SPOILERS U2 eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour Rehearsals/Soundcheck Thread SPOILERS

[Iggy Fizz]

Ultraviolet got play on Zoo TV, so you will catch those people, U2 fans in the day who see a song in concert, it moves them, they listen to it more. Ultraviolet also got some play on alternative/college radio. Not a lot, but album cut radio. I know my station played it. And not because of me.


Acrobat got neither concert exposure nor radio play.


There is certainly truth in the statement that old fans who are now casuals who played the shit out of Achtung Baby and may not even know the name of the song will recognize it and be like "shit...I forgot about this song." Some may add "I love it!"

But Ultraviolet had a bit more reach. And I can say from my seats up the Rose Bowl back end, it caused a lot of squirming. The chorus, as it is, caught some people. But it seemed like people were wondering when the next big hit was because this was the hits section.


So I am in between the "Acrobat will carry because it was on a huge album" and "10,000 people will flush toilets during the solo" position.

exactly.

and it's insane how some are trying to say Acrobat will work as well live as UV simply because they were next to each other on the album, they weren't singles and what? oh right they weren't on a greatest hits album. So what. This is ridiculous. I love both songs but it's not difficult to imagine that a lot of people probably hit the skip button when Acrobat came on back in the day.

The real question is how will it land if it does make it to production. As mentioned by others, its hard to know for sure, but there is a reason they have not touched this song even once live, after having actually rehearsed it back on Zoo. Now all of a sudden they feel the time is right?

 

[YBORCITY]

I would think Seconds would fit pretty nicely with the environment around the world right now. And for Drowning Man

 

[YBORCITY]

exactly.

and it's insane how some are trying to say Acrobat will work as well live as UV simply because they were next to each other on the album, they weren't singles and what? oh right they weren't on a greatest hits album. So what. This is ridiculous. I love both songs but it's not difficult to imagine that a lot of people probably hit the skip button when Acrobat came on back in the day.

The real question is how will it land if it does make it to production. As mentioned by others, its hard to know for sure, but there is a reason they have not touched this song even once live, after having actually rehearsed it back on Zoo. Now all of a sudden they feel the time is right?

I'm way too biased for Acrobat, it's easily in my top 10 and it's resonance is hitting home for me personally at the moment, so to be honest after all of these years and so many shows I could give a shit if 50% (or more) of the audience doesn't like, takes a shite, never heard of this song, to me it's just that good not to play. Someone earlier said it all depends on delivery and I think that's 100% true, so time will tell.

 

[womanfish]

they should ditch the showman and replace it with this:

fuck yes

 

[Iggy Fizz]

I'm way too biased for Acrobat, it's easily in my top 10 and it's resonance is hitting home for me personally at the moment, so to be honest after all of these years and so many shows I could give a shit if 50% (or more) of the audience doesn't like, takes a shite, never heard of this song, to me it's just that good not to play. Someone earlier said it all depends on delivery and I think that's 100% true, so time will tell.

agree with you 100%. it's not in my Top 10 but it is right up there in terms of my interest in seeing if they can pull this off. No other U2 song has that level of interest for me.

 

[georgemccauley]

Summer of Love and Red Flag Day should be represented in the live show. Red Flag Day has a youthful energy to it that would be exciting to see live and Summer of Love is one of the best songs on the album (my opinion) and is VERY relevant with the current world events(not an opinion, just factual).In fact, it would be shocking to see it omitted.

I agree, i'll be shocked and disappointed if they don't play Red Flag Day at least once this tour, that'll get the crowd bouncing. Also I wonder what they'll do with it live

 

[georgemccauley]

yes RFD is a highlight of SOE in terms of energy, so will be a bit surprising if not at one of the 2 LA shows.

i'll be happy to hear some more obscure/not often played stuff from AB and combined with anaheim2 from 2011 will be 8/12 songs from the album if they stay in setlist. after missing the 1992 tour (long story), this will be a good portion to have seen live. but no zoo station?

i'm quite pleased cedarwood is being rehearsed

I know, shame there's no Zoo Station in the mix at the moment, It kind of gets me thinking that they could go ahead with the Zoo TV 2.0 tour in 2021, the less AB they play on this tour the better chance of that tour I reckon

 

[Hewson]

I agree, i'll be shocked and disappointed if they don't play Red Flag Day at least once this tour, that'll get the crowd bouncing. Also I wonder what they'll do with it live

Edge on piano, tempo cut in half, Bono speaking the lyrics more than singing them, Larry in the back getting a massage, Adam in the back looking at art on his phone.

 

[Iggy Fizz]

Edge on piano, tempo cut in half, Bono speaking the lyrics more than singing them, Larry in the back getting a massage, Adam in the back looking at art on his phone.

yeah basically what they did with RHMT. OK not exactly but whatever. it still sucked.

the excitement about hearing rare tracks is for me tempered by the reality of what they have done to songs like California, Volcano etc.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

Out of all the new songs, I will be heartbroken if they ignore Landlady. I think it would do well live.

