Changing the 'Innocence' set

[PopFly]

First of all let me immediately undercut myself by saying that I absolutely love the 'Innocence' 10-song setlist. It's a seamless thematic flow from the punk set to Bono's memories of his mother to his childhood to the problems in Ireland to UTEOTW as the capper that literally ends our look into their world. Great song choices, great integration of the new material (especially the canny use of the video catwalk) and overall it's just really tight as hell.

That being said, what's a setlist thread without alternate suggestions? Here are a few ideas that would extend the set by no more than one song...

* There Is Where You Can Reach Me Now as an alternate opener. Miracle is a great opener and should rightly kick off most of the shows, yet if you're doing 6-8 nights in a city, it would behoove U2 to throw Reach in there as a curveball a couple of times.
* Add more options into the Electric Co/Out Of Control rotation. Gloria has already popped up, the band played 11 O'Clock Tick Tock at that club show in Los Angeles and 'Two Hearts Beat As One' has been rehearsed. Hell, maybe drive us all crazy and bust out Rejoice or A Celebration or something.
* Vertigo: basically perfect as is. Big hit, obviously should be played every night, and it's kind of necessary to wake up the very casual fans who might not recognize Miracle or the Boy tracks. I'd bump Vertigo up to #2 on the nights when TIWYCRMN for that same 'wake up the casuals' effect. To reinforce the theme of U2's early days, the snippet for Stories For Boys should probably be included in the song.
* I Will Follow: perfect. Literally the ideal bridge from the punk set to Iris.
* Iris/Cedarwood Road/Song For Someone: These all stay put, no reason to mess with greatness.
* Sunday Bloody Sunday: perfect. I've seen some argue that this could be a good place for the acoustic 'Please,' which is fair since that song is incredible and thematically on point. That said, given all the new songs in a row, the casuals in the crowd probably need a major hit at this point of the show.
* Raised By Wolves: perfect. Wow, do I ever love this song.
* UTEOTW: perfect.


As for the "eleventh song"....
* MAYBE Sweetest Thing after SFS? I mean, they're both "Ali" songs, right? I dunno if having such a poppy one breaks the mood a bit, or perhaps having this bit of sugar only enhances the tragedy that comes after. Sweetest Thing to this melancholy version of SBS would probably be up there with the weirdest concert transitions in history.

* I'm always eager to find a spot for A Sort Of Homecoming, so perhaps since this set is literally about a thematic homecoming, maybe put it either before Cedarwood Road or just after Raised By Wolves?

* Bad, right after Raised By Wolves. The two Peter Rowan songs back to back.

* The Troubles, right between RBW and UTEOTW. Surely U2 can find a slot in the setlist for this great song, right?

 

[malchik_petya]

Actually I cannot get what's holding them back from playing The Troubles every night. And btw love the fact that Edge plays his Explorer on this one - a nice little touch to the whole innocence/experience thing even if it's unintentional.

Plus I wouldn't advice to put anything between RBW and UTEOTW - they are a great combo. If anything I'd rather see acoustic SBS replaced by October + NYD, but that's just my 'couch expert' opinion

 

[trevgreg]

* There Is Where You Can Reach Me Now as an alternate opener. Miracle is a great opener and should rightly kick off most of the shows, yet if you're doing 6-8 nights in a city, it would behoove U2 to throw Reach in there as a curveball a couple of times.
* Add more options into the Electric Co/Out Of Control rotation. Gloria has already popped up, the band played 11 O'Clock Tick Tock at that club show in Los Angeles and 'Two Hearts Beat As One' has been rehearsed. Hell, maybe drive us all crazy and bust out Rejoice or A Celebration or something.

I love 11 o’Clock as much as the other guy, but I can’t see it taking up the second spot. By just comparing it to what else the band's playing there, it’s obvious that they’re playing the earlier songs that “work up” the crowd more and keep the energy levels up. OOC, Electric Co., and Gloria definitely have those qualities. 11 o’Clock, especially with how they’ve been playing it in recent years… not so much. For similar reasons, I can’t really see This is Where You Can Reach Me Now opening up the show any better than The Miracle can either.

