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  1. Hey everyone. I went to the third show in La Plata earlier this month.

    At that show, I got to hear EBTTRT live for the first time in my life. But the version that the band had played in La Plata sounded very different from the ZooTV/Popmart versions.







    One fan later told me that the live versions of EBTTRT on the 360 Tour are "re-arranged" versions of the original recording.

    What does it mean when an artist "re-arranges" an original recording? In which different ways could an artist "re-arrange" an original recording?

    What other songs have U2 "re-arranged" live in concert? Which past performances are examples of U2 "re-arranging" their old songs?

    I am NOT a musician. So there is a lot of music-related concepts that I have difficulty grasping.

    Are there any musicians here that could clear this up for me?
  2. Rearranged means the structure of the song (verse/chorus) has been changed. In some cases some verses are taken out and the song is shortened. Even Better was changed pretty drastically and is based around (if not totally copied from) the perfecto mix. Another way of altering songs would be adding in little riffs or backing vocals that don't appear on the recording. Take Ultraviolet for example; during ZooTv at the "I remember, when we could sleep..." bit Edge plays this chiming little sequence but in this tour it's a bigger slide thing... Not sure if that actually counts as a reaarangment but I'm sure somebody less tired shall explain it better
  3. Originally posted by HBK79:Hey everyone. I went to the third show in La Plata earlier this month.

    At that show, I got to hear EBTTRT live for the first time in my life. But the version that the band had played in La Plata sounded very different from the ZooTV/Popmart versions.

    [YouTube Video]

    [YouTube Video]

    [YouTube Video]

    One fan later told me that the live versions of EBTTRT on the 360 Tour are "re-arranged" versions of the original recording.

    What does it mean when an artist "re-arranges" an original recording? In which different ways could an artist "re-arrange" an original recording?

    What other songs have U2 "re-arranged" live in concert? Which past performances are examples of U2 "re-arranging" their old songs?

    I am NOT a musician. So there is a lot of music-related concepts that I have difficulty grasping.

    Are there any musicians here that could clear this up for me?

    Firstly, you're a lucky bastard for being at the gig secondly, there's a lot that can go into re-arranging music.

    In the case of EBTTRT, the original song on the album is in the key of A, so the first bit of re-arranging that happened when they played it live during ZooTV, PopMart and rarely on Elevation was that they transposed it to a different key, that of D flat; whilst I'm not certain of it, chances are the reasoning was to make it easier for Bono to sing during gigs. Otherwise, the only other thing of any particular note to do with the actual structure of the song involved
    the intro. sometimes being extended so Bono could say some spiel before the song whilst Edge was playing the guitar part. The way they're doing it at the moment is based on the Perfecto Remix version, and during the chorus Edge plays the basic chords to the chord progression of the chorus (A, G, D) instead of the riff he used to play.

    Other examples of re-arranging songs would be Bullet The Blue Sky - every version of the song on the last four tours was changed by way of changing the middle section of the song, e.g. the section where Edge plays a solo. On Elevation they extended the end of the song for Bono to have his little rants with the spotlight, and on Vertigo they changed the end for the Hands That Built America snippet. A lot of songs over the years have changed by way of key changes and the like. Elevation is another example you could look to - when they play it live, Edge changes the riff by playing an alternative arrangement of chords. The Fly was also rearranged during the Elevation tour with a key change and the alternative intro. where Edge played the arpeggios using the chord progression from the song's chorus ('love you shine like a burning star' etc.) and so, in some cases, the song started with the chorus before the main riff kicks in.

    Hope all that babble is of some use

    Originally posted by jofice:Rearranged means the structure of the song (verse/chorus) has been changed. In some cases some verses are taken out and the song is shortened. Even Better was changed pretty drastically and is based around (if not totally copied from) the perfecto mix. Another way of altering songs would be adding in little riffs or backing vocals that don't appear on the recording. Take Ultraviolet for example; during ZooTv at the "I remember, when we could sleep..." bit Edge plays this chiming little sequence but in this tour it's a bigger slide thing... Not sure if that actually counts as a reaarangment but I'm sure somebody less tired shall explain it better

    I figure you did alright?
  4. bobplaysthedrums
  5. Originally posted by HBK79:Hey everyone. I went to the third show in La Plata earlier this month.

