kiss_the_sky

You bring back the red backlit stage, and those black band silhouettes coming out, and launching into Streets... that sounds like an amazing start to a show.

I think this is how it will work.

I don't think, however, we then just plow through the album.

I say they stick to the tried and true formula of fast-paced songs until around song five, and then maybe continue on with JT.

It would be so cool if SBS and NYD were in the first three.

As we prepare for the Joshua Tree 2017 Tour, u2 is doing the same, and if you've been reading the Rolling Stone articles, one thing is clear, the running order of the songs (aka setlist) is still a work in progress. But this is not a "setlist post" per se. Instead, my question is whether u2 will or should open with Streets?

To be honest, I struggle with this more than one should. But, hey, a fella has to do something between moments of protesting against obergruppenführer trumpf. It would seem the smartest approach would be to tuck streets away until later in the concert, say somewhere between songs 8-12, and then start the JT portion of the concert in earnest. To some this suggestion will seem bizarre, since, after all, the name of the tour is The Joshua Tree Tour. But for support, I cite the Springsteen River Tour. For the first part of the tour, he began each concert with the River and played it on through in original album order, and, once done, added a few random tunes from the songbook. He got bored with this, and subsequently buried the River in the middle of the concert.

The River is much longer than JT, and thus presents a more difficult call setlist wise, if one is intent on incorporating additional non-album songs to the show. Still, the challenge is  there for u2 and the coming tour, and the challenge looks something like this. Streets has become a concert crescendo for u2 and their fans. Concerts can start like a rocket with Elevation, Vertigo, Even Better than the Real Thing, or Joey Ramone. But the momentum eventually slows and then starts building again, until we hear the segue song from the latest tour, thereby signaling what is about to come. As the segue becomes streets, the concert hall becomes church and the Divine transcends. The concert could end here for all we care, and yet we know it doesn't. There is more to come, and we are all the more than thankful.

Opening with Streets changes all this. But as much as I think about it, I can't come up with a better opener. I don't believe they will sing more than a song or two from Auchtung. Ditto for ATYCLB  and Atomic Bomb. One might be tempted to open with Joey Ramone like they did for the last tour, but I don't see that happening either. They can do that, if they want, after they resume the I&E tour following the next album's release. For similar reasons, they won't dip deep into the Auchtung Baby songbook in case they want to  do that in 2021 (plus they already did that in the last leg of 360).

This returns me to what else do they open with? This is a JT tour, not a greatest hits tour. So starting with a hit from after 1989 just doesn't make sense. I can come up with songs 2-5 relatively easy. Bloody Sunday, New Years Day, I Will Follow, and, well, you pick the fifth hit from the 80s. But I can't come up with a better song than Streets to open the show. I just can't.

I've read all of your posts about starting with Zoo Station and such, and as much fun as it would be to mix these two tours, I  don't see it. Nor can I come up with a great song from R&H to kick off the concert.

So I've resigned myself to streets.

I took my 10 year old son to see them in chicago in 2015. His first question after the concert was "can we go see them again?"

Like father, like son

just added fourth show

GA for Rose Bowl, Soldier's Field, Tampa, Brown's stadium

As much as I love post-Joshua songs and albums (and I truly do) I don't think they should play anything post-Joshua Tree!

 

 

with you 100%

1) Where The Streets Have No Name

2) All Along the Watchtower

3) In God's Country

4) Trip Through Your Wires

5) I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

6) Exit

7) Bullet The Blue Sky

8) Running To Stand Still

9) Red Hill Mining Town

10) Until The End of the World

11) New Years Day

12) One Tree Hill

13) Bad

14) All I Want is You

 

Break

15) Vertigo

16) The Fly

17) One

18) With or Without You

 

Break

19) Desire

20) Beautiful Day

21) City of Blinding Lights

22) Mothers Of The Disappeared

I agree on All I Want is You.

That and NYD will be staples.

Today Rolling Stone posted an interesting interview with Adam where he discusses the tour, setlist possibilities, and the Experience album.  In terms of the setlist, he admits that they haven't started working on it yet but here are a couple of interesting comments...

"I spoke to Edge a few weeks ago. He wasn't sure the show was going to start with "Streets" and go right into the album. How do you see that happening?