That being said, something like Two Hearts Beat as One and A Celebration would probably work alright in the second spot... we'll see if they pull out the first one there at some point.

* The Troubles, right between RBW and UTEOTW. Surely U2 can find a slot in the setlist for this great song, right?

Absolutely. And that spot would probably work the most out of all of them, I think.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

I would clearly add NYD, this song might be the most famous U2 song prior 87 (close with Pride), it's still for me the best big hit when played live, haven't lost much since 83.

I would make it a 12 song set with the following: (with spot 2 and 3 having those 4 songs in rotation, how ever they want)

1. The Miracle
2. The Electric Co / Out of Control
3. Gloria / 11 o'clock tick tock
4. Vertigo
5. I will follow
6. Iris
7. Cedarwood Road
8. Song for Someone
9. October
10. New Year's Day
11. Raised by Wolves
12. Until the End of the World

 

[corianderstem]

I don't think Reach Me would work as an opener for the same reason that Breathe didn't really work (as much as I love the song): too unfamiliar.

I mean, it's not like The Miracle was a smash hit, but it was in a commercial, so .... somewhat known.

 

[daygloeyes2]

I wouldn't mind seeing IWF being rotated with NYD like it was during the 2010 360 European leg.

 

[superchuk5]

Two rotational songs in the "punk clump" would be great. Otherwise, I think it's pretty great as is. Wouldn't want to see The Miracle get bumped for Reach, it feels to me like a trade down and I don't think it can top Miracle's thematic relevance to opening the show. Sure, they're both inspired by two of their biggest inspirations (Ramones and The Clash), but Miracle is much more universal in its message. Would love to see Reach on the e stage though.

Also, maybe October could sub for SBS at some shows. Lyrics may not work as well but they both can act as the somber intro to the vicious RBW.

 

[hpantazo]

There is really no reason why they are still playing Vertigo and haven't replaced it with Volcano as a regular part of the setlist. Also as others have said, Reach should alternate with Miracle as an opener, or at least show up in the setlist somewhere once in a while.

 

[BVS]

There is really no reason why they are still playing Vertigo and haven't replaced it with Volcano as a regular part of the setlist.

I can think of one big reason... Hmmm, what could it be?


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[kabigon]

Lapoe opened 9 shows on Vertigo, it wouldn't be too farfetched to give Reach a go (though I do think Miracle works pretty well opening the show).

 

[PopFly]

On nights when 'Reach' is the opener, they can perhaps still go with Miracle combined with In A Little While as the e-stage combination.

I'm not sure NYD has a natural spot in the Innocence set. The theme is specifically their early days in Ireland, not their early days as a band altogether --- the Polish independence song is therefore not a fit. They could play it directly after UTEOTW as they did on Zoo TV, if they wanted to end the Innocence set on a more positive note.

There is really no reason why they are still playing Vertigo and haven't replaced it with Volcano as a regular part of the setlist. Also as others have said, Reach should alternate with Miracle as an opener, or at least show up in the setlist somewhere once in a while.

Volcano theoretically works in that 'punk' opening set, yet let's be real, Vertigo isn't going anywhere. It's one of their big modern hits, it's a crowd favourite and it'll be in every concert setlist until U2 finally retires. I, for one, welcome our Vertigo overlords. (Plus, I still think the song is great live.)

 

[Mack_Again]

I recommend them to play songs like Day Without Me, just for the crowd-pleaser.


I actually would love if they play Dirty Day. if its about his dad, sorta

 

[TheUnknownCalle]

If any song rotated with Vertigo, it would be Elevation. (Though even that isn't likely!)

My main suggestion would just be to lengthen the second song slot into two to maximise those cool early days slots.

 

[westendgirl]

My .02 - Stories for Boys should be included in the Innocence set


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[corianderstem]

Lapoe opened 9 shows on Vertigo, it wouldn't be too farfetched to give Reach a go (though I do think Miracle works pretty well opening the show).

Except since Vertigo was a bona fide radio smash and the album sold like hotcakes (compared to SOI's release and the state of album sales in general in 2014-2015), I think it was probably a lot more familiar than Reach would be.

