Comments on: U2 Faces the Music About New Songs at Concerts http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/ Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:18:10 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dali http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230730 Dali Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:08:03 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230730 No offense but you are definitely not one of their biggest fans. Their biggest fans love the new album! No offense but you are definitely not one of their biggest fans. Their biggest fans love the new album!

]]> By: Dali http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230729 Dali Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:51:59 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230729 Who gives a crap if the mainstream likes the new album or if there is a "radio hit" on the new album. Anyone with ears and any semblance of an understanding of U2's history and of rock music knows that they still are challenging themselves and their fans and that they are making great music. No Line on the Horizon is an underappreciated album but as most of the critics and most of the die hard U2 fans agree it is a great album. Its murky its tough at times but it is modern day U2 and played as an entire album it is one of their best albums ever and far and away better than 99% of the rubbish albums that bands are putting out. From the title track to Breathe, Magnificent, Fez, Cedars of Lebanon, Moment of Surrender and Unknown Caller this is one of their best line-up of songs on any album of theirs. It will take more time to sink it but it will. This is a classic album by a band that has done everything. Open up your ears and stop trying to make U2 and their music something that you want to hear or that you think it should be and you will see the beauty and brilliance in this album. Sure it would be great to have everyone so oh yay so great but you know what I for one am happy it doesnt have a radio friendly hit and that it is taking time for people to appreciate it. U2 is cool again and they are 50 and have achieved everything. This is the album they wanted to make and there are very few bands that can do that and still sell out stadiums. Viva U2 they are on their way to being the biggest band of all time and to do that you have to fill in all the layers. Knock what you want to but they have it figured out and you are missing out with this new album but in time it will sink in. Thank you U2 for keeping us all so interested. Viva U2! Who gives a crap if the mainstream likes the new album or if there is a “radio hit” on the new album. Anyone with ears and any semblance of an understanding of U2’s history and of rock music knows that they still are challenging themselves and their fans and that they are making great music. No Line on the Horizon is an underappreciated album but as most of the critics and most of the die hard U2 fans agree it is a great album. Its murky its tough at times but it is modern day U2 and played as an entire album it is one of their best albums ever and far and away better than 99% of the rubbish albums that bands are putting out. From the title track to Breathe, Magnificent, Fez, Cedars of Lebanon, Moment of Surrender and Unknown Caller this is one of their best line-up of songs on any album of theirs. It will take more time to sink it but it will. This is a classic album by a band that has done everything. Open up your ears and stop trying to make U2 and their music something that you want to hear or that you think it should be and you will see the beauty and brilliance in this album. Sure it would be great to have everyone so oh yay so great but you know what I for one am happy it doesnt have a radio friendly hit and that it is taking time for people to appreciate it. U2 is cool again and they are 50 and have achieved everything. This is the album they wanted to make and there are very few bands that can do that and still sell out stadiums. Viva U2 they are on their way to being the biggest band of all time and to do that you have to fill in all the layers. Knock what you want to but they have it figured out and you are missing out with this new album but in time it will sink in. Thank you U2 for keeping us all so interested. Viva U2!

]]> By: wright880 http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230516 wright880 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:37:45 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230516 The new songs absolutely suck, end of story. I am probably the biggest u2 fan of anybody on this message board, and I did not like one of the new songs. I also went to the show in NJ and I was one of those people walking out at the end to beat the traffic. Until U2 realizes that nobody is interested in them trying to be different and change it, then we are going to have to suffer through these awful songs. Their best work is in the best, so stick to what people fell in love with and play it. I could put together a set list in 5 minutes that would blow their audiences away. Until they change their set lists, I wont be attending another concert. I would rather watch one of their old DVD's. The new songs absolutely suck, end of story. I am probably the biggest u2 fan of anybody on this message board, and I did not like one of the new songs. I also went to the show in NJ and I was one of those people walking out at the end to beat the traffic. Until U2 realizes that nobody is interested in them trying to be different and change it, then we are going to have to suffer through these awful songs. Their best work is in the best, so stick to what people fell in love with and play it. I could put together a set list in 5 minutes that would blow their audiences away. Until they change their set lists, I wont be attending another concert. I would rather watch one of their old DVD’s.