'We haven't really sat down and worked out the dynamics of it yet, but I suspect it would sit as the crown in the show. I think we would definitely want to open with perhaps something that is not dissimilar to the Songs of Innocence run [where we did our early 1980s songs] and get people in the mood for this thing that's coming and you give some sense of history of where it came from. Then it'll be a scene change. … This is my guess. We won't know until we start playing it around quite a bit. We will either start with "Streets," or end with it, I might think, but there will be a scene change. Whether or not we go completely in sequence, we've yet to work out'..."

"I imagine one challenge in playing it in sequence is the four most famous songs are the first four. Then there's seven straight that are lesser-known to a mass audience. Doing them all in a row could be a challenge in a stadium. Do you worry about that?

'Umm … I think we really have to wait and see. I think anyone that's coming to that show clearly knows that record well. What we would need to figure out is whether that's a suite of songs [and] with our new knowledge of 30 years hence we could breathe life into them in a different way, or whether we kind of bundle them together with some other songs that are thematically in keeping with those. Again, I wish I could be more positive with that, but we aren't that far down the line. We have the aspiration, but we haven't quite figured out how it'll happen. But it will happen and we always toy around and experiment until it feels right.'"

This is how I see it playing out too.

But for early 80s songs, I don't know that they will play the SOI grouplet.

NYD will be a must.

Wait.

What if they open with

I will follow

Bloody Sunday

NYD

That's it.

The might do something crazy like that because they love getting the crowd going

We were treated to BAD followed by 40 on the second night in Cologne in October 2015  - a slice of heaven for sure !     

A slice of heaven

Beautiful

this is now how I will describe every u2 concert I go to and then some runs I go on while listening to u2

thank you

Per my Joshua Tree Tour conspiracy theory on another thread (I+E->JT->Next?), I'm going with pre-Achtung Baby songs only:

 

 

01. Where The Streets Have No Name

02. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

03. With Or Without You

04. Bullet The Blue Sky

05. Running To Stand Still

06. Red Hill Mining Town

07. In God's Country

08. Trip Through Your Wires

09. One Tree Hill

10. Exit

11. Mothers Of The Disappeared

12. All Along The Watchtower

13. Silver and Gold

14. Stories for Boys

15. All I Want Is You

 

Break

 

16. God Part II

17. Sunday Bloody Sunday

18. Seconds

19. A Sort Of Homecoming

 

Break

 

20. New Year's Day

21. Pride (In The Name Of Love)

22. I Will Follow

23. Bad

 

(Occasional encore)

 

24. Helter Skelter - with guest vocals and guitar by Noel Gallagher

25. Out of Control

26. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock

 

 

Okay it's a bit indulgent but we can dream...

Whoa!!!

My favorite one yet.

Heavy inclusion of R&H!!!!

Not a bad stab at the set list..I like some of the choices outside the Tree...BUT, this is big...they Had BETTER live up to it, and make t his EPIC!, otherwise whats the point?...from a band that never wanted to look back, etc....THIS is there shot to go all out to to the diehards, make that magical setlist within the constructs of a thematic adventure...We've talked about his for 20 yrs plus,,...If our not doing new music, bring the house...ala Roger Waters/Floyd...where you incorporate the Tree celebration throughout a 120 minute set....never knowing what song will be played until the moment it fits...I personally DO not NEED to hear the Fuckin Tree in its entirety AGAIN...THAT would be boring....truthfly, i'm only excited about tracks 5-12 at this point!!...so much potential BUT...they had better incorporate Seconds into the set, and i see acrobat ending the show.....there's a lot to ponder but...they better get it done proper!  30yrs......30yrs?....Most of us we'll be dead in another 30.....THIS is the time to do a fucked up setlist off the charts for die hards!! If only for the summer before that companion thing EVER gets released!!...Lets see it guys!! locked and loaded!!! I'm waiting!!! 

no offense, but, yes, i want the whole album four times at all four concerts!

I think I got it......

 

Since this is a "Throwback" tour of sorts......U2 has to go through the time machine....and chronicle where they came from, and how they matured to the point of "Joshua Tree"...which will be the centerpiece of the show....and where that maturity brought them to.

