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31

Tours / Re: Is it time for U2 to simply start greatest hits tours?

« Last post by trevgreg on April 25, 2018, 06:25:00 AM »

"We might lose the pop kids but we dont need them". Different story nowaday!

Do you have any video clips from 25 years ago that I can use to fit my argument about yourself today? Obviously, I'm going to take it verbatim and all... 

Achtung Baby wasn't exactly dripping with esoteric ambient music that had no guitar riffs or hooks either.

32

Tours / Re: **Spoilers The Boyz in Laval QC for rehearsals.....**Spoilers

« Last post by trevgreg on April 25, 2018, 06:22:49 AM »

Plus, as Bono said during ZooTV, 'the trick is to make it LOOK spontaneous'. I bet if we put it to vote, 'Which tour was your favorite?' ZooTV and PopMart total more votes than all the other tours combined, and those were probably the two tours that had the most static setlists from leg to leg due to the productions.

I'm only see the show once. If it is a good set, play it every night; fine by me.

That and the Internet didn't exist then, so we didn't have as much of a chance at finding out what was rehearsed or even played at certain times.

And yes, it is a lot harder to put a set together than what people think. What we as fans tend to do is look at the actual set and tweak it. That's relatively easy. Like, you might see I Will Follow and say 'OK, pull that in favor or Stories For Boys or Gloria or Out Of Control' or another early song. It would still fit that slot. Pull Vetigo for another rocker like Desire or The Fly or something. Again, it fill the same spot.

Starting from scratch? That's HARD. Any of us could give U2 a list of say, 8 new songs, 8 popular/hits and then 8 fan-favorites, but putting them in any kind of cohesive order, taking into account the tempo, the balance of familiar/unfamiliar, the instruments needed ... that is HARD. Don't believe me? Pull out a sheet of paper and try it. If you are like me, it is a mess.

Yep. Yet again, we're all in our high chairs looking at out laptops, as opposed to actually playing or setting things up like this on a regular basis. But obviously, we have a bigger perspective on things somehow and can get tired of reading most of the same titles on a regular basis, so that should be the priority. 

33

General U2 Discussion / Re: Are they surprised by which songs are popular?

« Last post by trevgreg on April 25, 2018, 06:18:51 AM »

Boots never should have even made the album, let alone a single.  It's just a Vertigo rehash.  At least I know I have a song to go to the restroom during when it's in the set list.

There's a prominent guitar riff... therefore, it's a Vertigo rehash. 

The problem with SOE is also that there aren't really a big hit single on it so they probably felt that YTBTAM had the biggest chance of making it on the radio.

To answer the original question, I think any musician can be surprised on what songs register with the average listener or hard-core fan. Sometimes you might have an idea on what it is, then find out it's something completely different that either stands out on an initial listen or over time. Safe to say most, if not all, songs out there have their fans though.

Singles-wise... I've already heard The Best Thing on various radio stations a LOT more than I've heard singles off the prior two albums before that. Boots, I maybe heard once. Magnificent, maybe twice. Never heard Crazy Tonight or The Miracle. Every Breaking Wave was played once on a local AAA station and Song for Someone got a few plays on a Hot AC station the summer afterward.

Overall, I think it was probably the right call to go with The Best Thing. It seemed to get consistent plays on Hot AC and AAA stations, which is kind of their audience this day anyway. Having a decent vocal hook and the G-A-D-Bm progression going for it also makes the chorus a bit of an earworm, which definitely helps.

34

Tours / Re: **Spoilers The Boyz in Laval QC for rehearsals.....**Spoilers

« Last post by Conor74 on April 25, 2018, 05:14:48 AM »

As ever, I decided for this tour that I would resist all spoilers, and of course the first thing I did when the band started rehearsing was find the nearest available fansite to see what they were playing. Typical!

Got to say I share the view that it is weird that large chunks of the I&E setlist are being replicated in rehearsals - seemingly legitimised further by the release of an 'Iris' snippet on the official twitter channel. I find this all very odd and unexpected - they must know they're playing to diehards on this tour. So my guess is either:

1. There will be some kind of big twist on the visual presentation of the SOI segment (Iris, Cedarwood, SfS) songs which makes sense from a narrative standpoint once you see the show. OR
2. It's a clever ruse by the band to wrong-foot us and the set list won't be anything like I&E (hmm).

Who knows.

35

Tours / Re: The Screens and the Seats Behind the Stage

« Last post by Conor74 on April 25, 2018, 05:07:03 AM »

I had a direct view of the people behind the stage at I&E and they were having a great time. Edge occasionally wandered back and played for them and Bono strolled around up there too at various points (especially during the e-stage segment which I guess that audience section couldn't see that well) - I think the band are acutely aware of the need to make sure they are part of the show.

