2015 U2 Tour - General Discussion Thread VII

[Zoomerang96]

Believe it or not, I agree that its tough to change a lot from one night to the next. Its just the songs they ARE playing do nothing for me. Not all of them, but if I never hear pride, stuck, elevation, vertigo, volcano, desire, etc etc again, i wouldnt care. And again, it's not that all those songs suck (volcano certainly does), it's the band's decision to whitewash the 90's from their shows nowadays that would make Lavrentiy Beria and the rest of the NKVD proud.

 

[YBORCITY]

Thinking back to the 5 shows I caught, Boston 1 was my favorite and incredibly the BTBS--> Pride (which I was so sick of)-->BD-->Bad-->WOWY--->COBL--> Streets-->One--->40 was a pretty epic run of songs. No matter saying they are mostly war horses they sounded glorious on that night for some reason!!

 

[clerks]

I will say watching periscope made it seem like my first concert was really my 10th. I stopped watching but knowing so much going in wasn't a good thing. Don't do it. Spoilers suck. My generation was last one to have surprises. I miss those.


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[jaimearodriguez]

Believe it or not, I agree that its tough to change a lot from one night to the next. Its just the songs they ARE playing do nothing for me. Not all of them, but if I never hear pride, stuck, elevation, vertigo, volcano, desire, etc etc again, i wouldnt care. And again, it's not that all those songs suck (volcano certainly does), it's the band's decision to whitewash the 90's from their shows nowadays that would make Lavrentiy Beria and the rest of the NKVD proud.

Pride (In the name of love) sounds absolutely magnificent this tour. I can't explain why.

The three previous tours, it did nothing for me. For I&E though: wow. You should have seen Madison Square Garden during the tune. It almost explodes into the Manhattan sky.

 

[Miroslava]

I grew to loathe Pride (through going to a ton of Vertigo shows, so no one's fault but my own). I do agree Pride had a renewed vibe this tour and immensely enjoyed the first 3 outings this tour. By number 4, I had to give myself a wee pep talk and remind myself that that the person going to their one show was probably super excited. My fist was therefore pumping and my rail mates and I yelled LOVE in the appropriate sections like in the old days.


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[Daddysgonnapay]

I will say watching periscope made it seem like my first concert was really my 10th. I stopped watching but knowing so much going in wasn't a good thing. Don't do it. Spoilers suck. My generation was last one to have surprises. I miss those.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

I didn't listen or read anything til after my shows in LA..I did not want to know!...but after I knew...I listened to almost all the rest!

 

[youarenotimmune]

I didn't listen or read anything til after my shows in LA..I did not want to know!...but after I knew...I listened to almost all the rest!

Haha same here! I loved walking into those shows not having any idea what they were gonna play And since then I've been following all the shows here and watching YouTube videos etc.

We were lucky our shows were so early on in the tour. I don't know if I'd been able to avoid spoilers otherwise!

 

[Daddysgonnapay]

Haha same here! I loved walking into those shows not having any idea what they were gonna play And since then I've been following all the shows here and watching YouTube videos etc.

We were lucky our shows were so early on in the tour. I don't know if I'd been able to avoid spoilers otherwise!

I hear you!!!

 

[trojanchick99]

I'm glad I was relatively spoiler free. Not knowing the setlist was fun, then the OMG factor with the screen was well worth it. Funnily enough, I see the screen until the 2nd show as I was at the E stage for show 1. It was amusing to be surprised 2 shows in a row.

Also, it was fun hearing the crowd around me in the stands freak out at Cedarwood Road at the show I saw up in the seats.

 

[catlhere]

Regarding setlists and warhorses. I don't think people are giving U2 crowds enough credit. I understand the whole "the people who were there loved it, so nyeh!" argument. But I feel it's kinda flawed because it basically means that the fans wouldn't have enjoyed the show as much if those hits weren't played. But U2 has A LOT of hits, so there's no reason they couldn't swap a variety in and out every night. The 1st half of the set seems to have been well-crafted, so there's not too much wiggle room there. The 2nd half however, doesn't seem to have any cohesion or theme at all, save for the Bullet->Hands->Pride segment, which is tied together. They could easily do a lot of mix-ups from the intermission onward and still send fans home in a daze of happiness. Taking out all the new album material, they have a mountain of songs to fill the rest of the concert with. Look at the list of some they have already played...

The Electric Co, Out of Control, Vertigo, I Will Follow, Bad, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Until The End Of The World, Even Better Than the Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, Gloria, Two Hearts Beat as One, Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of, October, Elevation, Angel of Harlem, Desire, When Love Comes to Town, Sweetest Thing, Bullet the Blue Sky, Pride (In the Name of Love), With or Without You, Beautiful Day, City of Blinding Lights, All I Want Is You, Where the Streets Have No Name, "40", One, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (And some more that I probably forgot.)

Then you add in songs that were singles, or hits, or at the very least are generally known by the U2 fanbase...

