Songs U2 need to Bring back on 360 Tour
- Thread starter TheEdge58
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God forbid!
Well, understand that it took me a while to even like the song, never mind come to that opinion.
I rate NYD, SBS, Streets, One, all the other classics we all know, as well above BD. I even rate a lot of lesser known stuff like Trip Through Your Wires and Two Hearts Beat As One well above BD.
I have, however, come to appreciate it as a great song that actually does have a lot of meaning(even if a bit overplayed).
You also can't deny that it bought U2 another decade of relevance and counting. When the history books are written, BD will be as big and important a U2 song as any just on that alone......
ultraviolet7
War Child
My problem with BD is that I see it as an involution from what U2 is capable of doing. After Pop, which I rate as U2's 2nd best album just behind Achtung Baby, I couldn't believe my ears when I received the BD snippet in the "love suitcase" U2.com sent its subscribers. I almost threw up. I couldn't believe that a band which throughout its career had made a point of upping the ante with every release and never sitting back in the comfort of success, was making such a blatant concession to the mainstream in a desperate move to avoid being shoved into the cult band niche they were being headed to.
Probably the books will name BD as the song that bought them another decade of success. However it's another decade of commercial success, but certainly not a decade of artistic relevance (parts of NLOTH seem to give a light of hope, but they're not even playing much of the album on its own tour!). I'm certainly not against commercial success but not at the price of compromising artistic worth. In my opinion BD is not, as a U2 song, artistically relevant, so even if it has been hammered into people's brains because it has been overplayed to death on the radio and on every tour since its release, it will never be a classic in the way Streets, NYD, One and others are.
It's sad for someone who has been a fan of this band for almost 30 years and has lived through their increasingly exciting metamorphoses, to see U2 stay relevant thanks to obvious and almost embarrassing tunes which would have been unthinkable at a time when the band was putting more energy in pushing their own limits in the making of groundbreaking music than in trying to please audiences.
powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
We get it, you don't like it. Thing is, most fans do, and a whole ton of people that don't really like U2 do as well, hence why it is a concert mainstay.
ultraviolet7
War Child
If it's a concert mainstay because "a ton of people who really don't like U2" like it we're in deep sh*t.
Earnie Shavers
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
MissVelvetDress_75
Blue Crack Addict
*pats you on the back* 
Like you, I enjoy Pop quite a bit. I'm very happy they went in that direction. I can't rate it too high as a studio album- I thought it really came to life live- but still, Gone, Please and DYFL are some of my favorite U2 songs.
Though their entire career was definitely an evolution and a pushing of the envelope every time out to that point, and BD definitely was geared toward achieving mainstream success again, that does not mean it's artistically backwards or irrelevant.
It wasn't like U2 looked at the charts at the time and said "let's copy that!" BD sounded like nothing else that was big on the charts in the fall of 2000. It was U2 all the way, and even though it wasn't a huge sonic leap forward, it wasn't a blatant re tread of anything they'd done before. Being influenced by your earlier days is not taking a step backward, in my opinion, especially not when you consider:
1.)Most bands have had 1 sound their entire career(AC/DC, Aerosmith)
2.)The "U2 sound" itself was very innovative and influential.
I am sick of the general notion(not saying it's your fault or just you here) that U2 never cared about getting on the charts before BD. They most certainly did. Why was Pride the 1st single from TUF and not the title track? Why did WOWY make JT and not Luminous Times? Why did they split up other more complex and interesting demos that are widely known and available into songs like Mysterious Ways? Why was Discotheque the 1st single off of Pop?
If you don't like BD, that is fine of course, I didn't like it for the longest time either. I just respectfully think you're making too much of a leap here.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Only reading half of a person's post is always the way to go.
U2 fans, even the ones that bitch out 00s U2 (such as myself), like BD. Non-U2 fans like BD. It's a pretty safe bet, which is why U2 performs it regularly.
Elevation, on the other hand, is not so universally beloved and is performed constantly regardless. Ditto In A Little While. Those choices baffle me.
cobl04
45:33
Hey, don't tar me with that brush!
