What is the meaning of The Return Of The Stingray Guitar?

[singnomore]

Well sure, context is important.  Your situation, or the band's, can have a profound affect on how you experience something like that.

But as a purely objective comparison (or as close to objective as I can get), I would say it's the worst opening "song" I've ever heard from them.  I would liken it to them starting a concert with the opening riff of Zoo Station....but only if they stopped before the lyrics, and if Zoo Station wasn't even a song in their catalog.  Calling it half-baked is being generous.

For all the struggle they seemed to go through in nailing down an opening number for the tour, I would think any number of tracks would have worked very well as an opener, and they could even have rotated them if they wanted to.  Breathe was ok, but might have worked even better in a rotation.  The title track would have worked too, as would GOYB or Magnificent.  Or go the "classics" route with I Will Follow, or NYD/SBS.  The number of possibilities make the choice to open with Stingray all the more confounding.

Makes sense - I think they more struggled with 'how do we get to the stage, get on the stage and make a grand entrance'. Me i saw it as them trying to do something a bit different. I get your point about openers - I guess I saw this as an extension to the Space Oddity bit - not a real show opener.

[Johnny Feathers]

The thought they couldn't come up with a way to get ON the stage in an impressive way is amusing, given the sheer scale of the thing.  It would seem any number of ways would have worked.  But then, I think it's a big drawback to playing in the round, and one of the reasons I don't like that style of stage.

Generally, I guess you can either go on with a sense of spectacle, or with a sense of "pulling away the curtain", and just allowing the audience to see you walk out there, 4 guys with guitars.  Zoo Station and PopMart built up the spectacle (PopMart to a tongue-in-cheek extreme), while Elevation pulled away the curtain with them walking on with the house lights up.  I saw 360 being similar to Elevation in that regard, but some smoke and lights could probably have built up the spectacle if they had wanted to.

[singnomore]

The thought they couldn't come up with a way to get ON the stage in an impressive way is amusing, given the sheer scale of the thing.  It would seem any number of ways would have worked.  But then, I think it's a big drawback to playing in the round, and one of the reasons I don't like that style of stage.

Generally, I guess you can either go on with a sense of spectacle, or with a sense of "pulling away the curtain", and just allowing the audience to see you walk out there, 4 guys with guitars.  Zoo Station and PopMart built up the spectacle (PopMart to a tongue-in-cheek extreme), while Elevation pulled away the curtain with them walking on with the house lights up.  I saw 360 being similar to Elevation in that regard, but some smoke and lights could probably have built up the spectacle if they had wanted to.

I think the sheer size of the the claw did challenge them but Sting Ray was just a wee bit different. I agree Zoo Station is as good an opening as they have ever done but they have used instrumentals in the past (TUF tour they come on to 4th July)

[Izzy]

What's it about?

Nothing - it was a lame attempt to play new material on a tour that was rapidly becoming irrelevant. It wasn't even a good instrumental - unlike 4th July.

Its very similar to a T Rex song.

[miryclay]

It is just an instrumental track lost in the U2 archives that was used as an energetic opening. IMHO it succeeded.

The term stingray probably references the tone of the guitar. The conversation probably went like this over tea....

B: "Edge, you got any musical pieces that say U2 is back with a new back"
E: "aaahhhmmm, lemme see"
E: (rumages through tapes) pulls out archived material "this tone is called Stingray Guitar but it is an unfinished demo"
B: (voice pitch goes up through statement) "The Return of the Stingray Guitar, huh?"
E: done
B: done

[miryclay]

I think reading into this track would be like reading into watching paint dry. There is simply nothing there.   

[Starman]

I think Adam should have played a Stingray bass during the song.

[miryclay]

Steve Irwin should have played a Stingray bass during the song

[MacJoost]

Poor Irwin.