SPOILERS U2 eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour Rehearsals/Soundcheck Thread SPOILERS

[david]

So with Acrobat being played live pretty much Boy, TJT and Achtung Baby have now been anointed only albums to have all their songs played live?

[Axver]

Originally Posted by david

So with Acrobat being played live pretty much Boy, TJT and Achtung Baby have now been anointed only albums to have all their songs played live?

Yep, with Pop just trailing them: 11 played in full and Playboy Mansion snippeted (and rehearsed on Elevation and before IE, so painfully close to getting that 12/12). If One Step Closer had made it out of IE Tour rehearsals then HTDAAB would've reached 11/11.

[hennesd72]

shame they dont try " a day without me" or " like a song " both would keep tempo going in a gig

[CosmoKramer]

Originally Posted by hennesd72

shame they dont try " a day without me" or " like a song " both would keep tempo going in a gig

I always liked “Like a Song” and would love to hear it live

[Headache in a Suitcase]

You guys are so right.

When I go to Pearl Jam or Springsteen shows it's always just 2000 people in the arena bowl and everyone else is on the concourse taking a shit.

I'm amazed anyone even bothers showing up anymore knowing that there's no guarantee of Jeremy or Thunder Road.

They should probably start playing clubs.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Originally Posted by Axver

The people most likely to be upset about the absence of Streets are hardcore fans who've built up Streets into this religious experience that absolutely must not under any conditions be absent from a U2 show, and probably write faith-based thinkpieces for atu2.

I just spit my coffee a solid 12 feet across the room.

[PopFly]

Playing both 13 and Song For Someone seems like a waste of time. If some of the I&E imagery and general setlist idea is being reused, why not just slot 13 into the old SFS spot?

[YBORCITY]

Originally Posted by kabigon

Yes to very yes:
Lights of Home
An Cat Dubh (no into the heart???)
Cedarwood Road
Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Acrobat
Until the End of the World with snippet of Sympathy for the Devil
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Desire
Staring at the Sun (Acoustic)
City of Blinding Lights
Love is Bigger Than Anything in its Way
13 (There is a Light)

Eh:
Love is All We Have Left (Likely recorded) (moves up to yes if not recorded)
Beautiful Day
I Will Follow
Song for Someone
Elevation
Vertigo
The Showman (Little More Better)
Pride (In the Name of Love)
One

No:
The Blackout
You’re The Best Thing About Me
Get Out of Your Own Way
American Soul

Indeed to very Indeed!

[CosmoKramer]

Originally Posted by Headache in a Suitcase

You guys are so right.

When I go to Pearl Jam or Springsteen shows it's always just 2000 people in the arena bowl and everyone else is on the concourse taking a shit.

I'm amazed anyone even bothers showing up anymore knowing that there's no guarantee of Jeremy or Thunder Road.

They should probably start playing clubs.

Ugh... no one said people wouldn’t bother showing up anymore.

My point is that U2 are able to charge $350 a ticket because of their hits. Take those away and replace them with other hits...ok. But take them away and replace them with Acrobat, The Ocean, 13, Cedar wood Road....not going to fly.

Do you really think that Acrobat is going to energize the crowd? There will be hardcore fans that really want to hear it and will flip out and then there will be the rest of the arena. It will likely be the same reaction that the back half of JT got during the JT30 tour with people enjoying the songs but not singing along and not really engaged like they were for the hits.

But maybe I’m wrong and when I watch the clips on YouTube of opening night the crowd will go wild for Acrobat and the song will energize the arena....hope so.

[kabigon]

They already have the money. If people don't attend the next tour, it won't be because the ratio of hits to pissbreak songs was out of whack.

[TheGeekyU2Fan]

Well, i'm bringing my dad with me and he only knows some of the hits, like ISHF and WOWY. He doesn't know songs like the ocean or acrobat. I kinda wish that they play streets though. It's nice that the band is finally playing the songs that we wanted to be heard live but they need to give one, MW, Pride and SBS a break.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Originally Posted by CosmoKramer

Ugh... no one said people wouldn’t bother showing up anymore.

My point is that U2 are able to charge $350 a ticket because of their hits. Take those away and replace them with other hits...ok. But take them away and replace them with Acrobat, The Ocean, 13, Cedar wood Road....not going to fly.

Do you really think that Acrobat is going to energize the crowd? There will be hardcore fans that really want to hear it and will flip out and then there will be the rest of the arena. It will likely be the same reaction that the back half of JT got during the JT30 tour with people enjoying the songs but not singing along and not really engaged like they were for the hits.