 

[Zoocoustic]

Honestly, I wouldn't touch a thing about the "Innocence" setlist. Everything just flows so well and has such a great feel.

Where I would change things up significantly is the second half of the show. I guess I can see the point of always starting with Invisible - even though I don't care for the tune - as a way of breaking down the "wall", uniting the crowd, etc.

From there, however, I think it should be a completely different setlist every night. Mix it up - say, 70% warhorses with 20% new songs and the last 10% obscurities for the die-hards. And change the order and song selection drastically from night to night. Sure, they need to include Streets every night. But all other bets are off. I mean, they have such a deep catalog - even of "big hits" - that surely this could work, right? They could probably get through 3 or 4 nights of doing this before they had to start repeating a lot of songs.

I realize this is U2, not Pearl Jam, and we are unlikely to see such a thing ever happen....but I can dream, can't I?.......

 

[U2387]

I love 11 o’Clock as much as the other guy, but I can’t see it taking up the second spot. By just comparing it to what else the band's playing there, it’s obvious that they’re playing the earlier songs that “work up” the crowd more and keep the energy levels up. OOC, Electric Co., and Gloria definitely have those qualities. 11 o’Clock, especially with how they’ve been playing it in recent years… not so much. For similar reasons, I can’t really see This is Where You Can Reach Me Now opening up the show any better than The Miracle can either.

That being said, something like Two Hearts Beat as One and A Celebration would probably work alright in the second spot... we'll see if they pull out the first one there at some point.

Agree with this!

Two Hearts would definitely work coming right out of the Miracle.

And it really needs to be played on the main stage and not the e stage. Too much would be lost with the drums if they did it out there.

I think OOC/Electric Co was a rotational pair aimed at 2 night stands in cities. LA got derailed by Sheehan (rightly so) so I think they just stuck with what had already been done.

As Chicago approached, followed now by Boston and more so NYC, Gloria was added and I think the logical progression is to add Two Hearts.

If they did 26 songs in Toronto with ease and so far, have had no problem adding on to the 2nd set, they could EASILY expand the "punk" opening to 5 songs.

The Miracle
Two Hearts Beat As One
Vertigo
Out of Control
I Will Follow

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

I don't think Reach Me would work as an opener for the same reason that Breathe didn't really work (as much as I love the song): too unfamiliar.

I mean, it's not like The Miracle was a smash hit, but it was in a commercial, so .... somewhat known.

Keeping that in mind...shouldn't 'Invisible' be the opener?

 

[corianderstem]

I'd love it as the opener. Although the "who oh ohs" work as a good call and response for an opener, which is cool.

Thematically Miracle works, but so would Invisible, with its general "I'm more than you know, dad! just you wait!" vibe.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I'd love it as the opener. Although the "who oh ohs" work as a good call and response for an opener, which is cool.

Thematically Miracle works, but so would Invisible, with its general "I'm more than you know, dad! just you wait!" vibe.

#dadrock

 

[corianderstem]

Damn it.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

 

[Mack_Again]

Dammit, I need more SOI songs into that INNOCENT set.../

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Concerning "A Celebration" Bono literally laughed and gave a dreaded "no" when asked about performing it ten years ago while signing autographs at a Vertigo show...it's not going to happen.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

From there, however, I think it should be a completely different setlist every night. Mix it up - say, 70% warhorses with 20% new songs and the last 10% obscurities for the die-hards. And change the order and song selection drastically from night to night. Sure, they need to include Streets every night. But all other bets are off. I mean, they have such a deep catalog - even of "big hits" - that surely this could work, right? They could probably get through 3 or 4 nights of doing this before they had to start repeating a lot of songs.

I realize this is U2, not Pearl Jam, and we are unlikely to see such a thing ever happen....but I can dream, can't I?.......

Well, that was honestly the plan...it just turns out that they're only willing to change 3 songs in the second half every night (the two on the E-stage and the closer) and 4 if you're lucky (the random appearance of Bad, All I Want Is You, The Troubles, etc.) I definitely was expecting there to be much more variation night-to-night, but we've had the same 19 songs getting played basically every evening...without even looking, I imagine these are some of the most static arena setlists they've ever done.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

They are the most static and most varied setlist they've done. They've played more songs than they normally play on any given tour, while at the same time playing 19 of the same songs every night

 

[Rhiannon64]

Concerning "A Celebration" Bono literally laughed and gave a dreaded "no" when asked about performing it ten years ago while signing autographs at a Vertigo show...it's not going to happen.