11 O'Clock Tick Tock, New Year's Day, A Sort Of Homecoming, The Unforgettable Fire, Running To Stand Still, In God's Country, One Tree Hill, Zoo Station, The Fly, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Zooropa, Numb, Stay (Faraway, So Close!), HMTMKMKM, Discotheque, Gone, Staring At the Sun, Please, Walk On, In A Little While, Electrical Storm, All Because Of You, Magnificent, Get On Your Boots

That's around 50 songs! They could do so many swaps every night without messing the flow of the show (more so in the 2nd half) and no crowd would leave disappointed.

 

[Axver]

That's around 50 songs! They could do so many swaps every night without messing the flow of the show (more so in the 2nd half) and no crowd would leave disappointed.

Great post. I feel like I'm almost going blue in the face from making a similar point. One of the things that bugs me about the band's setlists across the last few tours is how reliant they are on the same crop of hits. They have so many famous songs to draw on, yet they neglect a large amount of them.

For the hypothetical casual U2 fan who's only seeing one show and is always invoked on Interference as justification for static sets, what difference does it make if U2 play AIWIY or Bad? WOWY or ISHFWILF? Stuck or One or Sweetest Thing? MW or EBTTRT? WLCTT or Angel of Harlem or IGC? NYD or Pride or SBS? Take just one song from each of those choices and you've got a run of six songs that would send any crowd wild.

You look at some songs - such as One, WOWY, Pride, SBS - and you see they're permanent or near-permanent setlist fixtures, while a song like AIWIY has been played just 71 times across the last four tours, and almost half of those performances were fourteen years ago in 2001. Sweetest Thing has notched up just 37 performances ever. In God's Country, not just from the band's best-selling album but also a single, has been performed by U2 exactly four times in fifteen years. The same is true of WLCTT, which is on a goddamn Best Of.

If I were a casual U2 fan and I'd seen them on Vertigo or 360, unless I loved the new album I would not be rushing to see this tour - and compared to the likes of ATYCLB it's not as if SOI has non-hardcore fans frothing at the mouth to hear it interpreted live.

 

[KoDVooDo]

Not sure if this gas been discussed or if this is the correct forum.
Beginning Friday, the will be Q&A with the lads on SiriusXM.

http://blog.siriusxm.com/2015/08/03...ton-and-larry-mullen-jr-answer-fan-questions/

Looks like it'll be worth a listen.

Sent from my SPH-L720T using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I will say watching periscope made it seem like my first concert was really my 10th. I stopped watching but knowing so much going in wasn't a good thing. Don't do it. Spoilers suck. My generation was last one to have surprises. I miss those.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

I agree with you... I wish I would have had the willpower to stay away from the setlist spoilers and not watch videos on YouTube.

This is why I eventually need to get to an opening night show

 

[YBORCITY]

I grew to loathe Pride (through going to a ton of Vertigo shows, so no one's fault but my own). I do agree Pride had a renewed vibe this tour and immensely enjoyed the first 3 outings this tour. By number 4, I had to give myself a wee pep talk and remind myself that that the person going to their one show was probably super excited. My fist was therefore pumping and my rail mates and I yelled LOVE in the appropriate sections like in the old days.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

I loathed it too, but it seems alot better this time. Also, I agree with another point Miro made. I tend to see them on average 4-7 times each tour but I noticed by show 4 I wasn't as pumped which really speaks to this tour being more of a conceptual presentation which then makes the argument of not much diversity in set lists, it kinda felt more like a Roger Waters/Pink Floyd show where the presentation drove the songs .... I knew what was coming when so it kinda lost it's luster... I really think 3 to 4 times would have been enough for me.

 

[brooklynmike]

I agree with you... I wish I would have had the willpower to stay away from the setlist spoilers and not watch videos on YouTube.

This is why I eventually need to get to an opening night show

I'm happy that I only had to fight the urge to check spoilers for the duration of rehearsals and the two Vancouver shows before my first show. I did inevitably stumble on a couple of spoilers but the show was still a surprise for the most part.

I remember you talking about how you couldn't understand why they didn't use the screen for the first few songs. I'm curious now that you've seen it in person, has your opinion changed or solidified?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I'm happy that I only had to fight the urge to check spoilers for the duration of rehearsals and the two Vancouver shows before my first show. I did inevitably stumble on a couple of spoilers but the show was still a surprise for the most part.

I remember you talking about how you couldn't understand why they didn't use the screen for the first few songs. I'm curious now that you've seen it in person, has your opinion changed or solidified?

It's changed a little... But that's largely because where I was for my 4 shows (3 GA and 1 lower bowl dead center) had great views of the main stage.

I'd have to imagine that anyone further back and higher up, who's view of one side of the main stage may have been blocked might have appreciated a little use.

 

[Irvine511]

Thinking back to the 5 shows I caught, Boston 1 was my favorite and incredibly the BTBS--> Pride (which I was so sick of)-->BD-->Bad-->WOWY--->COBL--> Streets-->One--->40 was a pretty epic run of songs. No matter saying they are mostly war horses they sounded glorious on that night for some reason!!

God, yes. Yes yes yes. It was stunning. I have been anti-PITNOL for years, but it was so moving in context. The final 40 minutes were emotionally overwhelming. And I've seen them a dozen times.