But maybe I’m wrong and when I watch the clips on YouTube of opening night the crowd will go wild for Acrobat and the song will energize the arena....hope so.

So, this same argument was presented about the JT tour.

OMG they can't front load it like that... everyone will flood to the toilets during side B.

But that didn't happen, because the Joshua Tree is a massive album in which everyone knows the songs, even the deep cuts.

And so is Achtung Baby.

So do I think fans will go nuts for Acrobat? Especially when you see where it is in the set (in the Raised By Wolves slot) and know that they'll do something pretty great theatrically?

Yea, I do.

There are no deep cuts on an album like Achtung Baby.

[Gonna Run 2 U]

Always excited to see the band play but...

This setlist (is if it is what they plan on opening with) is pretty lame. I hope they don’t think simply having acrobat in there is going to completely blow us away. It’s a good song but I don’t know how it became this mythological song that needs to be one day played live.

For fucks sake, replace “one” with anything else. I honestly can’t take this song anymore. Probably ever since they did it with Mary J. It’s just become this lame commercial for whatever Bono is pushing in his latest agenda. Heartland would be nice in this spot.

An Cat Dubh hopefully is the slot where they rotate older songs with (electric co, Gloria). That and Out Of Control never did it for me. How about Wire, Like A Song, With A Shout?

Staring at the sun is probably the biggest snooze fest you could pick from Pop.

I get that they did streets all last tour but how can you not include that if that’s the case? That’s one song you never drop from a setlist.

Case of the Monday’s perhaps but the guys can do much better than that shit setlist!

[superchuk5]

I want to see what happens with the back half of this setlist. I look at Elevation through Pride and it reminds me of the e stage on i+e, except twice as long.

[trevgreg]

Originally Posted by Headache in a Suitcase

So, this same argument was presented about the JT tour.

OMG they can't front load it like that... everyone will flood to the toilets during side B.

But that didn't happen, because the Joshua Tree is a massive album in which everyone knows the songs, even the deep cuts.

And so is Achtung Baby.

So do I think fans will go nuts for Acrobat? Especially when you see where it is in the set (in the Raised By Wolves slot) and know that they'll do something pretty great theatrically?

Yea, I do.

There are no deep cuts on an album like Achtung Baby.

Right. As far as any of the lesser-played stuff goes, it probably would be recognized the most in general.

I think the only thing that can really take away from Acrobat otherwise is that it might not work too well as a live song in the end. I'm not saying it will or would be, but perhaps there could have been a reason why it's never been attempted in the past... simply because it never sounded right. But who knows? Guess we're going to find out.

[trevgreg]

Originally Posted by CosmoKramer

Do you really think that Acrobat is going to energize the crowd? There will be hardcore fans that really want to hear it and will flip out and then there will be the rest of the arena. It will likely be the same reaction that the back half of JT got during the JT30 tour with people enjoying the songs but not singing along and not really engaged like they were for the hits.

I see what you mean, but truth be told... that's going to be any performer with a large catalog behind it. Or any time a whole album is performed by someone... the more popular stuff will get a larger reaction.

Acrobat certainly won't have the recognition that Streets or WOWY had, but being an "upbeat" tune from a album that sold very well should allow it to go down a bit better if it comes across well, I would think.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I think the crowd was fairly engaged during Exit.

[trevgreg]

I brought my sister to one of the shows last year. She wasn't really familiar with the band beyond a few of the singles, much less The Joshua Tree as a whole. Exit blew her away at the show and was definitely one of the highlights for her.

That's certainly one case where a lesser-appreciated song came through in spades live.

[The_acrobat]

Originally Posted by Headache in a Suitcase

I think the crowd was fairly engaged during Exit.

Yeah, Exit was kind of a shot in the arm after the RTSS --> OTH section. Great songs, but kinda killed the crowd.

I will say one thing, the BD/Elevation/Vertigo trio caused the crowd to go fucking crazy. Even though I could do without all 3 of those songs, I don't blame them for playing them every night if it works well. The point of the concert is to entertain the crowd. An entire U2 show without a song from the JT doesn't seem right, and probably will be a point of contention in the reviews.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Originally Posted by The_acrobat

Yeah, Exit was kind of a shot in the arm after the RTSS --> OTH section. Great songs, but kinda killed the crowd.

I will say one thing, the BD/Elevation/Vertigo trio caused the crowd to go fucking crazy.

I just don't agree whatsoever that the crowd was killed on the 2nd half of JT.

I mean... there are peaks and valleys in concerts. You can't have it be euphoric highs the entire show, especially in the middle of the first set.

The only energy sapping moment in the show was Miss Sarajevo.