The setlist needs structure and a bit of order too...

[theu2fly]

I've been noticing the setlist and can't help but see that the intro song, as well as the encores tend to be all over the place, I was thinking the other day of songs that they could play in a certain sequence that would build up to the Joshua Tree better, like a 'blast from the past' catalog selection, but doesn't have to be too crazy.

This is what I had in mind they could start and progress with;

1. Out Of Control
2. Gloria
3. Sunday Bloody Sunday
4. New Year's Day
5. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
6. Bad
7. Where the Streets Have No Name
8. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
9. With Or Without You
10. Bullet the Blue Sky
11. Running to Stand Still
12. Red Hill Mining Town
13. In God's Country
14. Trip Through Your Wires
15. One Tree Hill
16. Exit
17. Mothers of the Disappeared

18. Desire
19. Heartland
20. All I Want Is You

21. One
22. Beautiful Day
23. The Little Things That Give You Away

While skipping 'Pop' 'Bomb' and 'No Line' it still tends to have a 'first album' to 'newest' feel, the set is a more accurate representation of 'blast from the past' as I'm sure they're trying to do with the current tour. It'd be easier to play in an order similar to this, as it starts on their first single and then ends with their newest single.

Again, my two cents as it'd have more of a better flow to it than the current.

 

[cobl04]

Agree it needs a hell of a lot of work but the above isn't realistic. Here's a set that is realistic both in terms of what they've played so far on this tour, and the fact that they've played all of these songs in the past couple of years live.

1. Gloria / I Will Follow / Out of Control
2. Electric Co. / 11OTT
3. Sunday Bloody Sunday
4. New Year's Day
5. Pride
6. A Sort of Homecoming (with a well-thought out segue into...)
7. Streets
...
17. Mothers of the Disappeared

18. Miss Sarajevo
19. Bad
20. Ultraviolet
21. One

22. Beautiful Day / City of Blinding Lights
23. Elevation / Vertigo
24. Little Things

They could play that every single night for the rest of the year and I'd be happy

 

[coolian2]

The main set (bring back ASOH and kick Bad into the encore notwithstanding) is just fine.

The encore is a confusing mess of songs that are dead appropriate but are in a blender.

Opening with Sunday Bloody Sunday, a song that needs the drums hit like fucking crazy, with a drummer who fades over a show, is brilliant and has taken on a bit more in the past week.

 

[U2girl]

The encore is a complete mess. They'd be better off with Rattle and Hum songs in that part of the show.

Then again...silly tour, silly setlist. Sure the fans may enjoy JT in full but Streets this early (come to think of it Bad is too early in the set too) ? SBS opening ? Spending 1,5 hour of the set in the 80's songs but jump right into 90's and 00's songs in the encore ? It doesn't work.

 

[coolian2]

The encore is a complete mess. They'd be better off with Rattle and Hum songs in that part of the show.

Then again...silly tour, silly setlist. Sure the fans may enjoy JT in full but Streets this early (come to think of it Bad is too early in the set too) ? SBS opening ? Spending 1,5 hour of the set in the 80's songs but jump right into 90's and 00's songs in the encore ? It doesn't work.

They used to OPEN with Streets!

 

[cobl04]

The encore is a complete mess. They'd be better off with Rattle and Hum songs in that part of the show.

Then again...silly tour, silly setlist. Sure the fans may enjoy JT in full but Streets this early (come to think of it Bad is too early in the set too) ? SBS opening ? Spending 1,5 hour of the set in the 80's songs but jump right into 90's and 00's songs in the encore ? It doesn't work.

You really are like a black hole, except you also suck in joy as well as light.

 

[d.darroch]

It would be really nice to hear some Rattle & Hum in the first part of the encore. Yes, Hawkmoon, God Part II & Heartland are too unrealistic, as is Van Diemen's Land (though it would give Bono & Larry a break, & spin out the casuals). It would be nice to at least hear AIWIY. Desire would keep the casuals happy too.

 

[LemonMelon]

ASOH really needs to come back, and the lack of R&H material is completely bizarre. This tour feels a bit like what happened when they tried to graft a bunch of ATYCLB tracks onto the Best of 1990-2000 instead of actually celebrating the era for what it was. This is a tour celebrating the 80s, so let's do that.

1. Out of Control
2. The Electric Co./Gloria
3. Sunday Bloody Sunday
4. New Year's Day
5. Pride
6. A Sort of Homecoming

7-17. The Joshua Tree

18. Desire
19. Angel of Harlem/The Sweetest Thing
20. Party Girl/Spanish Eyes
21. All I Want Is You
22. Bad
23. 40

 

[kps88]

Makes you appreciate the I&E tour setlist even more.

I have faith they'll figure this out eventually like they always do and, as usual, we'll start seeing a more polished set towards the second half of the tour.

 

[ascender_RS]

I'm surprised there's not more Rattle & Hum in the current setlist and its a bit of a shambles either side of the JT itself. Its a really strange setlist, they usually need some tweaking but this one seems a bit all over the place doesn't it?

 

[Hollow Island]

- U2 create a well structured setlist with no rarities.
- "We demand rarities!"

- U2 create an oddly structured set with 9 rarities, an unreleased new track and occasionally Bad
- "We want a specific structure and EVEN MORE rarities!"