I would absolutely love to hear A Celebration live! It's one of my favorite songs from the early days. It's too bad the song isn't even a consideration. It would fit perfectly in the narrative of innocence. There's so much joy in it!

Two Hearts Beat As One would also be a great addition!

 

[BigMacPhisto]

They are the most static and most varied setlist they've done. They've played more songs than they normally play on any given tour, while at the same time playing 19 of the same songs every night

Yeah, that's what I figured. The total of different songs played is staggering, especially this early on a tour...but if you attend multiple nights is kind of ho-hum as there's so many heavily choreographed sections of these 19 songs.

If they weren't so intent on having the second half be the same night-in-and-night-out, they could theoretically switch it up big-time. Set #1 could be the same every night, but the rest of the show could swap 14 songs between evenings. That would be freakin' epic. Imagine being able to hear 39 different U2 songs (counting the Song #2 switch) when attending two separate evenings? That's almost like hearing two completely different shows.

And again, it's totally doable to have 28 different songs in the second half of the show over two evenings. They've already played 32 different songs outside of the main set (and can swap out three different numbers in the first set's #2 spot as well).


The 32 songs for the second half of the show:

- The Ocean
- 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
- 40
- Pride
- Bad
- With Or Without You
- Where The Streets Have No Name
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
- Bullet The Blue Sky
- In God's Country
- Sweetest Thing
- Desire
- Angel of Harlem
- When Love Comes To Town
- All I Want Is You
- Mysterious Ways
- One
- Even Better Than The Real Thing
- Beautiful Day
- Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
- Elevation
- Miracle Drug
- City of Blinding Lights
- Ordinary Love
- Invisible
- Every Breaking Wave
- California
- Volcano
- The Troubles
- Lucifer's Hands
- The Crystal Ballroom
- Stand By Me

Bold = Current Nightly Staples

They're sitting on a goldmine of material they can perform already, plus plenty of others that received extensive rehearsals...yet they won't budge on really opening up that second half of the evening.

Having different full encores every night would make the difference...for example, one night can have Beautiful Day/One/40 and the other could have Streets/WoWy/I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For...that's a three song switch instead of a one-song switch which nets us 6 different tracks over a two night stand instead of 2. It also frees up room in the second half of the set for other tracks to rotate in-and-out...now there's more room to expand the E-stage set to four songs (move EBW to a full band version on the main stage) which in turn nets 8 different tracks over a two night stand instead of 4.

If they made that switch and also swapped the #2 early tracks and All I Want Is You/Bad, you'd get a total of 9 swaps over the two evenings for a total of 18 different tracks over the two nights! Someone attending a two-night stand would now get to witness far more tunes than before and the band themselves still get to put together a relatively static evening from one night to the next. The extended E-Stage segment is the only thing that would really take them out of their comfort zone...and they have more than enough tunes ready for it.

 

[nitebusnitebus]

Concerning "A Celebration" Bono literally laughed and gave a dreaded "no" when asked about performing it ten years ago while signing autographs at a Vertigo show...it's not going to happen.

yeah I love that song (so does Steve Lillywhite, a vocal champion of it, who surely has reminded the band that it exists) but almost no way it returns. the band probably find it too goofy probably despite the fact that they still acknowledge Party Girl (which I think is even dumber, and I'm not a fan) AND that it's really great musically.

Surrender is a song I could see making a return. pretty easy vocal range, not too hard to play, would go over well with the audience.

 

[Axver]

New innocence set:

1. A Sort of Homecoming
2. A Sort of Homecoming
3. A Sort of Homecoming
4. A Sort of Homecoming
5. A Sort of Homecoming
6. A Sort of Homecoming
7. A Sort of Homecoming
8. A Sort of Homecoming
9. A Sort of Homecoming
10. Womanfish

#asignofhomecoming