    At that show, I got to hear EBTTRT live for the first time in my life. But the version that the band had played in La Plata sounded very different from the ZooTV/Popmart versions.

    [YouTube Video]

    [YouTube Video]

    [YouTube Video]

    One fan later told me that the live versions of EBTTRT on the 360 Tour are "re-arranged" versions of the original recording.

    What does it mean when an artist "re-arranges" an original recording? In which different ways could an artist "re-arrange" an original recording?

    What other songs have U2 "re-arranged" live in concert? Which past performances are examples of U2 "re-arranging" their old songs?

    I am NOT a musician. So there is a lot of music-related concepts that I have difficulty grasping.

    Are there any musicians here that could clear this up for me?


    You've already had great explanations, but I'd also add that U2 rearrange all the songs they play live. You won't hear a version identical to the album at their shows. From adjusting the vocals (and let's not even start on Bono's lyrical amnesia which creates new versions all the time), to changing the musical arrangement so it works live, to trying out versions of the songs that didn't work for the album but have a great feel for the live show.

    And I'd also mention that musicians aren't robots. The better you know a piece of music, the more you can play around with it and the more fun it is. It's deadly boring (trust me) to play the same song the same way day after day. If it's not an expression of something real, then it just doesn't fly.
  6. (and let's not even start on Bono's lyrical amnesia which creates new versions all the time),
    i once heard in an interview with bono that he said he never could sing a song always the same.. it sound someway always different in one way ...
  7. The Fly on every tour its been played has been rearranged somewhat. But we really ELEVATION was the tour that had the most drastic and most amazing versions imo


  8. How were Dirty Day and HMTMKMKM re-arranged when played on tour? Watching the DVD's, I could not sense the difference between the tour versions vs. the original recordings.
  9. Other than BTBS and The Fly, I've come up with a partial list of songs that U2 have re-arranged throughout the years.

    Running To Stand Still (Edge note-picking on guitar on a song that's 100% piano - Zoo TV)
    WOWY (Edge using an E-bow instead of a sustainer - Zoomerang)
    Mysterious Ways (Edge's extended keyboard intro - Zoo TV)
    Mofo (Edge note-picking on guitar during the chorus on a song that's 100% backing tracks - Popmart)
    SBS (Edge doing it solo - Popmart)
    If God Will Send His Angels (Edge playing arpeggios all the way through - Popmart)
    If You Were That Velvet Dress (Edge note-picking on guitar on a song that's 100% sythesizers - Popmart)
    Discotheque (Edge's improvised intro/outro - Elevation)
    Ultraviolet (Edge doing some slide techniques in the bridge - 360)

    I'm sure there are plenty more examples, especially with all the stripped-down versions that the band has done in the last decade.
  10. So in general, an original recording can be re-arranged by:

    1) changing the key
    2) changing the tempo/rhythm/drumbeat
    3) changing the point at which certain instruments (drums and bass) enter into the song
    4) changing up the guitar effects and guitar-playing techniques
    5) changing the main instruments (such as in acoustic versions)
    6) playing arpeggios and/or note-picking instead of following chord progressions
    7) extending intro and/or outros (usually through improvisation)

    Are there any other ways in which an artist could re-arrange an original recording?
  11. Nothing springs to mind, I'm sure there's more ways though

    I think Beautiful Day and I Will Follow are the only songs not rearranged... Bob pointed that out a while ago I think
  12. Originally posted by Genaro92U2:The Fly on every tour its been played has been rearranged somewhat. But we really ELEVATION was the tour that had the most drastic and most amazing versions imo


    My personal opinion is that they got it right during the Vertigo Tour. Make no mistake, the Elevation tour performances were nothing short of amazing, but the Vertigo Tour performances had the right feel to it. Adding Bono's guitar and giving the Edge a greater role with the vocals in combination to the visual effects is completely overwhelming.

    Also, a song that many people take for granted has been rearranged. I am talking about STREETS.
    Although it has remained the same ever since its live debut, the live version is actually a fair bit different than the album version, structurally speaking. The most notable change is that they took out on of the verses and instead added an epic guitar riff. PopMart Tour versions of the song included that little bit at the end, which was fun.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.