Opening act?

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I'm surprised it hasn't been said here yet, but it's been revealed that there is an intermission involved. It means a long break and that is time. 10-20 minutes. This pretty much seals the deal (for me) that there isn't an opening act for this leg. The rest is still speculative;
Maybe an 8pm start? Maybe a 3 hour show (including the intermission and encore breaks)? Done at 11pm? Realistically, this could mean 2 1/2+ hours of actual live music. 27-30 songs?
 
Yeah, I think the intermission kills the already slim chances of an opener.

The odds of them selecting a band I like were long as it is. Sometimes they give you great value with a really popular act (Kanye, Muse) but mostly the openers are space fillers that are given AWFUL sound to work with.

Kings of Leon were technically the first band I ever saw live. I liked their first two albums, but that shit was bad. Horrid vocal mix that made the singer sound like more of a drawling southern rock caricature than he already was and the instruments were reduced to a cacophonous din. Horrible show. Made U2 sound even better, which was certainly the point.
 
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Galeongirl said:
Glasvegas on 360 2009.





At least the show I saw them the lead singer behaved, at the London or Cardiff gig he rubbed lotion on his hands and started to fondle himself during their set, on stage. :crack:
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Jesus I just threw up when you reminded me of glasvegas in Cardiff, I remember the lesser known band before them being a whole lot better


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
glasvegas were utter shit. had the unfortunate experience both nights at wembley and cardiff. boooooooooya to shit bands :doh: the hours were good as were elbow. snow patrol were just about ok in berlin.
 
I don't see how folks automatically equate intermission with a longer show. I expect U2 will be on stage for the roughly same amount of time as they traditionally always have been. Basically something along the lines of two 1 hour sets with a 30 minute or so intermission between. They are still the same guys with bad backs and bionic eyes, they won't suddenly morph into Edward Bruce Gossard Springsteen McCready Vedder Weinberg Clemons and his band of merry marathon men.
 
While the intermission might mostly have technical and dramaturgic reasons, it could also help Bono deal with the physical efforts of the shows, given the impact of his injuries and the fact that he hasn't fully recovered.
 
I had the displeasure of "The Golden Horde" at the RDS in Dublin in 1993, awful, the whole crowd were waving their U2 tickets at them after about 5 minutes!
 
I'm very divided about this "break".
If it means 30 more minutes of music, I'm up for it.
If it means "man we're old and tired after 10 songs and we need a break", and we get also 20-22 songs, I think it totally kills the show.

We'll see, they might have something very special up their sleeves....
 
I dont think an intermission will be 30 minutes. that is a looong time.

My guess would be 15-20 minutes maximum with video production showing "things"....Perhaps not as wild/weird as the Zoo TV & PopMart intermission videos, but something more informational such as Irish terrorism or the role technology can play in solving some the world's issues etc...
 
I think the show could go to maybe 3 hours.

They usually play 2:15+ now.
That intermission should be 15-20 minutes.

First part: 1:15
Intermission: 15
Second part: 1:30
Encore: 15
 
I've been to shows with intermissions; they're normally 15 to 20 min, and they do normally mean longer shows.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
my guess is that it would be similar to a play.

1st part: 1 hour - 1:15
15-20 minute intermission
2nd part 1 hour - 1:15

No Encore:angry:
 
last unicorn said:
Intermissiion = No opener = longer shows?!

I'm all for that.
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I'm thinking 1 1/2 hrs, 15-20 min break, and then another hour, maybe hour and a half if we're lucky.

Calling it now: 2nd half will open with Streets. Dark arena, then that red screen and the loooooong intro that takes us all back to JT.

As much as I have pushed for SFS into Streets (there is a light, dont let it go out) because the place would EXPLODE, the idea of a 2nd set opening with Streets could also have the same mind blowing effect.


Hewson said:
Or bicycle safety PSA's.
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Hahahahahaha. Yes. This. So much.

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I think they'll do at least one encore.

Set #1: 65 minutes
Intermission: 20 minutes
Set #2: 70 minutes
Encore: 15 minutes
 
There's no way there's nothing going on during the intermission. Surely they'll have videos or something to indicate the show is still going on. You know there will be people who would leave if the lights went up or if nothing was happening to keep their focus.

Lady Gaga had a video intermission/interlude thing between her sets when I saw her. It was cool.
 
I think the first set will likely be longer than the second...it makes more sense to do a lot of material and then rest instead of only completing half or less than half of the entire setlist. So, I'd guess...

8:00 - Show time
8:45 - Band actually begins first half
10:00 - First half ends
10:20 - Band hits stage after intermission
11:00 - Band leaves stage
11:03 - Band returns to stage for Encore
11:20 - Band finishes Encore

Part One would clock in at 1:15 and Part Two would clock in at about 1:00. Total showtime is 2:15, not counting intermissions. People expecting longer shows are mistaken...the intermission helps them avoid the need for an opening act and gives the band a lot of time to rest. These guys are ten years older than when 22 songs on the Vertigo Tour was "enough"...the break is merely there to help them get through it all, not to lengthen the show to three hours. We all know there's literally zero chance that Bono could pull off three hours worth of music night-to-night given his health recovery and what it would do to his vocal chords.

And making everyone wait about 45 minutes from the ticketed time to when the band hits the stage isn't that crazy...a lot of shows had that long of a wait just between the opening act and U2. It will help give people stuck in traffic or showing up late because they think there's an opening act time to get there...and I'm sure they'll have some interactive/video stuff to keep people entertained before the show and during the intermission.
 
BigMacPhisto said:
I think the first set will likely be longer than the second...it makes more sense to do a lot of material and then rest instead of only completing half or less than half of the entire setlist. So, I'd guess...

8:00 - Show time
8:45 - Band actually begins first half
10:00 - First half ends
10:20 - Band hits stage after intermission
11:00 - Band leaves stage
11:03 - Band returns to stage for Encore
11:20 - Band finishes Encore

Part One would clock in at 1:15 and Part Two would clock in at about 1:00. Total showtime is 2:15, not counting intermissions. People expecting longer shows are mistaken...the intermission helps them avoid the need for an opening act and gives the band a lot of time to rest. These guys are ten years older than when 22 songs on the Vertigo Tour was "enough"...the break is merely there to help them get through it all, not to lengthen the show to three hours. We all know there's literally zero chance that Bono could pull off three hours worth of music night-to-night given his health recovery and what it would do to his vocal chords.

And making everyone wait about 45 minutes from the ticketed time to when the band hits the stage isn't that crazy...a lot of shows had that long of a wait just between the opening act and U2. It will help give people stuck in traffic or showing up late because they think there's an opening act time to get there...and I'm sure they'll have some interactive/video stuff to keep people entertained before the show and during the intermission.
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That's actually my fear....

Remember that Robert Smith from The Cure is 1 year older, a lot fatter, uglier and drink more than Bono (I adore the guy by the way...) and they sing at least 3 hour if not close to 4 sometimes.... give me a break, the boys are not 85 either!
 
Bono's performance is super intensive, both vocally and physically. On top of that, he has to use an inhaler device after the shows just to heal his vocal chords. Even one super long show could lead to long-term implications for him as a singer and it's a risk not worth taking when you often have another show the very next evening.

I get what you're saying though and people (particularly critics) have complained of the sets being too short over the last couple tours. But if they haven't really lengthened the show times beyond two hours, I don't see why they'd start now.
 
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