Also, I’d love to hear them play Love Is All We Have Left into Streets in the encore.

 

[prbiker15]

If they’re toying with bringing this much of the Innocence narrative section back, can we get Iris too?

Someone's monitoring this thread.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhsFQfQF1IX/

 

[brooklynmike]

Someone's monitoring this thread.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhsFQfQF1IX/

Holy shit. I love that song but are they considering this just one long ass tour?

 

[dan_smee]

I thing from u2songs today? They are about 1:45 later than they have been with their updates on previous days

 

[superchuk5]

Someone's monitoring this thread.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhsFQfQF1IX/

Well I'll be damned.

Now I actually have no idea what's going on. Are they gonna do the Innocence section for the cities that didn't get it in 2015? Or are they actually gonna reprise the whole thing all tour?

 

[U2387]

Ultraviolet got play on Zoo TV, so you will catch those people, U2 fans in the day who see a song in concert, it moves them, they listen to it more. Ultraviolet also got some play on alternative/college radio. Not a lot, but album cut radio. I know my station played it. And not because of me.


Acrobat got neither concert exposure nor radio play.


There is certainly truth in the statement that old fans who are now casuals who played the shit out of Achtung Baby and may not even know the name of the song will recognize it and be like "shit...I forgot about this song." Some may add "I love it!"

But Ultraviolet had a bit more reach. And I can say from my seats up the Rose Bowl back end, it caused a lot of squirming. The chorus, as it is, caught some people. But it seemed like people were wondering when the next big hit was because this was the hits section.


So I am in between the "Acrobat will carry because it was on a huge album" and "10,000 people will flush toilets during the solo" position.

This 100%. Perfect post!

I want them to play Acrobat and would in fact be disappointed if it became the drowning man of 2010.

However, you just can't honestly say that these songs are fair to equate. For all the reasons you mentioned .

Ultraviolet got radio play- though it was no banger. Acrobat didn't.

Ultraviolet was a staple of 3 tours, Acrobat has yet to debut live.

Trying to throw your arms around the word got played live and still gets some spins on album oriented/college/independent radio today.

So Cruel was at least partially played live a few times.

Who's gonna ride is no banger but no stranger to radio even today.

Love is Blindness is a much closer comparison to Acrobat and even then was a Zoo TV live staple and highlight.

Acrobat is by far the most obscure song on AB.

It's also a good deal more obscure than almost anything on War due to the fact that the album /radio format was more dominant in 1983 than it was in 1991-1993.

 

[U2387]

They've so far rehearsed I Will Follow, SBS, Pride, Desire, One, HMTMKMKM, Beautiful Day, Elevation, and Vertigo, nine really big songs, all as big as the six you rattled off (I'm cutting SBS from your list for obvious reasons). The Fly's also been rehearsed, and I'd dare suggest it's up there too, even if it missed the Best Of. That's almost half a set; the casuals will be fine.

Honestly, if you're the sort of casual hits listener described in recent pages, if you're going to a gig by a band where you can only name a small handful of songs and hum even fewer of them, and you get a show where you recognise half the entire set, you're doing pretty well really.

Though the absence of any of the big three from JT is pretty glaring, and it will be noticed. No amount of "but we just did JT30" is going to appease the many fans hanging out for those songs. I really do think U2 need to slot one of them in, and if I had my way it would be Streets (since I'm well over ISHFWILF and WOWY hasn't sounded good live in a long time).

Yes, we've seen SBS , but as you know better than anyone here, it's been done a lot less than some of the other stuff they're working on. It's still early but there's stuff they seem more enthusiastic about at this early stage. And even if you take SBS off the list, which as you said, is fair to do my point remains.

As does yours. I think most casuals will be fine, but a substantial minority of them won't be. For exactly the reason you mentioned- no acknowledgement of the JT big 3. Plus, this tour , with its ticket prices, will have a lot more older , 1980s casual fans than millennial U2 casuals. They have the money. And a good amount of them probably had friends tell them "U2 was awesome last tour, man. They came out with just smoke and lights like back in the day, ripped through. SBS-NYD- Bad and Pride then went through all of JT in order then an encore with those respectable newer hits."

 

[U2387]

Clearly they are playing the Showman because that deuche from Oasis told them it’s their best song ever.

It's there for a good reason. It's one of the stronger songs from th e last 2 albums. Tackles a serious subject matter in a lighthearted way. Is a lot deeper than it appears initially and is insanely fun and catchy.

It's also completely new ground for U2.

 

[kabigon]

It'd be the ideal song for Bono to re-ressurect Mr MacPhisto.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Acrobat...

