U2Fan ([email protected])
Sun, 31 Jan 1999 07:31:04 -0500
<<<<
How many times do we need to hear "Pride" played live. When will we ever get
to go to a U2 concert again and hear the likes of "A Sort of Homecoming," or
"Seconds" or "One Tree Hill" or "Acrobat"?
Of course, I understand that there are people who come to U2 shows who are
not as familiar with their work as others, people who want to hear
"Mysterious Ways" and "One" performed ad nauseum.
Since JOSHUA TREE, I've rushed out there and bought every U2 album the day
it's come out, before I've heard any radio play . . . . the songs I've like
best have never ended up being singles. My favourites on that album are "Red
Hill Mining Town" and "Exit;" my favourites on R&H are "Heartland" and
"Hawkmoon;" my favourites on "Achtung Baby" are the two fantastic tunes that
close the record; my favourites on ZOOROPA are "Dirty Day" and "The
Wanderer;" my favourites on POP are "Gone" and "Wake Up Dead Man."
Now, this leads me to wonder, is there a common theme abnout these songs
that appeals to me? What is it about them that makes them stand out in my
mind? "Gone" probably won't be played live again any time soon, but I bet
"Staring at the Sun" will.
>>>>
I couldn't agree with this more. In my opinion U2 are dangerously close to
becoming a Greatest Hits band live. Take Popmart for example. Each show
gave us about 6-7 new songs from Pop, but the rest were all the "big hits"
from years past. The same songs. Every night. For over a year. What
happened here?
I've collected alot of shows from the Popmart tour. Some nights it was like
they were going through the motions. And once the tour got rolling, you
almost always knew what song was going to be played next. Vegas is probably
my favorite show, just because things were done a little differently (DYFL,
and full band versions of Staring and IGWSHA)
The occasions when they broke out of their box really stick out in people's
minds. Why? Because they were so few and far between. Take Rain for
example. That version played in Europe a few times is awesome! And during
Discotheque, the introduction of Whole Lotta Love was masterful. And
Mothers Of The Disappeared and Desire were thrown in a few times to good
effect. But what about the other 95%+ of their songs? At the current pace,
what are our chances of ever hearing Seconds, Unforgettable Fire, In God's
Country, or Two Hearts ever again?
Have they forgotten how to play the older songs? (ie. Desire). Maybe they
don't have enough time to practice the older stuff at soundcheck? Was it
just that they had become comfortable with the setlist and didn't want to
push it? I'm really not criticizing the band, because I have no idea how
much is involved (physically and mentally) in taking a concert to 1 million+
people. I'd just like to know why they did this. It can't be as fun for
them playing the same songs every night either.
Oh well, that's enough from me.
Can't wait for April 13!! My birthday and a new U2 song!! What could be a
better gift!
Steve
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Sun Jan 31 1999 - 04:38:43 PST