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
And to be honest I wouldn't mind songs like Walk On or Kite making rare appearances (which in my opinion increases their value).
powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
Thank you! Though I actually understand Elevation's appearances, it gets a lot of energy out of the crowd, even the lame US ones.
cobl04
45:33
LuckyNumber7 said:
powerhour24 said:
Nothing that The Fly, Electric Co., Desire, NLOTH, etc couldn't match.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Anyone arguing that the Claw was created with NLOTH songs in mind now look unspeakably dense, if they didn't already. There is no theme. There is officially no reason for it to exist beyond looking cool. And that's fine, but shiny things have no business limiting song choices/being given a higher priority than the music.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
To say the Claw was created without NLOTH in mind is a no brainer given the fact that it started well before the album started, but to say it has no "theme" is really missing the mark.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
There is no theme. There never has been a theme. I've heard a dozen theories concerning whatever it is that 360 is on about and all of it screams hastily-thrown-together-excuse-for-stadium-tour. If the tour's theme is unrelated to any of the music, is it really necessary? The fact that fucking NLOTH of all albums garnered a stadium tour is proof that the album and tour "concept" were and continue to be completely out of sync. Well, less so now that U2 has completely abandoned the idea of supporting NLOTH and are simply playing a greatest hits set (18 of 25 songs performed last night were singles, and non-singles like UTEOTW and Bad aren't exactly dipping into the back catalogue).
The point of this rant is that, following mammoth tours like ZooTV and Popmart that married sound and vision brilliantly, U2 should be held to higher standards than they have been. Pretty lights are fun, but they're not worth the static sets, and the tour concept should always be borne out of the music you're supporting. I liked the Claw at first, but I find it less and less necessary with each passing show. I won't remember 360 for much more than Unforgettable Fire and the flogging of In A Little While. The fact that it was supporting NLOTH is wholly incidental. Elevation didn't even need lights to integrate the aesthetic of the album into the tour.
Still have my tickets for July, but I am admittedly pissed that my favorite album U2 has released since Pop will be represented to a lesser degree than ATYCLB and Achtung Baby.
The point of this rant is that, following mammoth tours like ZooTV and Popmart that married sound and vision brilliantly, U2 should be held to higher standards than they have been. Pretty lights are fun, but they're not worth the static sets, and the tour concept should always be borne out of the music you're supporting. I liked the Claw at first, but I find it less and less necessary with each passing show. I won't remember 360 for much more than Unforgettable Fire and the flogging of In A Little While. The fact that it was supporting NLOTH is wholly incidental. Elevation didn't even need lights to integrate the aesthetic of the album into the tour.
Still have my tickets for July, but I am admittedly pissed that my favorite album U2 has released since Pop will be represented to a lesser degree than ATYCLB and Achtung Baby.
BigMacPhisto
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
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Well, it sort of is for us in North America. I've never been able to see this song played live. They played it at stadiums on Vertigo, but not really in arenas. I get kind of annoyed when people on the foru's will complain that a certain track is old hat when it pretty much missed a certain section of the world. If Australia has never heard "Kite", then they sure as hell should be pleased to get a chance too. I don't think anybody in the audience is thinking, "oh, well, they played this all over the Elevation tour which never visited here, so this makes me annoyed that their set choices are so static!"
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I agree the tour and the album aren't in sync and that's something that always bugged me about this tour, but I think it was done by design in order to introduce another album(which didn't happen). But there's definately a theme(not that there really has to be), maybe you'll get it in July.
The theme is a little weaker with less NLOTH songs in the set, but is there.
As for static/"greatst hits" sets...90's tours would kill for the amount of oldies and rarities Vertigo and 360 got back on stage. And 5 major live songs got played significantly less this time around. And there is still over 1/3 of the set from the current decade. 9 out of 23 songs.
As for static/"greatst hits" sets...90's tours would kill for the amount of oldies and rarities Vertigo and 360 got back on stage. And 5 major live songs got played significantly less this time around. And there is still over 1/3 of the set from the current decade. 9 out of 23 songs.
LM has said all I want to say, so I won't wade in much now except to point out ...
Ahem. ATYCLB is now over a decade old. Current decade in the sense of "last ten years" is 2002-11, so last night had just FIVE songs released in the last ten years. Wow.
(And don't give me "it was current decade when the tour began". I'm talking about the here and now.)
Ahem. ATYCLB is now over a decade old. Current decade in the sense of "last ten years" is 2002-11, so last night had just FIVE songs released in the last ten years. Wow.
(And don't give me "it was current decade when the tour began". I'm talking about the here and now.)
partygirl43
Refugee
Decade as in current U2 decade/era. Add the 3 missing songs from NLOTH and it used to be probably half of the setlist was consisting of the current U2 era. How many 50 year old bands with 30 years of career can say that ?
(and yes, it was less than a decade old when the tour began. tour setlists should be judged for the full-time duration of the tour, not just the select few legs.)
