Breathe why was it dropped

[U2OnceAgain]

Hi All,

I don't know if this was ever posted before. Why was Breathe not only dropped as the opener on the 360 tour but also entirely from the tour. I was at 2 Boston performances, the first one opened with Breathe and the 2nd one opened with Magnificent. I remember waiting for the whole show for Breathe and they never played it. IT was soon after that is was dropped from the entire tour. IS there a definitve answer as to why.

This is one of my favoroties from NLOTH.

[Droo]

It never took off live. I blame the lack of the cello live. Without it, it was just another generic rocker. And the band has better generic rockers.

[Midnight is Where the Day Begins]

It never took off live. I blame the lack of the cello live. Without it, it was just another generic rocker. And the band has better generic rockers.

I think the main problem was that there was no buildup at all. It was the same volume from beginning to end, and I think it would have sounded much better if they really turned up Edge's guitar.

[Tumbling Dice]

They replaced a new song with a greatest hit, which was the first sign that the tour was going to evolve into a greatest hits tour.  The other early sign was the introduction of I Will Follow to the set-list.

[Tumbling Dice]

Fez:Being Born would have been a more majestic opener, but 360 being a stadium tour, they had to appeal to the mass consumers of brand U2.

[jw]

It never took off live. I blame the lack of the cello live. Without it, it was just another generic rocker. And the band has better generic rockers.

I think the main problem was that there was no buildup at all. It was the same volume from beginning to end, and I think it would have sounded much better if they really turned up Edge's guitar.

No build up???  It had one of the most fantastic buildups of any live songs.  First you start of with just Larry pummeling the drums.  After about 15 seconds of this, Edge walks on with a really long reverb from his guitar that goes on for maybe another 30 seconds or so.  Not sure when Adam join in.  Then finally Bono walks on and then they finally kick into drive - about a full minute after Larry's initial start.  It was an awesome build up and tour opener.  I was very disappointed they cut that from the Rose Bowl video and made it looked like they opened with Boots.

[jw]

Here are two other threads on the same topic:

Ditch Breathe
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Intro and Breathe as an opener
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[Droo]

Fez:Being Born would have been a more majestic opener, but 360 being a stadium tour, they had to appeal to the mass consumers of brand U2.

Fez - Being Born would have been a snoozer of an opening. I don't understand the love the song gets. It is nothing special.

[Midnight is Where the Day Begins]

It never took off live. I blame the lack of the cello live. Without it, it was just another generic rocker. And the band has better generic rockers.

I think the main problem was that there was no buildup at all. It was the same volume from beginning to end, and I think it would have sounded much better if they really turned up Edge's guitar.

No build up???  It had one of the most fantastic buildups of any live songs.  First you start of with just Larry pummeling the drums.  After about 15 seconds of this, Edge walks on with a really long reverb from his guitar that goes on for maybe another 30 seconds or so.  Not sure when Adam join in.  Then finally Bono walks on and then they finally kick into drive - about a full minute after Larry's initial start.  It was an awesome build up and tour opener.  I was very disappointed they cut that from the Rose Bowl video and made it looked like they opened with Boots.

I agree the solo Larry was good, but Edge's reverb sounded exactly the same volume as the initial guitar playing

[Sugarcube]

Very few songs were eventually played from NLOTH because it's crap and the public reaction to it wasn't great - and the single tanked. This meant 360 became a Greatest Hits Tour.

Breathe was one of the only good songs from NLOTH and they replaced it either Beautiful Day (yawn), or the dodgy instrumental 'Stingray Guitar' as an opener.

[U2OnceAgain]

Magnificent was a great opener and Breathe was just OK in the show i saw but I can see it being moved from the opener but to never be played again made no sense to me.

[jw]

It never took off live. I blame the lack of the cello live. Without it, it was just another generic rocker. And the band has better generic rockers.

I think the main problem was that there was no buildup at all. It was the same volume from beginning to end, and I think it would have sounded much better if they really turned up Edge's guitar.

No build up???  It had one of the most fantastic buildups of any live songs.  First you start of with just Larry pummeling the drums.  After about 15 seconds of this, Edge walks on with a really long reverb from his guitar that goes on for maybe another 30 seconds or so.  Not sure when Adam join in.  Then finally Bono walks on and then they finally kick into drive - about a full minute after Larry's initial start.  It was an awesome build up and tour opener.  I was very disappointed they cut that from the Rose Bowl video and made it looked like they opened with Boots.

I agree the solo Larry was good, but Edge's reverb sounded exactly the same volume as the initial guitar playing

I don't quite get what volume has to do with it.  The intro was a different musical style than the main body of the song.  If volume is the criteria, wouldn't that be like saying the Zoo Station opener to the Zoo TV concerts had no buildup because Edge's guitar was the same volume initially as the rest of the song?

[mattressjedi]

Fez:Being Born would have been a more majestic opener, but 360 being a stadium tour, they had to appeal to the mass consumers of brand U2.

Fez - Being Born would have been a snoozer of an opening. I don't understand the love the song gets. It is nothing special.

I love Fez, but not as an opener. In fact, not really live much at all. Some songs are better left on an album.

[U2OnceAgain]

Fez:Being Born would have been a more majestic opener, but 360 being a stadium tour, they had to appeal to the mass consumers of brand U2.

Fez - Being Born would have been a snoozer of an opening. I don't understand the love the song gets. It is nothing special.

I love Fez, but not as an opener. In fact, not really live much at all. Some songs are better left on an album.

I think Fez would have been the perfect opener, its dramtic and prolonged the crowd would have gotten into a Frenzy by the time Bono let out the first howl. It could have had the same affect that the white lights do in Streets. Breathe is a great song and I love it but as the opener live it just didn't have the drive to get the crowd wild.

[Jara]

I <3 Breathe, pound for pound....its probably my fave track off NLOTH......and i was watching an interview with Bono the other day...and he sed it was his fave off the album too. To leave it off the Rose Bowl DVD is nothing short of criminal!