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  1. Must say Hold Me sounds well rehearsed
  2. The 'lack of variety' in the setlist is a tough one and its a intriguing discussion point.

    Yes everyone on here would like to see changes in the set on a date by date basis but lets be honest, that isnt going to happen. Does this constitute the band being unfair on us hardcore fans or lacking desire etc? My personal opinion is no and here ar my reasons for saying it:

    * the band have been opening with 4 straight tunes from their new album and have done so (2/3/4 songs) on previous tours. Many big bands open with an old favourite to get the 'crowd going'. Moreover, by the end of a 360 show, the fan will have seen 6/7 new songs! I find U2's approach to be quite daring for these reasons.

    * we all love the Claw and its granduer but people have to realise that with 3 of these things being deployed in different locations simultaneously, it makes it diifficult to vary the show night to night. 360 is a show, not just a gig. Its more than just songs, its a huge production with specific requirements for almost every tune. The sheer magnitude of the show makes it toughto vary the set-list the way we all would like it.

    * this is a stadium tour and as a result, all 70,000 attendees are not hardcore fans. my first point is about opening with 4 tunes from the new album - something which the 1st time attendee might be puzzled by. Whether you agree or not, the band SHOULD cater for these people too hence SBS, Pride, WOWY. I tend to find indoor gigs to be much tighter in terms of both performance and crowd partcipation as the band are more relaxed and there are a higher percentage of 'real' fans in attendance.

    * stop the MONEY talk. This show costs £750,000 per day, gig or not. If it were all about cash, the band could cram the same amount of folk into an open field, play with no backdrop, roll out a greatest hits set every night, charge £150 a ticket and still sell out. The fact the band are touring a new album and playing the majority of it means they are still believers in creating new music

    * the band will never please everyone, lets face it. There are too many personal tastes to be accounted for. I personally love WOWY in there as it has grown into a large 'sing along' but most no longer do. Id love Mofo back but it looks unlikely. Id like Tomorrow in the set but a lot hate October as an album. I want B sides but they would alientate a lot of people in attendance. I want Streets played 25 times in one night but thats just me! These are a small percentage of things I would like. Multiply that by tens of thousands every night and you see that everyone will still want something a little more.

    * Loving U2 Start as I do, its clear that there are a lot of generations to be looked after on here! To help illustrate:
    1. Ive followed the band since i was 9 years old so JT was already out and I just missed the superstar hysteria that followed. So by the time AB came out, I was 13 and obsessed so as far as touring goes, i'll always be a Zoo Baby!
    2. One of my best mates (and THE biggest U2 fan I have ever known) was 15 when JT landed and cannot believe that period can ever be matched.
    3. My nephew is 2 years younger than me so feels he missed the whole Zoo TV hysteria 1st time and his passion was in full swing by 97 so Pop and PopMart will always be closest to his heart.

    * The internet age doesnt help! The days of turning up at a gig and enjoying it song by song are long gone. Not only do we know the set-list in advance, we even have an idea of 'surprises' long before they are scheduled to appear in the show. Its almost impossible for a band of u2's size to keep secrets and we are partially to blame for this!!! Thanks to the bods on this site - you can bag almost every U2 gig ever done so if you want to hear every set variation they have ever done, get it here!

    So to end this loooooooooong and boring post, I just want to say that for me, seeing U2 in person will always be the greatest thing in the world and I hope that everyone enjoys it whilst they can cause they wont tour foerver. Yes we all want our favourites and we all want more but we should know how it works by now.

    Roll on Paris, Brussels and Rome I say!!!

  3. spot on pedro. Spot on
  4. It's not just the difficulty with 'trying' to prepare the claw for new songs or appeal to casual fans to pay for the thing, it's the fact they can't even be arsed to experiment with things like 'themes' in various parts of the performance. The whole reason for me U2 was always an interesting band was because of their drama and theatricality. These days, it's very limited and uninspired. The closest I believe we have seen this tour to the creative theatricality is from UV. You know, even going back to 2001, songs like UTTEOTW had a brilliant creative 'act' to them and these days songs like that are sadly lacking in the performance department.

    It's not just about what songs they choose, it's also how they choose to perform the songs they keep.
  5. Great post Pedro. See you in Brussels
  6. So, back on topic: will there be a full dress rehearsal tonight?
  7. Pedro, great post, I agree. I'm tired of the setlist whiners, but it had to be expected. I won't let the negative comments spoil my excitement. I'm off to Frankfurt this weekend and cannot wait to see the band. I hope Bono is in fine form and takes care of his health. That's most important to me. The atmosphere of a U2 concert, the excitement when the guys come on stage is amazing, I enjoyed all the shows I went to in 2009. Setlist details don't matter much to me. Of course there are certain things I'd like to hear and see and I'm not always happy with the decisions the band makes, but they can do what they please and I'm sure there's a good reason for it. Many die hard fans seem to be delusional und need a reality check: U2 doesn't play for a couple of hardcore fanatics who follow every single sound they produce via internet, but they are the most universal band out there and a stadium concert is for a broad audience. U2 have that appeal, thus they must also play stuff a broad audience wants to here. I feel the current set, though I'm not completely happy with everything, is pretty balanced, and Torino isn't the only show this tour, there will surely be changes.