]]> By: scubababe http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230489 scubababe Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:26:39 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230489 I've never been to a U2 show I haven't loved. This one does have a different vibe, though. I think it's for several reasons: they are playing huge stadiums and have to play a broad selection from their back catalog; they are older; and the audience is less "dedicated" than the hard-core fans. I saw them in Dublin (3) and loved the entire experience - it was communal and full of love b/c we were in their hometown. It was a spiritual pilgrimage. Having said that, I was disappointed with Breathe as the opener. But I loved the rest of the set list - especially hearing Stay, Bad, MLK and UF and UV all in one show. I was enthralled by the screen (who isn't when you first see it?) and the show went by way too fast. Then I just saw them in Houston last week. A great show with a lot of energy (more than I felt in Dublin) and most people were up and singing/dancing. Breathe was better but I still didn't love it as the opener. And they dropped Unknown Caller, which I loved in Dublin. They played Your Blue Room - b/c of the space station connection - but most people didn't appreciate it. Boots turned out to be amazing live. The band have a lot of confidence in NLOTH and are playing up to 7 songs per show from it. I also happen to really like the album - it is complex in many ways (albeit sometimes a little too much so). I think I can safely say we'd all like to see them play a lot longer. But 2.25 hours is still a great show. I don't want to get too down on the audience but I was a little disappointed to see how rude some fans were to the band and to others. I've always prided myself on the fact that U2 fans are the best in the world. Some of the casual fans don't understand that code. I did not see such behavior in Dublin, btw. My only sadness is I'm not going to any more shows on this leg of the tour :( But I will tune in to the LA webcast and maybe see them when they come back out next year! I’ve never been to a U2 show I haven’t loved. This one does have a different vibe, though. I think it’s for several reasons: they are playing huge stadiums and have to play a broad selection from their back catalog; they are older; and the audience is less “dedicated” than the hard-core fans.

I saw them in Dublin (3) and loved the entire experience – it was communal and full of love b/c we were in their hometown. It was a spiritual pilgrimage. Having said that, I was disappointed with Breathe as the opener. But I loved the rest of the set list – especially hearing Stay, Bad, MLK and UF and UV all in one show. I was enthralled by the screen (who isn’t when you first see it?) and the show went by way too fast.

Then I just saw them in Houston last week. A great show with a lot of energy (more than I felt in Dublin) and most people were up and singing/dancing. Breathe was better but I still didn’t love it as the opener. And they dropped Unknown Caller, which I loved in Dublin. They played Your Blue Room – b/c of the space station connection – but most people didn’t appreciate it. Boots turned out to be amazing live.

The band have a lot of confidence in NLOTH and are playing up to 7 songs per show from it. I also happen to really like the album – it is complex in many ways (albeit sometimes a little too much so).

I think I can safely say we’d all like to see them play a lot longer. But 2.25 hours is still a great show.

I don’t want to get too down on the audience but I was a little disappointed to see how rude some fans were to the band and to others. I’ve always prided myself on the fact that U2 fans are the best in the world. Some of the casual fans don’t understand that code. I did not see such behavior in Dublin, btw.

My only sadness is I’m not going to any more shows on this leg of the tour :( But I will tune in to the LA webcast and maybe see them when they come back out next year!

