TJT
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2017-06-03 - Chicago
 Tour: Joshua Tree Tour 2017
Songs played: 23
Audio recordings: 1
Videos: 1
  1. Originally posted by deanallison:Maybe the problem isn't what they're playing but the fact they've chose a stadium tour where there is too many casual fans who don't enjoy some of the more obscure tracks and I think it's spoiling the die hards enjoyment also because of the atmosphere it creates. Not saying the setlist is exactly what I'd chose, but then it's not a million miles off what I think would be a good balance for all. Just swap Miss Sarajevo and elevation for zoo station and the fly and shuffle the encore around a bit maybe finish with 40. That's not far off really .
    Very true. Plus on IE there were no openers , which I love
  2. Do you not think you might have enjoyed the same set better though in a smaller environment surrounded by fans who are as excited as you to hear exit and one tree hill? And when i say surrounded I don't mean just in close proximity but around the whole venue, it can totally change the gig if you've got people up in the seats getting into it as well and everyone's up for it.
  3. I would love if they played the Joshua Tree songs as they would normally , scattered through the setlist and chuck in a b side or two as well.....I agree for what they are charging now they could easily play a longer setlist as The Boss keeps going and so do Pearl Jam...the show needs a closer and a thumping encore...if they want to close with Miss Sarajevo and Things then do them as a second encore...
  4. Will there be a recording from Saturday's show as well?
  5. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    Do you not think you might have enjoyed the same set better though in a smaller environment surrounded by fans who are as excited as you to hear exit and one tree hill? And when i say surrounded I don't mean just in close proximity but around the whole venue, it can totally change the gig if you've got people up in the seats getting into it as well and everyone's up for it.
    I understand the importance of environmental factors - no doubt.

    The crowd was very into it at the start.

    I lagged right along with the rest of them though, so not sure you could count on us diehards keeping the energy up.

    It's just a poorly constructed setlist.

    Not sure why they feel bound by the album order or to play it all at once.
  6. A couple of anecdotes...

    1) A lady in front of me was very excited when Exit started up and was dancing to it and whooping like it was a club song. I'm thinking... you really don't get this song, do you? Had to move over so she was no longer in my line of sight.

    She also cheered when the wall reference happened in the video - seemingly pro-wall. Okay...

    2) On the way home to Wisconsin, my son points to a lit up blue and white building asking what goes on there?

    I didn't even notice it, but my reply once I did... "That used to be called the Rosemont Horizon and is where I saw this tour the first time, almost 30 years ago, when I was exactly your age."
  7. Originally posted by gurtholfin:[..]
    I understand the importance of environmental factors - no doubt.

    The crowd was very into it at the start.

    I lagged right along with the rest of them though, so not sure you could count on us diehards keeping the energy up.

    It's just a poorly constructed setlist.

    Not sure why they feel bound by the album order or to play it all at once.
    Fair enough, you were at the gig and it seems like you were being balanced with your assessment so I can definitely take on board your view. I was never particularly bothered by them playing the album in order but was enjoying them doing it having only had the experience of streams and bootlegs for this tour so far but it's always different being at a gig than listening in.
  8. This is always the case though.

    Pride is boring when you're just listening in. In person, it's fantastic.
  9. Maybe not playing a single tune past 1989 or '91 would have been a better solution. Go full on nostalgia . Open with 11 O'Clock, IWF, Gloria , October > NYD etc into a few UF tunes . Then play JT . Then go into the encore.

    Maybe play a few off AB for the encore ? Zoo Station UV UTEOTW and end it with One and or even 40 ?

    Its great that MW has finally gone away , but keeping the played to death BD and Elevation just don't seem to fit the "theme" here , which is the JT , the big 80's era and so on . Plus ending a stadium show with an unknown slow tune is basically suicide .

    From what I've been told , once Little Things begins, there is a mad dash for the exits . Not so sure if that would be the case during One or 40 , which are 2 epic classics by the band . Sure people want to beat the traffic etc , but I would not walk out during One or 40 . Little Things ? Absolutely .

    The band have such a huge catalogue to sort through, they could have gone any way with this . Open the encore with Desire Angel of Harlem go back to UF and play Bad or Pride and close the show with an epic All I Want Is You .

    When I saw Bruce last year in Brooklyn (N2) on the River (Nostalgia) tour , he didn't play a single tune past 1984...the show was one of if not the best of the NA leg , for that reason .