Blue Room
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
The 360 stage has no theme. The goal of it is well known. Bono wanted the arena stage feel in a stadium. He communicated this to Willie during the South American leg of Vertigo. This necessitated “the claw” to hang the gear from. They made the claw look cool, but that is it in a nut shell. I think it’s one of their best production concepts ever. Simple, but massive and looks impressive and they can sell more tickets. When you think about the actual stage it is pretty minimalistic. U2 have tied the stage production to the music twice IMO. Zoo TV and Popmart, and Popmart they got slammed and/or criticized for trying to top Zoo (I loved Popmart for the record). So they went the other direction on Elevation. Basically the minimal production Joshua Tree stage with a heart ramp slapped on it. Then Vertigo which was the Elevation stage with an ellipse instead of a heart. So now they have sort of combined the minimalistic stage with a stadium sized production. This makes it easier to basically play any type of song they want to try. It really gives U2 more freedom to do whatever they want. Sometimes that is a bad thing as they have now resorted to a basic greatest hits set that is badly paced.
To the topic of the thread, they could play just about anything from their catalog and it would fit. What we want them to play is not the same as U2’s criteria obviously. I typically do not even have a problem with the greatest hits aspect of U2’s setlists. Playing to that many people you have to appeal to the majority. What is wrong with this tour is a lot of the setlist pacing. It just has not been up to past U2 standards. The catalyst for the bad pacing up until recently was the lack of a good opening song. When you start the show with a thud or semi thud it takes awhile to recover. EBTTRT is great, but Breathe was average, Beautiful Day is an abomination (as an opener) and Stingray was dulled down every time as it was followed by Beautiful Day as an opening sequence. U2 should scrap most of the setlist structure from this tour and start over. Maybe it would make it fresher for them as well. Will not happen, but it would help the only weak aspect of this tour IMO. Especially now that there will be no new material to add to it with no new album.
They need to drop Miss Sarajevo and In A Little While. Otherwise I do not have a problem with most of the song selections other than pacing and when EBTTRT does not open the show!
To the topic of the thread, they could play just about anything from their catalog and it would fit. What we want them to play is not the same as U2’s criteria obviously. I typically do not even have a problem with the greatest hits aspect of U2’s setlists. Playing to that many people you have to appeal to the majority. What is wrong with this tour is a lot of the setlist pacing. It just has not been up to past U2 standards. The catalyst for the bad pacing up until recently was the lack of a good opening song. When you start the show with a thud or semi thud it takes awhile to recover. EBTTRT is great, but Breathe was average, Beautiful Day is an abomination (as an opener) and Stingray was dulled down every time as it was followed by Beautiful Day as an opening sequence. U2 should scrap most of the setlist structure from this tour and start over. Maybe it would make it fresher for them as well. Will not happen, but it would help the only weak aspect of this tour IMO. Especially now that there will be no new material to add to it with no new album.
They need to drop Miss Sarajevo and In A Little While. Otherwise I do not have a problem with most of the song selections other than pacing and when EBTTRT does not open the show!
djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
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- 7,605
They're not touring an "era" (which you define by your own standards), they're touring No Line on the Horizon.
Yes. I've mentioned repeatedly that this is the first U2 tour where I don't like the setlist. Everything up until 360, apart from the 3rd leg of Elevation, was GREAT. They knew how to make the set flow and the song selection made sense every single time, rarities or not. One reason for why I think this tour fails is, as you've mentioned, the excruciatingly bad pacing. Especially the 2nd part of the show, starting from I Still Haven't Found all the way 'til the encore. Too many down-tempo songs, tired renditions of old classics and the preachy down-our-throats aspect of it that's far, far worse than the Vertigo Tour, where it started to be annoying.
It's a shame since there are some songs in there (Even Better Than the Real Thing, Hold Me Thrill Me...) that show a potential of a monstrous, rocking show this could have been.
powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
How about bringing back The First Time and swapping it for In A Little While or Miss Sarajevo?
I would wholeheartedly approve of TFT replacing IALW.
I also submit this:
YouTube - U2 - In God's Country (Elevation Miami)
They should do this and Trip Through Your Wires full band from JT!
Also, replace IALW or MS with Running To Standstill.
They play a bunch of songs off of AB(5 now with EBTTRT) and rightfully so, but where's the love for JT?
We've heard Still Haven't Found and WOWY enough times now, rotate them like they're doing with Pride. They only need 1 of the 2 per night, the other one can go to an album cut from their other masterpiece, JT!
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