 

With that in mind...I envision a "chronology" that takes them right up to 2018 and "Songs of Experience".....Of course, not everything can be represented. Sorry if you're a big "Pop" fan 

 

 

 

Here's how I imagine the setlist to play out.

 

 

 

SET ONE (11 Songs)

 

I Will Follow

Gloria

Sunday Bloody Sunday

New Year's Day

A Sort Of Homecoming

Bad.........

----Side one of JT-----red screen, organ buildup

Streets

Still Haven't Found

With Or Without You

Bullet The Blue Sky

Running to Stand Still

 

BREAK-INTERMISSION

 

SET TWO (12 songs)

 

----Side two of JT----easy opening with

Red Hill Mining Town

In God's Country

Trip Through Your Wires

One Tree Hill

Exit

Mothers Of The Disappeared

----wild applause, but gotta rock it out, so....

Until The End Of The World

Acrobat

**Stay (Faraway So Close)     **---acoustic version on "B" Stage

**Stuck In A Moment

**Sometimes You Can't Make It

**Every Breaking Wave

 

Encores (2 songs)

 

Miracle (of Joey Ramone)

One

I like the thinking, and ultimately you are right. They will unlikely stick to 80s songs.

So here's my question.

Will any one show include only songs from 1980 through 1989 (minus a SOE throw-in)?

I say yes.

They will try it at least once

 

 

You guys think we might see Mr Macphisto back at it again it'd be dope for sure he could call the White House or turnp

It could happen. It something U2 will have to think heavily on how they don't want to exactly piss off some fans and Bono might have to ask, "Am I buggin ya??" "Don't mean to bug yah" Since they are some fans who aren't exactly behind U2 and their politics. lol 

 

Even so...like someone said. Window's In The Skies, Walk To The Water, Spanish Eyes, Heartland,  Luminous Times.(Hold On To Love)....B-sides.

 

No chance at mawhatevr......if that happnes I'm done, guy richie fired and Bono and co are tested for methanphethmines

 

won't happen . . . until 2021 and the AB anniversary tour

Are you going to play the album in sequence at the shows?
I believe we will, and I say "believe we will" because that is certainly the working assumption right now. The show might not necessarily start with Track One, Side One, "Where the Streets Have No Name," because we feel like maybe we need to build up to that moment, so we're still in the middle of figuring out exactly how the running order will go, so yes. We will be playing the album in sequence.

-----------------------------

I agree that the concert will begin with non JT material. Around songs 8-10, they'll play Streets and then go in sequence.

The rubber meets the road, of course, with the rest of the show.

Because this is buried so deep in a long thread, there is no chance what I'm about to say will filter up.

But, guys, this is your last chance to play material exclusively from the 80s.

New Year's Day should be played every stop.

Think about including more R&H, Hawkmoon and Silver and Gold, for instance.

Why?

Because you started fleshing out this album during the JT Tour.

And let's not forget JT Tour staples like People Get Ready.

I realize you must keep the non-uber fans happy.

But give it consideration.

Play only music from 1980-1989.

You've got the SOE tour coming up where you can play everything else, and then the tour we've all been waiting for:

the AB anniversary tour!!!

rose bowl, soldier field, browns stadium

Where by "y'all" I mean North Americans.

:  )

Nothing against the rest of ya, just easier to meet on this side of the Atlantic.

Let me know if any of y'all are planning to travel to Dublin together.

I may want to tag along.

U2.com should have a U2 setlist contest. 

Pick 24-30 songs that U2 will perform. 

Whoever is closest to the set U2 choose gets some excellent prize. 

 

Here's the set I'm betting on...

 

Zoo Station 

Vertigo 

Elevation 

Even Better Than The Real Thing

Mysterious Ways

I Will Follow

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Every Breaking Wave (full band this time) 

Until The End Of The World 

New Year's Day

Gloria 

City Of Blinding Lights

Beautiful Day

 

Where The Streets Have No Name

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

With Or Without You

Bullet The Blue Sky

Running To Stand Still

Red Hill Mining Town 

In God's Country

Trip Through Your Wires

One Tree Hill

Exit

Mothers Of The Disappeared

 

Desire

Angel Of Harlem 

Out Of Control

 

One

MLK/Pride (In The Name Of Love)

 

Bad/"40"

Interesting, and certainly a possibility. Get the crowd involved immediately with hits and then segue to JT. I like it.