36

General U2 Discussion / Re: Catholic Guilt & U2

« Last post by Rasmus on April 25, 2018, 04:56:33 AM »

I agree with you OP and also that it comes through in some albums more than others. Pop is probably the best example and also SOE to a certain extent.

37

General U2 Discussion / Re: Catholic Guilt & U2

« Last post by summerholly on April 25, 2018, 04:32:13 AM »

I didn't think that Bono was a catholic. Although his father was a Catholic, wasn't his mother a Protestant and she raised him as such?  I got the feeling that although Bono is a Christian he doesn't align himself to specific religions.

38

Tours / Re: The Screens and the Seats Behind the Stage

« Last post by Gavin82 on April 25, 2018, 03:52:25 AM »

I was sat behind the stage in 2015 @ the 02 ull defo get a very good view straight down the runway & ull see the band BUT as said ull not see the screen

39

News and Rumors / Re: The U2 AR app is available for download for iOS and Android

« Last post by the_chief on April 25, 2018, 02:41:01 AM »

This is obviously only for things like I-phones or smart phones. I still use the same old cell "flip-phone" that I purchased in the year 2000. I can make a call if I need to and I'm out somewhere other than home. That's the only thing I use it for. I'll turn it on and hold it above my head when Bono's ask us to during the concert.

I didn't know my father-in-law was a U2 fan!!!

Dún, is that you?

Dun Laoghaire? Yes?

My favourite place in the world. Love going to The Forty Foot and Dunphy's for a few. Teddy's first for ice cream though!

40

Tours / Re: Only 2 L.A. shows?

« Last post by wons on April 25, 2018, 02:09:10 AM »

1. Over-saturation of that market.
2. Ticket prices.
3. Less and less general interest for new U2 music.

I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be an Australian U2 fan lately. No I+E tour. No TJT anniversary tour. And now the E+I tour cranks up again in the US. But I would totally understand why a general U2 fan (as opposed to a hardcore one) would pass on seeing them play for the third time in 3 years...

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.

Hopefully, TJT will be the last time they try to play stadiums. They got away with last year because they were touring behind TJT. The only way that I see that they could ever tour stadiums again would be if they did an Achtung Baby/ZooTV retrospective like they did with TJT. If they had tried to play stadiums this time out, they were be playing to some 60 percent-sold venues in some markets in the US.

I can't speak to Europe, but just about every act is seeing some declining sales in the US. It's a combination of an aging fan base, high prices and people having seen so many of these bands many times already.

They can still do stadiums and will probably always be able to do a 60 date stadium tour around the world, while promoting a new album. But, there needs to be at least a 3 year gap between tours. For example, if this tour goes into 2019, then they should not tour again until 2022 if they want to play stadiums again. The gap is needed to allow demand to recover. The band hav toured in 2015, 2017, and now 2018. Many of the shows each year have been in the same cities. This has led to over saturation which is why some arenas are not selling out.

A 60 date stadium tour in 2022 could play the following places:

United States/Canada - 15 shows
Europe - 25 shows
Latin America - 10 shows
New Zealand/Australia/Japan - 10 shows

United States/Canada - 15 shows
1 show per city
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Edmonton
Toronto
Montreal
Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Washington D.C.
Atlanta
Miami
Dallas
Chicago
San Francisco
Los Angeles

Europe - 25 shows
1 show per city
Dublin
Glasgow
Manchester
Cardiff
London
Amsterdam
Paris
Marseille
Lisbon
Barcelona
Madrid
Zurich
Milan
Rome
Vienna
Munich
Berlin
Dusseldorf
Stockholm
Oslo
Helsinki
Warsaw
Prague
Zagreb
Athens

Latin America - 10 shows
Mexico City - 3 shows
Sao Paulo - 3 shows
Buenos Aries - 3 shows
Santiago - 1 show

New Zealand/Australia/Japan - 10 shows
Auckland - 2 shows
Sydney - 2 shows
Melbourne - 1 show
Brisbane - 1 show
Adelaide - 1 show
Perth - 1 show
Tokyo - 2 shows

With a normal stadium configuration, no seating behind the stage, they could sell an average of 50,000 tickets for each show. With an average ticket price of $135 and 3 million tickets sold for the whole 60 date tour, the band would gross over $400 million dollars. Although that is well below the $700 million of the 360 tour, it is still higher than almost any other artist will probably be able to do in 2022 except maybe Coldplay.