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Wow Adam!
WHAT???
Did no one else catch that??!? Adam - after 30 years - STILL knew that bass line??? Unbelievable!!!
goat
WHAT???
Its part of Willies Diary, but ok
Auckland. Production rehearsals.
...Finally I braced it and suggested that they might consider debuting Scarlet, a 30-year-old instrumental album track, a suggestion that produced the most interesting range of facial expressions I think I’ve ever seen from these guys. Given that the piece is largely a bass solo, I left it to Adam to make the call as to whether this was too much to take on, or if it was worth pursuing at all. After they had recovered composure, I was surprised and delighted that Adam immediately picked up an acoustic bass guitar and started to pick out the hook phrase of the song. Out on stage (the rain having subsided to a mere drizzle) the phrase grew into the whole piece and, through the giant 360 sound system, it sounded absolutely wonderful, “Rejoi-oi-oice….!” They played on, and the thing built into something quite dizzying, like time-travel. It’s a little astonishing to imagine a group of nineteen-year-olds writing a song like that, but such is the mystery of U2. Bono began rapping over the spaces in the music and I could guess what was in his mind – something very clever. I love these U2 ambient pieces… The Ocean, Into the Heart, Scarlet, 4th of July. Perhaps we should look at putting Fez into the show whilst we’re at it.
Did no one else catch that??!? Adam - after 30 years - STILL knew that bass line??? Unbelievable!!!
goat
MissVelvetDress_75
Blue Crack Addict
^
purpleoscar
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Fez
pepokiss
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
FEZ
Being Born
Get On Your Boots
Magnicficent
Beautiful Day
I Will Follow
Being Born
Get On Your Boots
Magnicficent
Beautiful Day
I Will Follow
That would be amazing.
bonocomet
Blue Crack Distributor
you need to tweet this.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
That is pretty fuckin cool that Adam still remembered the bass line to Scarlet off the top of his head.
Gives recovering alcoholics like me hope for a brighter future.
Gives recovering alcoholics like me hope for a brighter future.
Didn't they open with 4 obscure NLOTH tracks on Legs 1 and 2?
It didn't work. A lot of the audience was dumbfounded and it took a while to pick up steam.
Stingray, BD, IWF is not the best opening they've ever done but at least it gets the crowd in the game and the house rockin early.
There has been a noticeable increase in energy since the start of Leg 3, which Willie even acknowledges in the entry we are discussing.
You need recognizable songs when opening a stadium show, especially when its U2 we are talking about. They feed so much off the crowd.
I think the mistake they made was thinking NLOTH was AB. AB was much better known during Zoo TV so the opening barrage of new material worked quite well.
i don't think nloth has been around long enough to call anything off it obscure. maybe the tracks that haven't been played off it, but even then i think it's a stretch. in ten years' time sure white as snow could be considered obscure (assuming it never gets played live). but it's a major stretch to call breathe obscure. they played it on snl!given their modus operandi (as well as most bands who tour to promote their latest album - as opposed to the more novelty acts who just play older stuff) tends to be opening with a new song and all...i won't go into the breathe sucks argument (i for one happen to like the song but eh, everyone's entitled to their own opinion) but you can't deny that until recently, u2 has always opened with a song off their latest album for the past several tours. i forget when the last time was when they'd done it previously, the pre-uf leg i think?
i could go into some long rambly thing about what they should've opened with but that's for another thread. but yeah.
coolian2
Blue Crack Supplier
latest entry. shame he skipped the part where he was ordered to ask jay-z about scarlet!
nirniva
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
ooh, another thing i forgot to say in my last post. as we know, just because willie mentions a song he'd like u2 to play doesn't mean they ever will. so yeah he mentions fez and everyone's excited about it and talking about fez-being born possibly being played live.
since this tour has brought us such awesomeness as drowning man (which sadly never did get played live but was rehearsed several times) and your blue room, anything's possible these days. but honestly? i'd say it's more likely fez was played than fez-being born. especially since willie just mentions fez, nothing about being born. maybe it'd be something they'd come on stage to, not unlike stingray, who knows. but since fez and being born were two separate songs spliced together for the album, it sounds like he's just talking about the fez part (especially since that's the only part of the song that really qualifies as being atmospheric or whatever).
since this tour has brought us such awesomeness as drowning man (which sadly never did get played live but was rehearsed several times) and your blue room, anything's possible these days. but honestly? i'd say it's more likely fez was played than fez-being born. especially since willie just mentions fez, nothing about being born. maybe it'd be something they'd come on stage to, not unlike stingray, who knows. but since fez and being born were two separate songs spliced together for the album, it sounds like he's just talking about the fez part (especially since that's the only part of the song that really qualifies as being atmospheric or whatever).