]]> By: corgan http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230330 corgan Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:54:39 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230330 @pearls as a Chicagoan, let me be the first to apologize for your experience in the stands. I'll bet anything those folks weren't from Chicago. I attended the 2nd night in Chicago and I thought the show was BRILLIANT! We had GA tickets, but we hung back by the sound booth where we had room to move. The collection of people around us were great. No jerks. Just regular folk and hard cord U2 fans enjoying a great show. The view was perfect. The sound was perfect. The show, as I said, was brilliant! Its too bad you couldn't have come down to the floor and joined us, we had a great time. I brought a buddy of mine who's never been to a U2 show before and he was blown away. As another friend once said after I took them to their first U2 show... I think I just had a religious experience. As for NLOTH, I love it. I really enjoy the albums pace and the songs. I have to say the Anton Corbijn file (Linear) that accompanies the album on the deluxe edition adds a tremendous visual to the tracks and really brings out the album. @pearls as a Chicagoan, let me be the first to apologize for your experience in the stands. I’ll bet anything those folks weren’t from Chicago.

I attended the 2nd night in Chicago and I thought the show was BRILLIANT! We had GA tickets, but we hung back by the sound booth where we had room to move. The collection of people around us were great. No jerks. Just regular folk and hard cord U2 fans enjoying a great show. The view was perfect. The sound was perfect. The show, as I said, was brilliant! Its too bad you couldn’t have come down to the floor and joined us, we had a great time. I brought a buddy of mine who’s never been to a U2 show before and he was blown away.

As another friend once said after I took them to their first U2 show… I think I just had a religious experience.

As for NLOTH, I love it. I really enjoy the albums pace and the songs. I have to say the Anton Corbijn file (Linear) that accompanies the album on the deluxe edition adds a tremendous visual to the tracks and really brings out the album.