It's also a good deal more obscure than almost anything on War due to the fact that the album /radio format was more dominant in 1983 than it was in 1991-1993.

lol

 

[Iggy Fizz]

lol

you are hilarious. of all the arguments made in that post you pick this very last line to respond with a simple snarky 'lol' like a teenager would do. no one but axver agrees with you on this topic yet you plow on, like a man on a mission.

I respect your opinions but really, you are fighting an uphill battle here. at least until we see how it goes down with this tune in front of an actual audience.

 

[dan_smee]

you are hilarious. of all the arguments made in that post you pick this very last line to respond with a simple snarky 'lol' like a teenager would do. no one but axver agrees with you on this topic yet you plow on, like a man on a mission.

I respect your opinions but really, you are fighting an uphill battle here. at least until we see how it goes down with this tune in front of an actual audience.

I agree with him.

 

[hasin73]

I also agree with Headache in regards to Acrobat.

 

[hasin73]

I'm way too biased for Acrobat, it's easily in my top 10 and it's resonance is hitting home for me personally at the moment, so to be honest after all of these years and so many shows I could give a shit if 50% (or more) of the audience doesn't like, takes a shite, never heard of this song, to me it's just that good not to play. Someone earlier said it all depends on delivery and I think that's 100% true, so time will tell.

This....... 1000%

 

[blueskies]

It's there for a good reason. It's one of the stronger songs from th e last 2 albums. Tackles a serious subject matter in a lighthearted way. Is a lot deeper than it appears initially and is insanely fun and catchy.

It's also completely new ground for U2.

Agreed. It's going to be a fun moment in the live show.

It'd be the ideal song for Bono to re-ressurect Mr MacPhisto.

Not gonna happen. I'd love that though...

 

[Axver]

I recall Bono sort of angrily asking the crowd if they were happy they played Two Hearts at MSG. As if he read something on interference that pissed him off before they took the stage.

Perhaps we should make sure that, before every show, Bono receives a print-out of angry posts from Interference.

For starters, a stream of invective about the lack of Pop songs.

I respect your opinions but really, you are fighting an uphill battle here. at least until we see how it goes down with this tune in front of an actual audience.

Uphill battle? You have like two other Acrobat Truthers for company, and the rest of us who just don't care to argue any more with people who think that a song on a massive album will not be recognised by a decent amount of the crowd.

So, yeah. I'm out. Hollow Island nailed it anyway:

U2 fans know Acrobat. It's not a lost track, and it's not obscure. It's on a beloved, iconic album that sold 18 million copies. There's nothing controversial about it being in the set. It's exciting!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

you are hilarious. of all the arguments made in that post you pick this very last line to respond with a simple snarky 'lol' like a teenager would do. no one but axver agrees with you on this topic yet you plow on, like a man on a mission.

I respect your opinions but really, you are fighting an uphill battle here. at least until we see how it goes down with this tune in front of an actual audience.

The idea that Ultra Violet gets a big response because it's been played live since Zoo TV is so absurd it's not worth a response. But since you insist...

Let me get this straight... Fans won't recognize Acrobat because it's obscure, but they'll recognize a song from the same album that's right next to it on the track list because... it's been played at concerts since 1992? So these fans have been going to U2 concerts for 26 years, but wouldn't recognize Acrobat? That entire premise is ridiculous.

Regarding a small playing of Ultra Violet on college radio...I was told yesterday that people won't remember a song like Acrobat, despite the massive success of Achtung Baby, because so much music has come out since then... but they remember Ultra Violet because some college sophomore spun it a few times 26 years ago? What??

And the only appropriate response to the argument that anything on Achtung Baby would be more obscure than every single track from War is a hearty L.O.L.

I have no idea if Acrobat will be performed well, nor do I know if it'll be performed as well as Ultra Violet normally is (JT30 aside). I'm not debating that. Only time will tell.

But the idea that the majority... 51% or more... of an audience paying $350 for tickets wouldn't at bare minimum recognize a song off one of the biggest albums of all time is just plain silly.

 

[RoKKeR]

I’m becoming less and less interested in the rehearsal news with each passing day...

 

[The_acrobat]

I'm still pessimistic enough to assume that "Acrobat" will not get played live at all.

Also, if they do play it, I'd estimate 20% of the audience will know what it is. BUT, if U2 dress it up and play it in an exciting way, they'll still love it. I have friends who are U2 fans, who have seen U2 live multiple times, and I guarantee they have no idea what Acrobat is.

 

[Axver]

I’m becoming less and less interested in the rehearsal news with each passing day...

Yeah, practically rehearsing a sequence from 2015 today is a smidgen odd.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I go back to the same Rolling Stone issue where Edge said they wouldn't play Joshua Tree songs... he also said they'd be interested in playing the Innocence songs again.

And both are coming true.