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
I'd normally be with you on this, but to be honest, I thought Willie was joking with the whole Mercy thing, so ...
pepokiss
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
I think that Fez is the name of the song. We all know they're 2 different songs, but just to make it simpler, we name the first one. But those 2 songs can't be set apart... it's 1 song
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
I agree.
Zoo360
War Child
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I hope to God they play Fez Being Born next year.
Fer Castillo
The Fly
Actually South Africa would be a great place to play Fez/Being Born for the first time.... 
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
Oooh, how cool would that be?
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
It would makes sense, as Bono firmly believes all human life comes from Africa.
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
I wasn't thinking that "deep." I was just thinking because it's a song about going to Africa, that it would be awesome to play it in Africa.
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
Well it would explain the Being Born part, as in Linear's story it's when the Moroccan man goes across the sea back home to Morocco, Africa.
or maybe I'm reading too much into things.
or maybe I'm reading too much into things.
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
But ... you do know the lyrics to the song are about travel to and arrival in Africa, right?*
I can't tell if you're making a Linear reference because you think that's the Africa reference or if you're looking for deeper meanings just for fun.
Sorry.
*if the lyrics are actually about something else, I'm going to die of embarrassment
I can't tell if you're making a Linear reference because you think that's the Africa reference or if you're looking for deeper meanings just for fun.
Sorry.
*if the lyrics are actually about something else, I'm going to die of embarrassment
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
Well yeah, but in Linear there's much emphasis on that it's about Africa. Though I guess the lyrics also mention it quite literally.
given their modus operandi (as well as most bands who tour to promote their latest album - as opposed to the more novelty acts who just play older stuff) tends to be opening with a new song and all...i won't go into the breathe sucks argument (i for one happen to like the song but eh, everyone's entitled to their own opinion) but you can't deny that until recently, u2 has always opened with a song off their latest album for the past several tours. i forget when the last time was when they'd done it previously, the pre-uf leg i think?
i could go into some long rambly thing about what they should've opened with but that's for another thread. but yeah.
Well, probably not the best choice of words with obscure, but certainly not well known. A good amount of the audience didn't get it at all. I saw 2 of those shows in U2 crazed Boston and people were dumbfounded.
The fact that they played Breathe on SNL hardly makes it a world wide well known hit. Think in the context of the people who listen to the radio everyday, download music, go out to youtube, etc.
That has nothing to do with my opinion on Breathe or other NLOTH tracks. I love the entire album and I think it is nearly as good as JT and AB. On an album I love, I've always thought Breathe was one of the stand out tracks. I am well aware of U2's history of opening with new songs, but as I pointed out, NLOTH was not AB in terms of popularity and I will add that 360 is not Popmart in terms of concept. The production is not tied to the album, so they have more flexibility to experiment with the opening.
Its been since Lovetown, and I never thought I would be saying this either, but I'm glad they are opening with 2 reliable, well known staples. That doesn't make you a novelty or nostalgia act in and of itself. You have to look at the entire set. They still play 4-6 songs that draw from the latest release and unreleased material.
From the second Bono emerges with Zoo TV style leather and the band rips into Stingray, it becomes clear that the entire thing has been injected with much more energy than 360 2009 featured.
Again, I'm not saying always do this in the future(we'll have to see what their future albums are like) but for right now, its the best way to go, I think.
Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
No, Fez is the 1-minute intro loop. Being Born is the part of the song with lyrics. It's also not ambient-like, which Fez is.
I still don't know why so many people here want to have U2 play that 1-minute loop in concert, but that's me.
No, Fez is the 1-minute intro loop. Being Born is the part of the song with lyrics. It's also not ambient-like, which Fez is.
I still don't know why so many people here want to have U2 play that 1-minute loop in concert, but that's me.
While you are technically correct, "Fez" has long since become popular shorthand for the whole song, both the Fez and Being Born parts (especially natural amongst people not aware the intro is meant to be considered a distinct piece), and when I say that I'd like them to play Fez, I mean the whole thing. I don't see the problem with such usage, honestly. It's usually pretty clear people mean the whole song.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
It is just as valid as using an acronym or referring to songs by one word (IE stuck).