However, my critique is too many later hits (I like, but don't see them playing).

Zoo Station will be saved for AB anniversary tour. Elevation will be played on occasion, but not a staple. I also see the integration of 2-3 songs from SOI, and perhaps one from forthcoming SOE.

It's a tough call, as Edge mentioned in the article.

I'm predicting songs from ATYCLB will not be regularly included, and perhaps only two from AB, Mysterious Ways and . . . End of the World? They love EOTW. So I don't see how they skip that.

Silver and Gold might get some regular inclusion.

New Year's Days is kind of now or never. So I agree on its inclusion.

supposedly "tier 1" seats are sold out, whatever that means

NYD would be awesome. What I'd like to see, but won't happen, is that they recreate the JT tour. So forget about everything after JT. You know, they basically did this during Zoo TV, when they disowned their early faves. Well, let's do it in reverse. Of course, this would increase the chances of them playing People Get Ready. But, hey, whatever it takes.

:  )

dumb question, is there any way to get a good seat to this show? from what I can tell, you must buy a weekend pass.

We are crazy people. I really can't believe we all know their music so well that we're discussing songs 99.5% of the world has never heard. We are u2 savants.

now about the idiot part....

  I'm gonna take this opportunity to say that I'd really love to hear them try " Sweetest Thing " live with the Very Early Version arrangement...... And The Achtung Baby mega-bomb : " Blow Your House Down ".....

Wait. Wait. if we're gonna talk AB outtakes, HEAVEN AND HELL, doo wop version!!

:  )

  I don't know.....As far as I'm concerned....U2 should play everything.......Known Songs, Outtakes, B-sides, riffs, half-riffs....I think Edge doesn't want to admit that it's very hard to re-create that kind of spontaneous  mood  their early album-sessions songs  have....Plus he might not remember those specific chords.....So he puts out this uber-fans, obscure songs joke.....

I'm with you. I enjoy the 20th anniversary collection. It meshes well with the original 11.

I won't turn this into song request #2, but I would like to discuss it. My first question is, well, quite simply, is it a song? I think we'd all agree the answer to that question is a definite "yes." It has both music and words, and a distinctive beat. I guess the next question is whether it's a song U2 can and/or will perform. I think they could perform it. I mean, u2 could easily recreate or approximate what they did in this video. But will they? I'm gonna say they dust it off at least once. Edge said in one interview that he doesn't want the setlist to be driven by uber fans and be filled with obscure songs. This doesn't bode well for this song. But I could see them giving it a shot at least one time.

In my humble opinion, it is one of the group's best songs you've never heard. It immediately grabs your attention, and the apparent spontaneity keeps you hooked. It also brings us all deep into the initial stages of the song creation process, since we are told this tune eventually became I Still Haven't Found. I don't hear much similarity between the two songs. Maybe you do.

What say you?

Alright
Hand of gold in the hot day
In the door and out then
The devil in the night
I feel love's alright

Going in the cold and going in the same
Born in the love with the light again
I believe in the love
I'm up again, alright

Alright
Come there, the darkest love then
All alone in the darkest night
I'm in real love
I feel love in the song
One more verse

Meet me in the door in the desert
In the morning I am
In there in the door, in love
Feeling in the stars and the love, believe it

All the love and all in the day
Feeling in my power in my love
Say it's in all the day, all the day
Gonna be in the garden in the sky
Oh yeah

Alright
And the desert of our love
And the desert of our love
And the feeling in the sand
When the poor man then

Go in the door, door feel me
Go inside, kneel down
I feel love in the song
Chorus

Ahh, feel in the love, I love ya
Go in the soul, ooo
Bird in the sky, bird in the rain
Going the field in my heart
In my sight, believe me
Bird in the song
Love
Bass and drums

Dear U2,

Slide modification to my humble request.

If you have to choose venues where to insert this song, please substitute Cleveland for Chicago.

:  )

Kiss the Sky