]]> By: pearls http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230328 pearls Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:17:43 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230328 I attended the Milan II show in July which was really fantastic. I had a great time even though I had a seat in the stands. Most of the time I was standing and dancing. The audience was having fun, but I did notice people were not singing the opening 4 songs (NEW songs). However, they did love the I'll go Crazy Remix and danced and clapped! Then I attended both concerts opening weekend in Chicago. I have just now decided to write about my experience with the Chicago shows. I was tremendously excited about the show's opening weekend for the North American tour, and because it was my first time for attending an opening show. Unfortunately, I did not have a good experience with attending the shows. My opinion is that the large stadium size venue draws people who do not ordinarily go to U2 concerts as I was surrounded by many people who did not sing the songs except I Still Haven't Found..... and Sunday Bloody Sunday. In fact the trouble began in the GA line on Saturday. People showing up early in the morning to leave for 4 hours then return for one hour or so then going back to hotel room to shower, apply makeup, change clothes and then waltzing back into line just before security allegedly were going to close the line. Well that didn't happen as at least 6 people moved in ahead of me to join their "friends" and then I was pushed back and did not get to enter the stadium in the first group. So after being in line since 5:30 am - I was less than happy at all the people cutting line and doing whatever they wanted. Once the show started I was 3 rows behind center stage and of course almost every person had cameras and they were taking photos non-stop. These people were not singing or getting engaged in the music they were simply taking photos. I don't know how U2 puts up with all the photos... it is almost unacceptable. Again the songs they sang to were I Still Haven't Found.....and Sunday Bloody Sunday. I did my best to ignore the rude people and watch the concert. U2 were FABULOUS! I sang every song and had a great time just being there and seeing "U2 live," and loved dancing to the I'll Go Crazy Remix. So for an opening show I definitely have mixed reviews because of the people. I knew Sunday night would be a different experience because I would be seeing the show from a seat in the Club section. However, I was totally unprepared for the "people." I have never had such a bad experience at a rock concert in my life. I have been attending concerts for 36 years and no one has ever yelled at me to sit down and stop dancing because I was interfering with their view. I was in shock and very sad. I was so upset with these people behind me that I had tears in my eyes. I was sitting at a U2 concert! I was truly in shock. So my concert was spent sitting in my seat with the clueless people around me sitting like stones. Not singing not moving. There was an occasional rude/obscene shout out directed at Bono from some man four rows behind me who was so disrespectful and low class I wanted to scream. The people directly behind me never said anything to him to stop his ridiculous remarks. Once again I did my best to ignore the people and watched concert. U2 put on a wonderful and even more memorable show. The evening was saved from disaster when they played YOUR BLUE ROOM. I loved it and wanted so much to be in the GA section for that song. That song saved the night for me. However, the people around me left during it for the bathroom/concessions. From my observation these people did not care what song was sung they sat and did not sing. They only stood for I Still Haven't Found and for Sunday Bloody Sunday. I continued to sit because I was still mad.... Lots of people started leaving after One. What a group of people. Imagine being yelled at to sit down at a rock concert. Bono was right in saying some of their audience wasn't so "groovy." They aren't, and I can say they are rude and disrespectful. I could go on but won't. Fortunately for me I have two shows left, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Both shows GA. After the Chicago seating experience, I can't imagine myself ever sitting again at a U2 show. It is not worth any amount of money.....To sum up this rant - the stadium venues attract many people who are non-fans, so forget about singing new or older songs. They aren't there to sing - they want to check out U2 after all the publicity of Bono and shout out some rude things and criticize. I will thankfully take any arena show after this. Before I close I must say this - I attended Zoo TV concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and was on the field - at that time they had folding chairs on the field which I as well as everyone else stood on during the entire concert. It was October 31, 1992 and Larry's Birthday. The crowd was fun and everyone had a great time at that amazing and UNFORGETTABLE concert. I am hoping for great people at the concerts in Las Vegas and Los Angeles like that one. I know U2 will deliver a great show. I can always count on U2. I attended the Milan II show in July which was really fantastic. I had a great time even though I had a seat in the stands. Most of the time I was standing and dancing. The audience was having fun, but I did notice people were not singing the opening 4 songs (NEW songs). However, they did love the I’ll go Crazy Remix and danced and clapped! Then I attended both concerts opening weekend in Chicago. I have just now decided to write about my experience with the Chicago shows. I was tremendously excited about the show’s opening weekend for the North American tour, and because it was my first time for attending an opening show. Unfortunately, I did not have a good experience with attending the shows. My opinion is that the large stadium size venue draws people who do not ordinarily go to U2 concerts as I was surrounded by many people who did not sing the songs except I Still Haven’t Found….. and Sunday Bloody Sunday. In fact the trouble began in the GA line on Saturday. People showing up early in the morning to leave for 4 hours then return for one hour or so then going back to hotel room to shower, apply makeup, change clothes and then waltzing back into line just before security allegedly were going to close the line. Well that didn’t happen as at least 6 people moved in ahead of me to join their “friends” and then I was pushed back and did not get to enter the stadium in the first group. So after being in line since 5:30 am – I was less than happy at all the people cutting line and doing whatever they wanted. Once the show started I was 3 rows behind center stage and of course almost every person had cameras and they were taking photos non-stop. These people were not singing or getting engaged in the music they were simply taking photos. I don’t know how U2 puts up with all the photos… it is almost unacceptable. Again the songs they sang to were I Still Haven’t Found…..and Sunday Bloody Sunday. I did my best to ignore the rude people and watch the concert. U2 were FABULOUS! I sang every song and had a great time just being there and seeing “U2 live,” and loved dancing to the I’ll Go Crazy Remix. So for an opening show I definitely have mixed reviews because of the people. I knew Sunday night would be a different experience because I would be seeing the show from a seat in the Club section. However, I was totally unprepared for the “people.” I have never had such a bad experience at a rock concert in my life. I have been attending concerts for 36 years and no one has ever yelled at me to sit down and stop dancing because I was interfering with their view. I was in shock and very sad. I was so upset with these people behind me that I had tears in my eyes. I was sitting at a U2 concert! I was truly in shock. So my concert was spent sitting in my seat with the clueless people around me sitting like stones. Not singing not moving. There was an occasional rude/obscene shout out directed at Bono from some man four rows behind me who was so disrespectful and low class I wanted to scream. The people directly behind me never said anything to him to stop his ridiculous remarks. Once again I did my best to ignore the people and watched concert. U2 put on a wonderful and even more memorable show. The evening was saved from disaster when they played YOUR BLUE ROOM. I loved it and wanted so much to be in the GA section for that song. That song saved the night for me. However, the people around me left during it for the bathroom/concessions. From my observation these people did not care what song was sung they sat and did not sing. They only stood for I Still Haven’t Found and for Sunday Bloody Sunday. I continued to sit because I was still mad…. Lots of people started leaving after One. What a group of people. Imagine being yelled at to sit down at a rock concert. Bono was right in saying some of their audience wasn’t so “groovy.” They aren’t, and I can say they are rude and disrespectful. I could go on but won’t. Fortunately for me I have two shows left, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Both shows GA. After the Chicago seating experience, I can’t imagine myself ever sitting again at a U2 show. It is not worth any amount of money…..To sum up this rant – the stadium venues attract many people who are non-fans, so forget about singing new or older songs. They aren’t there to sing – they want to check out U2 after all the publicity of Bono and shout out some rude things and criticize. I will thankfully take any arena show after this.
Before I close I must say this – I attended Zoo TV concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and was on the field – at that time they had folding chairs on the field which I as well as everyone else stood on during the entire concert. It was October 31, 1992 and Larry’s Birthday. The crowd was fun and everyone had a great time at that amazing and UNFORGETTABLE concert. I am hoping for great people at the concerts in Las Vegas and Los Angeles like that one. I know U2 will deliver a great show. I can always count on U2.