Come on people, you're looking for things to complain about. I'd prefer if they closed the show with I Will Follow or another rousing song ("40" anyone??) but this setlist is great.

 

[trevgreg]

- U2 create a well structured setlist with no rarities.
- "We demand rarities!"

- U2 create an oddly structured set with 9 rarities, an unreleased new track and occasionally Bad
- "We want a specific structure and EVEN MORE rarities!"

Come on people, you're looking for things to complain about. I'd prefer if they closed the show with I Will Follow or another rousing song ("40" anyone??) but this setlist is great.

That's usually how it works on boards like these!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i'd prefer they abandon the faux-chronological thing and just come up with a setlist that packs the most punch. if that means putting a 90s or beyond song before JT and an 80s song after JT, who gives a turkey?

 

[BVS]

If only there were a setlists subforum where we talk about this type of thing. I wonder, if this would have come up before if we had had a place like that?

 

[Hollow Island]

i'd prefer they abandon the faux-chronological thing and just come up with a setlist that packs the most punch. if that means putting a 90s or beyond song before JT and an 80s song after JT, who gives a turkey?

the loose chronology adds nothing to the set, you're right. it would make sense if they played tracks from every album, but obviously they don't.

three different set ideas, for fun.

1. JT plus songs from every album
2. only play JT/Rattle & Hum tracks and b-sides
3. JT plus assorted relevant sorta-political songs, since supposedly that's where their interest lies. Not that you'd know it from the introspective new song they're playing.

1-11 JT
12 new year's day
13. sunday bloody sunday
14. seconds
15. pride
16. mlk
17. one
18. please
19. walk on
20. desire (trump version)
21. bad
22. "40"

not in this order, but it would still work. maybe not enough hits for a stadium crowd, but at least Miss Sarajevo and Little Things aren't around to clog up the encore and make everyone kinda bummed for the journey home

 

[BVS]

I think it would be jarring to have post JT songs before the JT set, so I can understand the "chronological" order to a certain extent. When I first heard about this tour I imagined a -here's how we started and grew to the JT, then JT, and then the fly, post JT, then the future.

 

[Mr.Sarajevo 09]

Makes you appreciate the I&E tour setlist even more.

I have faith they'll figure this out eventually like they always do and, as usual, we'll start seeing a more polished set towards the second half of the tour.

They'll be in Brazil by the time they figure it out.

They could figure it out this week, but that's unlikely.

 

[innominata8]

You really are like a black hole, except you also suck in joy as well as light.

oh my. this might be the snarkiest comment i've read on interference in awhile

 

[Tpsreports2442]

the encore is a complete mess. They'd be better off with rattle and hum songs in that part of the show.

Then again...silly tour, silly setlist. Sure the fans may enjoy jt in full but streets this early (come to think of it bad is too early in the set too) ? Sbs opening ? Spending 1,5 hour of the set in the 80's songs but jump right into 90's and 00's songs in the encore ? It doesn't work.

BINGO- we have a winner

 

[LoveTownTourist]

READ the new Rolling Stone Magazin Interview with Bono it tells you all !!! And don´t waste the time of thinking of setlist.

 

[PopFly]

SBS works pretty well as an opener, a big hit to instantly get the crowd involved. Another poster made a good point about doing that song so early in the set when Larry is at his freshest, The opening 'act' works pretty well as it, though I'd do it as SBS/NYD/Pride/Bad and then ASOH flowing into Streets.

The encore(s) section is interesting, since as per Edge's comments, I figured that U2 would load the "rest of the show" with nothing but hits since the lesser-known Joshua Tree counted as the rarities. I certainly didn't expect to see Ultraviolet or Miss Sarajevo pop up in the set. I'd put Beautiful Day right after MOTD in order to fire the crowd back up, and I'd keep I Will Follow as the closer. It's a nice thematic move to have the final two songs be a new track and then U2's first hit.

 

[kabigon]

I like having a break after MOTD, a bit of an emotional release.

Miss Sarajevo benefits from opening the first encore due to its relatively unknown status (I know it was played extensively on Vertigo and 360, but how many casuals would remember the song?), and the accompanying video before any mass exodus can occur.

That leaves Beautiful Day to open the second encore to take advantage of its slow buildup.

Really, apart from re-adding ASOH, there isn't much realistically that I would change.

 

[Mack_Again]

- U2 create a well structured setlist with no rarities.
- "We demand rarities!"

- U2 create an oddly structured set with 9 rarities, an unreleased new track and occasionally Bad
- "We want a specific structure and EVEN MORE rarities!"

Come on people, you're looking for things to complain about. I'd prefer if they closed the show with I Will Follow or another rousing song ("40" anyone??) but this setlist is great.

sounds like any music fans to me

 

[coolian2]

- U2 create a well structured setlist with no rarities.
- "We demand rarities!"

- U2 create an oddly structured set with 9 rarities, an unreleased new track and occasionally Bad
- "We want a specific structure and EVEN MORE rarities!"

Come on people, you're looking for things to complain about. I'd prefer if they closed the show with I Will Follow or another rousing song ("40" anyone??) but this setlist is great.

"It doesn't feel like it worked tonight vs the last six shows I attended"

Didn't know you had a legal obligation to see every damn show.