 

[Irvine511]

Great post. I feel like I'm almost going blue in the face from making a similar point. One of the things that bugs me about the band's setlists across the last few tours is how reliant they are on the same crop of hits. They have so many famous songs to draw on, yet they neglect a large amount of them.



For the hypothetical casual U2 fan who's only seeing one show and is always invoked on Interference as justification for static sets, what difference does it make if U2 play AIWIY or Bad? WOWY or ISHFWILF? Stuck or One or Sweetest Thing? MW or EBTTRT? WLCTT or Angel of Harlem or IGC? NYD or Pride or SBS? Take just one song from each of those choices and you've got a run of six songs that would send any crowd wild.



You look at some songs - such as One, WOWY, Pride, SBS - and you see they're permanent or near-permanent setlist fixtures, while a song like AIWIY has been played just 71 times across the last four tours, and almost half of those performances were fourteen years ago in 2001. Sweetest Thing has notched up just 37 performances ever. In God's Country, not just from the band's best-selling album but also a single, has been performed by U2 exactly four times in fifteen years. The same is true of WLCTT, which is on a goddamn Best Of.



If I were a casual U2 fan and I'd seen them on Vertigo or 360, unless I loved the new album I would not be rushing to see this tour - and compared to the likes of ATYCLB it's not as if SOI has non-hardcore fans frothing at the mouth to hear it interpreted live.

I take your point ... but there are 4-5 years between U2 shows. For me, a U2 show has to have "streets." I wait a quadrennium to hear that song. There's nothing like it. I would miss it if it were gone. I need it. I'm sure other fans feel the same way about certain other songs. It kind of is what I'm paying for -- hearing these songs played by this band. It hit me on my first show in 1997 when they played PITNOL -- I suddenly felt connected to their history, and some sort of weird cosmic connection with fans around the world as through the years who had also heard them play this song and sang the same choruses aloud.

But I'm a sentimental, emotional bastard. ;-)

 

[senrab]

Pretty sure California isn't played live because of the strain on his voice. A lot of high notes.


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I wonder if that's why they don't play Bad more often

 

[Salome]

Great post. I feel like I'm almost going blue in the face from making a similar point. One of the things that bugs me about the band's setlists across the last few tours is how reliant they are on the same crop of hits. They have so many famous songs to draw on, yet they neglect a large amount of them.

You have famous songs and then you have FAMOUS songs.
Out of U2's FAMOUS songs All I want is you does get a bit of a raw deal.

Discotheque (or other famous U2 song) might have had better sales figures than Pride (btw I don't know for sure) and it certainly hasn't been played as often as Pride.
Still doesn't mean that it makes a lot more sense to just play Pride.
Because it's effin PRIDE.
That thing still gets played on the radio and is included in any top 500 (whatever) list.
And for good reason.

 

[trevgreg]

You have famous songs and then you have FAMOUS songs.

Yep.

 

[clerks]

Pride is song that introduced me to U2. I recall hearing it on infomercial late at night. Still love it. Crowd too. Band too.


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[FazeCraze]

God, yes. Yes yes yes. It was stunning. I have been anti-PITNOL for years, but it was so moving in context. The final 40 minutes were emotionally overwhelming. And I've seen them a dozen times.

THIS! I have been trying to explain it to friends and family but they just think I'm a big weirdo.

 

[kabigon]

I feel there'd be less animosity about static setlists if there was more than 3 performances of a Pop song in the last 14 years.

Keep Streets in the setlist, there's still 18 static slots which can be changed (even for more warhorses like NYD or RTSS, or a more permanent spot for AIWIY).

 

[Pop Artist]

Pretty sure California isn't played live because of the strain on his voice. A lot of high notes.

I wonder if that's why they don't play Bad more often

Pretty sure that's why Bad didn't make a second appearance in NYC, and probably why California didn't either, Bono's voice was very strained for NYC 7 and 8 (especially 8).

 

[DeVaul]

I feel there'd be less animosity about static setlists if there was more than 3 performances of a Pop song in the last 14 years.

Keep Streets in the setlist, there's still 18 static slots which can be changed (even for more warhorses like NYD or RTSS, or a more permanent spot for AIWIY).

 

[Hewson]

PITNOL .

Only on Interference would a 6 letter anagram be used in place of a 5 letter song title.

 

[BVS]

I feel there'd be less animosity about static setlists if there was more than 3 performances of a Pop song in the last 14 years.

Keep Streets in the setlist, there's still 18 static slots which can be changed (even for more warhorses like NYD or RTSS, or a more permanent spot for AIWIY).

Wait, now RTSS is a warhorse?! Only in interference.


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[Hewson]

Wait, now RTSS is a warhorse?! Only in interference.

e

Just like All I Want is You is FAMOUS.

 

[trevgreg]

Wait, now RTSS is a warhorse?! Only in interference.

It was played on Vertigo tour 46 times, apparently (per U2gigs). So therefore, it must no longer a 'rarity' and has to be put to pasture as it was played at some point in the past 10 years.