]]> By: ruthe33 http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230326 ruthe33 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:56:02 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230326 I have to agree with Ste and calebu2. I like NLOTH because it is a bit different, and I've heard many of the old U2 songs in concert before. When I buy tickets to a U2 concert, I'm not looking at them as an old classic band full of nostalgia -- I want and expect something different and fresh. U2 loses older fans with every release, but they always seem to have new younger fans take their place. Leaving the stadium early is rude to the performers (just as hanging out the parking lot is rude to the opening act). However, in the case of Giants Stadium - I don't blame a lot of the crowd for bailing early. t's comments pretty much summed it up. Calebu2, I think your assessment makes complete sense. Hopefully, the band is learning or has learned from some of these missteps - and will make things better during the second leg of the tour. Perhaps the new release will be promoted differently. Let's hope so! I have to agree with Ste and calebu2. I like NLOTH because it is a bit different, and I’ve heard many of the old U2 songs in concert before. When I buy tickets to a U2 concert, I’m not looking at them as an old classic band full of nostalgia — I want and expect something different and fresh. U2 loses older fans with every release, but they always seem to have new younger fans take their place. Leaving the stadium early is rude to the performers (just as hanging out the parking lot is rude to the opening act). However, in the case of Giants Stadium – I don’t blame a lot of the crowd for bailing early. t’s comments pretty much summed it up. Calebu2, I think your assessment makes complete sense. Hopefully, the band is learning or has learned from some of these missteps – and will make things better during the second leg of the tour. Perhaps the new release will be promoted differently. Let’s hope so!