Funniest Willies Diary yet, "Tellytubbies" interlude between zooropa and cobl?..
Can just imagine Bono and Edge totally wasted watching tellytubies:
Edmonton. Show day.
It’s a commute day today – a round-trip from Vancouver to Edmonton with a show – which always makes for a long old day, with a few police escorts thrown in. The band wanted to sound check as there are still some new elements that we’re working on, so it was an early start and a late finish.
Having made it to the venue, I was in the dressing room for my usual ‘director's happy hour’ and, not having seen him for a couple of days, Bono was telling me what he’d been up to. Three things came up in conversation. The first was his telling me a story of how he’d been hitchhiking in West Vancouver and was picked up by a woman and her partner who turned out to be a well-known ice hockey player. Next he asked if I had seen the UFO that had been hovering above the gig during the show at the previous venue, before rounding off the conversation by asking if I thought it would possible to make a musical segue between Zooropa and City of Blinding Lights using the theme tune to the Tellytubbies.
I sat there wondering if I’d fallen through a hole in reality but, out of curiosity, pulled up some Tellytubbies on YouTube. The Edge had arrived by this time and the pair of them sat watching the Tellytubbies romping through TellytubbyLand, occasionally muttering comments like 'this is fantastic'. Deciding that the likelihood of my having disappeared down a rabbit-hole appeared to be increasing by the minute, I left them to it and went to have my tea.
Curiously, it turned out that the majority of the events described in the above conversation were solidly based in fact. This hockey player did exist and was currently in the building and there had, apparently, been some LED-illuminated radio-controlled blimp-device floating about whilst the show was happening in Winnipeg. On the strength of these two revelations I decided to just go with the Tellytubbies thing and got editing forthwith.
It was another great show and happily a very great deal warmer an evening than we’ve had of late. Also, (and this is just an observation with no disrespect implied), the Edmonton audience seemed to be united in a smorgasbord of, shall we say, ‘unique’ styles of dancing. I can only assume that arhythmic jazz is very popular here. It was quite a fascinating study, though Ethan had to look away as it was making it hard for him to hit his lighting cues.
Runner back to Vancouver.
Can just imagine Bono and Edge totally wasted watching tellytubies:
Edmonton. Show day.
It’s a commute day today – a round-trip from Vancouver to Edmonton with a show – which always makes for a long old day, with a few police escorts thrown in. The band wanted to sound check as there are still some new elements that we’re working on, so it was an early start and a late finish.
Having made it to the venue, I was in the dressing room for my usual ‘director's happy hour’ and, not having seen him for a couple of days, Bono was telling me what he’d been up to. Three things came up in conversation. The first was his telling me a story of how he’d been hitchhiking in West Vancouver and was picked up by a woman and her partner who turned out to be a well-known ice hockey player. Next he asked if I had seen the UFO that had been hovering above the gig during the show at the previous venue, before rounding off the conversation by asking if I thought it would possible to make a musical segue between Zooropa and City of Blinding Lights using the theme tune to the Tellytubbies.
I sat there wondering if I’d fallen through a hole in reality but, out of curiosity, pulled up some Tellytubbies on YouTube. The Edge had arrived by this time and the pair of them sat watching the Tellytubbies romping through TellytubbyLand, occasionally muttering comments like 'this is fantastic'. Deciding that the likelihood of my having disappeared down a rabbit-hole appeared to be increasing by the minute, I left them to it and went to have my tea.
Curiously, it turned out that the majority of the events described in the above conversation were solidly based in fact. This hockey player did exist and was currently in the building and there had, apparently, been some LED-illuminated radio-controlled blimp-device floating about whilst the show was happening in Winnipeg. On the strength of these two revelations I decided to just go with the Tellytubbies thing and got editing forthwith.
It was another great show and happily a very great deal warmer an evening than we’ve had of late. Also, (and this is just an observation with no disrespect implied), the Edmonton audience seemed to be united in a smorgasbord of, shall we say, ‘unique’ styles of dancing. I can only assume that arhythmic jazz is very popular here. It was quite a fascinating study, though Ethan had to look away as it was making it hard for him to hit his lighting cues.
Runner back to Vancouver.
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