U2start.com | Classics versus Favourites

U2 concerts are for the hardcore U2 fans. Such is the claim the band have usually stuck to, indeed several oldies were song again on the Vertigo tour. Whenever they go on tour after the release of the upcoming album though they will undoubtedly stick to the same line of several songs from the album as well as classics such as 'Streets', 'With or Without You', 'Pride...', 'Bullet...', 'One' etc that they play every concert.

I think that if any of these songs were dropped or rotated in a set-list in place of songs from previous albums that haven't been played in years, eg Mofo, Lemon, Hold Me.... The casual U2 fan would probably be quite annoyed at going to a concert and not getting 'With or without you' and 'Pride' because they were rotated into a later date, but what about the hardcore fans, if it meant getting a chance to see the less illustrious but just as much loved songs? I suppose I'd suggest a possible rotational system, with 4 or 5 out of the 6/7 regular songs being played each concert. I should have mentioned though that I personally think Streets has to be in the setlist every time as it is probably the best concert song around but I think this topic should focus on the likes of Pride and Sunday Bloody Sunday.

My last topic was to design your own custom albums and so far more people have put 'Mofo' (a really great concert song) ahead of 'One', 'Elevation' & 'Sometimes...' as the third song of their post-80's album which gave me the idea of this topic? I realise as well that many people here are quite young and that several people, probably most, have never seen U2 live (of which I fall into both categories myself). Again certain songs Bono probably can't sing anymore (Lemon) and other songs they never felt comfortable playing (Zooropa) so keep it in mind when deciding.

So should the likes of 'One' etc be a definite in every set-list or should they feature in most but occasionally be dropped in place of an old classic?

yuri31

17 years

I have never been to a U2 show, but if got there, I would be really dissapointed if they didn't play classics like Streets, Pride, One etc. But I wouldn't have any problem if they changed the setlist of the other shows I would visit.

Sorry for my poor English, I really have to improve. Let me know whenever I make some mistake!

Juraj

germcevoy

17 years

as long as they play Streets I don't really give a crap about the rest of the setlist. I'v never been to a U2 show but as I have 400+ bootlegs i'm pretty sick of Pride and SBS, One etc but obviously being in the crowd experiencing these songs will be a pretty different matter.

Give me Streets with the big light explosion and I couldn't care if they opened and closed the show with Grace.

EDIT : Bullet is just so played to death. Funk it up again like Popmart I say

thefly07

17 years

I think certain songs have to be in the show, mainly Streets, Bullet, and One. Those are staples. Early Elevation shows didn't have Pride in them, and they worked fine. A lot of the first leg of Vertigo didn't have With or Without You, and it worked. I can't imagine a U2 show without the three songs I mentioned above. I love how Bullet changes every tour, the visuals, the different guitar effects, Bono's personas. The same goes for Streets, I hope they drop the flags for the next tour, nothing against them, but that song is pure magic with bright red soaking the arena and the blinding wall of lights. Any U2 show will have "classics" because basically, the majority of their songs are classics. I try to be realistic and realize that U2 is very specific about how and what songs they play, making sure they fit into the context of the show they want to play. So maybe if the next tour has space for Acrobat or God Part II, than that would be a miracle! They will always surprise us though! We all go back to the, "did you expect to hear The Ocean? or Gloria?" example.

easports43

17 years

These are the only classics I care about.

Streets
Bad
With Or Without You
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet
ISHFWILF
The Fly (Sort of a classic)
Vertigo (sort of a classic)

thechicken

17 years

I hate the classics thing...I love bands that you never know what they are going to play.

germcevoy

17 years

Originally posted by thechickenI hate the classics thing...I love bands that you never know what they are going to play.

just don't come near here during the next tour and you won't no either.

MWSAH

17 years

Stick with WOWY, Bad, Streets and One during the next tour. Introduce TUF (and don't say Bono can't sing it..his voice is quite good lately, and if he can sing Wide Awake that good during Bad and In the name of love during Pride, he also can reach the high notes in TUF.

Of course I got some other favourites I wanna see, but that list is quite long.

LikeASong

17 years

This has been discussed for ages here. Anyway, I wouldnt mind to see Seconds, Surrender or The Unforgettable Fire on the next tour. That'd be fine for me. And I wouldn't mind either to see One, Bullet or NYD dropped out the setlists some nights in order to introduce new stuff (new stuff considered as less played, not 2008 stuff).

AllBecauseOfU2

17 years

Originally posted by LikeASongThis has been discussed for ages here. Anyway, I wouldnt mind to see Seconds, Surrender or The Unforgettable Fire on the next tour.

Oh wow, those are the exact songs I'd love to hear as well, along with October, Tomorrow, and A Sort of Homecoming. I think we had our fill from Boy on the Vertigo Tour (or at least I did). Bring back the War and UF tracks!