I like it but i think that other song would worked better as opener.... maybe No line on the horizon , Get on your boots or Batman .... still think it must be in some part of the setlist
I liked it as the opener, but I would've also liked to hear No Line on the Horizon open too. I think the nature of Breathe's live intro kind of puts it in the opener slot. As encore opener it wouldn't fit, so main set opener is where I see it belonging. If they reworked the intro to be a little more instant, then I couldve seen it in the middle somewhere. But definitely shouldn't have dropped it.
There's a two-hour documentary that's currently airing -- or soon to begin airing -- on History Channel around the world and it features Bono and, we think, a new version of U2's song, "Breathe."
It's called Miracle Rising: South Africa and, as I look at the DirecTV guide in the US, it's due to air twice this Sunday (Feb. 17th) on History Channel 2, and then once on History Channel on Feb. 23rd. The History Channel UK website says the film will air on Saturday, Feb. 16th. You might check your local History Channel listings to see if and when it airs in your country. It's already premiered in South Africa.
Bono makes a brief appearance in the 30-second trailer for the documentary and, according to an information sheet about the film, one of the songs included is "Breathe - Alternate Version" by U2. The sheet includes this quote from producer Michelle Sparkes:
Bono had already rewritten lyrics to Breathe for Nelson Mandela and when we interviewed him he asked if we would like to use the song in our documentary. Of course, we said yes.
That may sound familiar to you. If you have the Deluxe Box edition of No Line On The Horizon, the lyrics to this alternate version appear right near the beginning of the book. Bono mentioned it when the U2 360 tour was in South Africa in early 2011 during an interview on local radio there, and our Sherry Lawrence transcribed some of the alternate lyrics that Bono wrote in an old edition of OTR.
One of the few sad things about a near perfect tour. Prince is my favorite artist by far, but the six times I saw him in 2011 were not comparable to 360. U2 brought passion and the goods every single show. Prince was sleepwalking. I thought Breathe was the perfect opener. Even Better was a great opener as well, but dropping Breathe showed how U2 is too focused on sales. If Pop had sold 10 million, they would be playing 4 songs from it every tour. Now get ready for U2 to drop nearly every song from NLOTH if not every song in the future.
It sold 6,5 - 7,5 millions, I don't think that makes much difference
I think their main problem with Pop was releasing the album without "finishing" it and later not selling out every single Popmart concert as they were used to since 1985, which lead them to think it was a overall failure. Not much to do with sales. Pop has sold overall more physical copies than Zooropa, and they're still performing more Zooropa songs than Pop ones.
I don't think dropping Breathe had anything to do with sales..it wasn't working like they thought it would and they were searching for the perfect opener over 2010 and 2011, and found it with Real Thing which worked like a charm. If Breathe opened every show U2 still would've sold out gigs, NLOTH wouldn't have done any better, and the AB remasters would've done just as well.
