu2fly]

40 is the perfect way to end a show IMO. It hasn't been sung yet this tour right?

Snippeted in Bad.

 

[Chrisedge]

If you watch how emotional Bono is on the night Clarence Clemons died while he sings MOS, he doesn't look sick of it at that moment...(won't shill my video but go look at YT)

 

[catlhere]

I think MOS is a great closer, just not a popular one.

 

[Numb1075]

Hold Me Thrill Me
Ultraviolet
Moment of Surrender
With or Without You
40

Might be a lot better.

Seriously though, your original post is almost as big a leap as that Morrissey thread.

Good call, wait, that's a great call.

And to answer the original question, I do not think they are sick of it. IMO, it's a beautiful song and the band seem quite proud of it. They've played many other songs 100s of time more than MOS, yet still play them, I think because they enjoy them (SBS, Pride, WOWY, Beautiful Day, One, Streets etc)..

I think U2 feel a connection to those songs and a connection with the audience when they play them)

 

[LemonMelon]

I don't even think MOS should be in the encore...slotting it next to Stay or Miss Sarajevo would be the way to go IMO. Maximizes flow and doesn't require it to be the last thing the crowd hears that night.

The encore can/should be, in this instance:

Breathe
HMTMKMKM
Ultraviolet
WOWY
Bad/40

 

[zoopop]

Here we go:

-Sunday Bloody Sunday
-Walk On
-Breathe

-Moment of Surrender
-Streets (Play One earlier in the set)

-HMTMKMKM
-WOWY
-Bad

I think MOS is a very special song to U2, as it should. I think its a top 3 song from them and they wrote it 30+ years into their career. Even though they seemed disappointed w/ NLOTH (the album), they have to be proud of MOS.

 

[PhilsFan]

I think it's a good song that they should keep playing, but making it the closer was a bad choice.

 

[silkensky]

Good song but a dreary closer. Also, most probably don't care, but I wish they had found a way to make it more organic or raw live. A huge part of MOS's atmosphere is that prominent backing synth which Eno created, and it's like they're just playing along to someone else's sound. Othwerise its got some good parts, like the piano bits, solo and the ending with Bono's rap.

 

[KEVIN051269]

Breathe and MOS, though good and very good songs and worthy of being played, were imo poor choices for opener and closer from the get go. The band realised this with Breathe(you could argue with MOS eventually). The question is why did it take the band so long to realise?

 

[zoopop]

Breathe and MOS, though good and very good songs and worthy of being played, were imo poor choices for opener and closer from the get go. The band realised this with Breathe(you could argue with MOS eventually). The question is why did it take the band so long to realise?

I agree. I wonders who's idea it was for the opener and closer?

Anyone remember Willie talking about opening w/ MOS....

 

[patternshirt170]

Breathe's a good second song punch like The Fly and IWF but a so-so opener in such a vast space and Moment probably would work best midset say, where Sarajevo/Stay/AIW rotate...

I'd have opened the 2009 leg with NL itself and then gone into The Fly, Real Thing or some obvious 'recent' crowd pleaser like Vertigo, Elevation or BD... or dunno... Shadows & Tall Trees?

ah kiddin'..

 

[kramwest1]

Breathe and MOS, though good and very good songs and worthy of being played, were imo poor choices for opener and closer from the get go. The band realised this with Breathe(you could argue with MOS eventually). The question is why did it take the band so long to realise?

^This (times 36 for Ian )

Breathe would have been such a great encore opener.
MOS is fine, but it is far from my favorite song, and far from my favorite off NLOTH.

 

[nirniva]

Anyone remember Willie talking about opening w/ MOS....

Wait, what? I love the song dearly, but it would not work as an opener.

 

[Steved1998]

Judging by the last few setlists, I'm going to go with "yeah" on this one.

Glastonbury, after MOS, they played Out Of Control
Nashville, All I Want Is You
Chicago, One Tree Hill

Can't help but wonder if they'll start doing it more towards the end of the leg?

I think you're sick of Moment of Surrender and just projecting onto the band..

 

[U2FanPeter]

I've joked with some fans that WOWY/MOS was an intential crowd control method so hardcore fans with seats get a 10 minute head start on traffic.

God knows they had some major crowd/traffic issues in 2009 with fans stuck for HOURS.

 

[Blue Room]

Breathe and MOS, though good and very good songs and worthy of being played, were imo poor choices for opener and closer from the get go. The band realised this with Breathe(you could argue with MOS eventually). The question is why did it take the band so long to realise?

My exact thoughts on the subject.

I think the song NLOTH should have opened the first two legs. I do like EBTTRT opening now. I think its because the Beautiful Day opener sequence being a staple for awhile was awful, one of the worst staple openers ever. Stingray was cool, then it just went thud, B. Day. Awful pacing. The band struggled with an opener on this tour (which is unusual) until they did EBTTRT as the opener.

 

[pepokiss]

Just because it has that awesome intro I've always wanted FEZ/Being Born to open, but yes, after the second OOOOOOOOOOOOH, it's just too swaylow to open (Would be great anyway)

But, before anything, I always thought it would be a good idea to open with NLOTH and finish things off with NLOTH 2
NLOTH 2 has more of a party vibe, like "ok, this was great". Besides, the bass is amazing and the drums too. It's faster, and has the awesome "NO... NO... LINE" part, a great send off.

But the guys sped up NLOTH and it sounds great (well, it sounded...)

a great NLOTH/Kiss The Future setlist should've been this:

00 - Soon
01 - NLOTH
02 - GOYB
03 - Magnificent
04 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
05 - We Love You/Beautiful Day
06 - I Will Follow
07 - Until The End Of The World --->
08 - Breathe
09 - Unknown Caller
10 - The Unforgettable Fire
11 - City Of Blinding Lights
12 - Vertigo
13 - Crazy Remix
14 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
15 - MLK
16 - Walk On

17 - One
18 - Moment Of Surrender -->
19 - Where The Streets Have No Name

20 - FEZ/Being Born --->
21 - Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
22 - WOWY
23 - NLOTH 2

 

[theu2fly]

Call me crazy, but I've always thought the original version of "I'll Go Crazy..." would have been a terrific closer, it sends the crowd out on a high.

 

[coolian2]

you're crazy.