    I can't wait to see the band again, bring on the German shows.
  8. Some good last couple of posts, I agree with them in that U2 could play the exact same setlist as they did when I saw them last year and I'd still enjoy, you have to be quite determined and maybe a bit of luck to get a decent ticket so I enjoy it as much as possible. Haven't seen the setlist they played yesterday as a bit of a tragedy has come around the family in the past couple of days but I'll have twitter updates tomoro night.

    Stop the whining lads, they're only human.
  9. Originally posted by PEDRO67:The 'lack of variety' in the setlist is a tough one and its a intriguing discussion point.

    Yes everyone on here would like to see changes in the set on a date by date basis but lets be honest, that isnt going to happen. Does this constitute the band being unfair on us hardcore fans or lacking desire etc? My personal opinion is no and here ar my reasons for saying it:

    * the band have been opening with 4 straight tunes from their new album and have done so (2/3/4 songs) on previous tours. Many big bands open with an old favourite to get the 'crowd going'. Moreover, by the end of a 360 show, the fan will have seen 6/7 new songs! I find U2's approach to be quite daring for these reasons.

    * we all love the Claw and its granduer but people have to realise that with 3 of these things being deployed in different locations simultaneously, it makes it diifficult to vary the show night to night. 360 is a show, not just a gig. Its more than just songs, its a huge production with specific requirements for almost every tune. The sheer magnitude of the show makes it toughto vary the set-list the way we all would like it.

    * this is a stadium tour and as a result, all 70,000 attendees are not hardcore fans. my first point is about opening with 4 tunes from the new album - something which the 1st time attendee might be puzzled by. Whether you agree or not, the band SHOULD cater for these people too hence SBS, Pride, WOWY. I tend to find indoor gigs to be much tighter in terms of both performance and crowd partcipation as the band are more relaxed and there are a higher percentage of 'real' fans in attendance.

    * stop the MONEY talk. This show costs £750,000 per day, gig or not. If it were all about cash, the band could cram the same amount of folk into an open field, play with no backdrop, roll out a greatest hits set every night, charge £150 a ticket and still sell out. The fact the band are touring a new album and playing the majority of it means they are still believers in creating new music

    * the band will never please everyone, lets face it. There are too many personal tastes to be accounted for. I personally love WOWY in there as it has grown into a large 'sing along' but most no longer do. Id love Mofo back but it looks unlikely. Id like Tomorrow in the set but a lot hate October as an album. I want B sides but they would alientate a lot of people in attendance. I want Streets played 25 times in one night but thats just me! These are a small percentage of things I would like. Multiply that by tens of thousands every night and you see that everyone will still want something a little more.

    * Loving U2 Start as I do, its clear that there are a lot of generations to be looked after on here! To help illustrate:
    1. Ive followed the band since i was 9 years old so JT was already out and I just missed the superstar hysteria that followed. So by the time AB came out, I was 13 and obsessed so as far as touring goes, i'll always be a Zoo Baby!
    2. One of my best mates (and THE biggest U2 fan I have ever known) was 15 when JT landed and cannot believe that period can ever be matched.
    3. My nephew is 2 years younger than me so feels he missed the whole Zoo TV hysteria 1st time and his passion was in full swing by 97 so Pop and PopMart will always be closest to his heart.

    * The internet age doesnt help! The days of turning up at a gig and enjoying it song by song are long gone. Not only do we know the set-list in advance, we even have an idea of 'surprises' long before they are scheduled to appear in the show. Its almost impossible for a band of u2's size to keep secrets and we are partially to blame for this!!! Thanks to the bods on this site - you can bag almost every U2 gig ever done so if you want to hear every set variation they have ever done, get it here!

    So to end this loooooooooong and boring post, I just want to say that for me, seeing U2 in person will always be the greatest thing in the world and I hope that everyone enjoys it whilst they can cause they wont tour foerver. Yes we all want our favourites and we all want more but we should know how it works by now.

    Roll on Paris, Brussels and Rome I say!!!




    Well said that man, nailed that one clean on the head.
  10. Originally posted by jofice:Some good last couple of posts, I agree with them in that U2 could play the exact same setlist as they did when I saw them last year and I'd still enjoy, you have to be quite determined and maybe a bit of luck to get a decent ticket so I enjoy it as much as possible. Haven't seen the setlist they played yesterday as a bit of a tragedy has come around the family in the past couple of days but I'll have twitter updates tomoro night.

    Stop the whining lads, they're only human.


    Sorry to hear Joe. All the best.
  12. Originally posted by jofice:Some good last couple of posts, I agree with them in that U2 could play the exact same setlist as they did when I saw them last year and I'd still enjoy, you have to be quite determined and maybe a bit of luck to get a decent ticket so I enjoy it as much as possible. Haven't seen the setlist they played yesterday as a bit of a tragedy has come around the family in the past couple of days but I'll have twitter updates tomoro night.

    Stop the whining lads, they're only human.


    Sorry to hear that man.
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Make sure to not miss out on any U2 news and updates: follow us on Twitter, Instagram and like us on Facebook.
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