At least not entirely.
The show is a lot closer to a play. Or a musical. Or an opera.
It's very explicit in some parts and very subjective in others but the story is there, and I guess that it helps to understand why some songs are not played or why some others should remain on the set.
I know that all of this is subjective, I know. I'm not pretending to come up with the definitive interpretation of the show. Like usual, I just had too much time on my hands and decided to do this, hoping that some people will find it interesting and some will want to discuss about it and give their own interpretation of the show.
The show basically has 5 acts including the encore.
CHAPTER I - THE PAST (iNNOCENCE)
1. The Search of Innocence
He wanted to have a lightbulb over the stage for the first few numbers, which presented itself as U2 stripped back in the innocence moment of the band
The idea in here is going back in time and show U2 as if they were playing in a small club. You get to see them in McGonnagles. No theatrics, no screens, no special effects, no overuse of samples (if any), just the band on the stage.
It's not necessarily only early songs, as Vertigo proves it. But Vertigo is a simple rocker, a song that despite being in a different era could have very well fitted into Boy. On the other hand, I'd say it would be pointless to expect them to play Mofo or Gone or Discotheque in here.
High energy striped down rockers are welcome in here.
2. Us And Them, The Loss Of Innocence
When we were younger our enemies were clearly drawn, very visible to us. They were very real, they weren't imagined.
If the first act was showing the band when they started, the second act is showing how they got there. Why did they get into it, what's behind that punk rock band.
If it was a movie, the second act would start with a black screen and an ominous "5 years ago" written in white.
We get to see Bono, dealing with the loss of his mom (Iris), the friends in his neighborhood (CR), the love for his girlfriend (SFS) and the anger and desperation they had to deal with in the 70's Ireland (SBS/RBW).
In the end they were betrayed by the world (UTEOTW) and that anger triggered the band to that search of innocence we saw in the first act.
The narrative and the music here is very tight, explicit and compact, so it'll be hard to mess with it. That's bad news for songs like Volcano (or even SLABT), who clearly belong in here (hopefully I'm proved wrong tonight, though).
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CHAPTER II - THE PRESENT (eXPERIENCE)
3. There Is No Them, Search For Experience
The core idea behind the Innocence + Experience tour is this movement from "them and us" to "there is no them, only us."
This is a party.
Tired of fighting against their old enemies, they start to realise that really there is no enemies (them). They start making peace with their own ghosts.
After a "dark" moment, when they actually disappear from a few minutes as they start a journey in search for experience, they are reborn when they embrace that concept in Invisible.
They are back but now they have a whole new attitude, a new approach when dealing with the issues that upset them.
Instead of the direct confrontation of Sunday Bloody Sunday, now they get ironic with Even Better Than The Real Thing.
More important, instead of wallowing about War, they get into Desire, Sweetest Thing and Mysterious Ways... forget about the past and kiss the future. Come to the party.
Happy songs are welcome. And there's plenty of them. That's why we're getting the rotation in here.
4. Experience Found
As you get older, you start to discover that the greatest enemy you will encounter in your life is often yourself. You are the biggest obstacle in your own way. (,,,) That's the dialectic at the heart of the tour from a lyrical perspective.
Partying is not enough. Every Breaking Wave reminds us (I would've said "reminds them", but duh, there is no them...) that we keep failing over and over again, that the troubles are still there and they won't just disappearing when you ignore them.
But the new Bullet and the new Hands at the core of the show give us a whole new perspective on the problems we have to face. It takes everybody to work it out, because after all, the trouble is not "them", The Trouble is you.
Experience comes with redemption in Pride and even with Beautiful Day, but sadly, things are not perfect and despite all of our efforts, with or without our good intentions, things usually don't work out... in the end, experience also comes with hopelessness and constant desperation, represented in songs like With Or Without You and Bad.
Another tight set musically and thematically, hard to mess with it. Again, bad news for songs like The Troubles, who clearly belong in this set but narratively it's redundant with the new Bullet. Not sure if the town is big enough for the 2 of them.
EPILOGUE - THE FUTURE (Return To Innocence)
5. Encore - Looking For Innocence
Please instert Bono speech about HIV before Streets here
A teacher told me once that innocence is not something that you can lose, but something that you can achieve. He said that a child is not innocent, he's just ignorant, and that innocence is something you can try to get only AFTER you have knowledge and experience.
That looks to be the case in here. They're not going back to the anger of their "innocence", but they're also trascending their own experience. They're looking at the future with hope.
Stephen Hawking's words, Miracle Drug and Beautiful Day all build up hope until Bono starts promising based on the hope of this new quest for innocence that we can get rid of something like HIV. After all we're one.
We have to look for this innocence, to believe we can make this world a better place.
But you know how this ends... and we still haven't found what we're looking for.
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Ok, obviously all this won't make any sense if today -or any day in the following year- they start making changes to the setlist, but for now, I like to see the show with all this in mind.
(sorry for the long post, hopefully you can enjoy it).
Opinions? thoughts?
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Love it. 