    All I know is , I will without question take a piss during Miss Syria in Miami and search for yet another Guinness , maybe with Remy lol .
  10. Alright everyone, I'm finally back after staying "in the dark" as long as possible before these two shows. I'll put my thoughts below just to collect them all in one place, although I think much of what I have to say more or less echoes the opinions bouncing around in here.

    The Stage
    This is maybe the biggest problem with the entire tour. It contributes to almost all of my frustrations with energy level, and made for a relatively poor first night for me. We had some real jerks in the GA crowd near us which isn't U2's fault, but once the band had gone on, even with a good spot some yards back from the B-stage, we couldn't see a damn thing.

    So, you know how U2 are always saying they're "bringing the show closer to the fans" and that "the fans are a PART of the show"....I never really got that until this weekend. I always thought it was a gimmick that Bono would just spit out to sound relatable....he's absolutely right. That connection feels more absent this tour than it has in the history of me being a U2 fan. The large-scaled outdoor stadium shows are just impossible to NOT be disappointed by after having witnessed the Claw.

    With that being said, I found myself equally loving and hating the video material on the screen. The 4k video shit is highly noticeable - it really does look like there are real Joshua Trees behind them during WOWY. However, I thought the focus on landscaping, politics, and lifestyle - while a good accompaniment for the album songs - kept the band feeling more distanced from the crowd. There wasn't as much "immersive" video content as there always has been.

    The Joshua Tree
    -The album is flawless. The performance is not. I am finally settling into the opinion/realization that U2 is not the same band I saw 10 years ago, or even 2 years ago. Maybe it's the setlist not allowing for as much rambunctiousness from Bono, but I miss him leaning down shouting at the crowd off the microphone, throwing water, strutting, just giving a real PERFORMANCE. Bono sounds fantastic on this tour, but I felt that overall the energy level from the band was sub-par for the first time in the decade I've been seeing them.

    -The JT set sort of drags, as mentioned in posts above. I am so enamored with the songs themselves that it never really bothered me, but I did honestly turn to my girlfriend at one point during RHMT on night one and just say...."this is really boring." The energy level depleted from the stadium entirely around that song. It went from something I was so excited to see, to a piss & beer break night two (no joke).

    -It was really surprising to me that Still Haven't Found was the true album version, with the deep bass synth kicking in at the beginning, Edge's muted chord intro...I don't know that I've ever heard the song played that way live. Was a real treat to hear that (and other songs) played in "note for note" fashion, which may sound boring on paper, but in all truth is something we rarely get out of these war horse songs anymore...they've all taken on a live life of their own.

    The Rest
    -Stop getting up in arms about them playing Elevation, Beautiful Day, etc. I know I'm not the first to spell this out, but if you're seeing any amount of shows on this tour, you have the odds of seeing: Bad, A Sort of Homecoming, NYD (back after a ten year break in the US), Running to Stand Still, literally all of side 2 of JT, Ultraviolet for fuck's sake, and a new song. Shelve the complaints - U2 will never put out a more balanced set for people who casually want to see U2, and die-hard fans. This is literally as good as it will ever get - smell the flowers while you can.

    -Bono sounds really phenomenal. There were one or two moments I heard a waver or crack, but nothing horrendous at all. Larry is still killing it, too. I honestly was worried about him on the I&E tour just a little bit, because he was frequently starting the wrong songs in their first set. He was on fire. The whole band was honestly REALLY tight.

    -If you're going to play Mothers of the Disappeared, and then take a break, you better come back out of that gate swinging. No more of this Miss Sarajevo bullshit. Even Beautiful Day, which has a truly eye-rolling rendition this time around, picked the crowd right back up on night one.


    In all, to be fair - the shows pretty much "arrived" at where my expectations were set, and never went beyond it other than the TRULY cracking performance of IWF to close night one, and ASOH on night two. In 9 shows, these might have been the "worst" ones I've seen just based on the points mentioned above, but that by no means made it bad.

    It is very easy to verbally point out all of the bad elements of the show, because they stick out like sore thumbs compared to the ethereal feeling experienced when it is good - which is most of the time - and that emotion truly cannot be put into words. Often times, in this forum included, we intertwine criticism and complaint and sometimes stop to remember that feeling. That feeling was there on both nights of this tour for me, as I expect it always will be in the future.

    Viva la U2!
  11. Great review, Matt!
  12. The claw is amazing, but there's something about this stage I like better.

    With 360 if you made it really close to the stage you couldn't really see the screen without neck pain.. With this massive screen it's more Stadium friendly for all spots
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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.