]]> By: calebu2 http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230325 calebu2 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:15:29 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230325 I think that the challenges the band is facing with the crowd in the US can be traced back to their decision to release Get on your Boots as the first single, combined with adjustments they failed to make after that. (I'm going to make up statistics as I go along to support my claim without doing any research, so please respond and correct my false assumptions!) Of all the songs that U2 could have released from NLOTH as the first single, boots was probably the worst, least sensible choice they could have made. I think they thought they had another Vertigo on their hands when in reality they had a song that was a bit of a mismash - too scattered for the old school fans, not current enough for the young crowd. Like the song or not, the single was a flop relative to other first singles and did nothing to help the band promote the album. I think that as a result, the band was playing catch up with the album promotion and even though they got decent exposure with the BBC, Letterman and the Somerville show, they didn't seem to capture the regional media the same way they had in album and tours gone past. They could have released Magnificent, Breathe, Crazy tonight or even Moment of Surrender as the first single and they would probably have had more success. They are playing as many songs off the new album as they did for the Vertigo tour and ZooTV tour - one more than they started the elevation tour with, yet the album is nowhere near as popular. And probably tying in with Sherry's post about tour theme, they didn't seem to know which song to release off the album as their "tour" single. Vertigo, Elevation, Mofo (albeit late to the game) all helped cement the tour - they released a version of Crazy Tonight that is different from the one performed live (Why not release the dance remix as the single video?!?) Complain all you want about Pop/popmart - at least it had a strong/catchy first single, an album that flows and a tour with a strong theme! They start and finish the show with songs that are not singles or old staples (not that they haven't done that before). If they wanted to start with Breathe, that should have been the first single. If they wanted to end with Moment of Surrender, that should have been the second single (Or at the very least they should have played it at some point during their promo tour). The irony is that on paper there is nothing wrong with the songs in the setlist. But (and here I have strong opinions I know you'll disagree with) just like the album, which is made up of strong songs and the first single, Boots, which is made up of strong riffs and catchy tunes - there is a complete lack of structure and an apparent lack of planning (As if they all took votes on each part of the song/album/tour/setlist as they went along and never stopped to ask "Does the sum of the parts make sense?"). Had they released a different song, any song other than boots first, their album might have sold more by now and there is a greater chance that the people in the stands would be into the new stuff. It feels like they have all the right ingredients, they just haven't found the right recipe. Thankfully, they get to cook it up fresh each night, so there's a chance for it to gel with the audience. I think that the challenges the band is facing with the crowd in the US can be traced back to their decision to release Get on your Boots as the first single, combined with adjustments they failed to make after that.

(I’m going to make up statistics as I go along to support my claim without doing any research, so please respond and correct my false assumptions!)

Of all the songs that U2 could have released from NLOTH as the first single, boots was probably the worst, least sensible choice they could have made. I think they thought they had another Vertigo on their hands when in reality they had a song that was a bit of a mismash – too scattered for the old school fans, not current enough for the young crowd. Like the song or not, the single was a flop relative to other first singles and did nothing to help the band promote the album.

I think that as a result, the band was playing catch up with the album promotion and even though they got decent exposure with the BBC, Letterman and the Somerville show, they didn’t seem to capture the regional media the same way they had in album and tours gone past.

They could have released Magnificent, Breathe, Crazy tonight or even Moment of Surrender as the first single and they would probably have had more success.

They are playing as many songs off the new album as they did for the Vertigo tour and ZooTV tour – one more than they started the elevation tour with, yet the album is nowhere near as popular.

And probably tying in with Sherry’s post about tour theme, they didn’t seem to know which song to release off the album as their “tour” single. Vertigo, Elevation, Mofo (albeit late to the game) all helped cement the tour – they released a version of Crazy Tonight that is different from the one performed live (Why not release the dance remix as the single video?!?)

Complain all you want about Pop/popmart – at least it had a strong/catchy first single, an album that flows and a tour with a strong theme!

They start and finish the show with songs that are not singles or old staples (not that they haven’t done that before). If they wanted to start with Breathe, that should have been the first single. If they wanted to end with Moment of Surrender, that should have been the second single (Or at the very least they should have played it at some point during their promo tour).

The irony is that on paper there is nothing wrong with the songs in the setlist. But (and here I have strong opinions I know you’ll disagree with) just like the album, which is made up of strong songs and the first single, Boots, which is made up of strong riffs and catchy tunes – there is a complete lack of structure and an apparent lack of planning (As if they all took votes on each part of the song/album/tour/setlist as they went along and never stopped to ask “Does the sum of the parts make sense?”).

Had they released a different song, any song other than boots first, their album might have sold more by now and there is a greater chance that the people in the stands would be into the new stuff.

It feels like they have all the right ingredients, they just haven’t found the right recipe. Thankfully, they get to cook it up fresh each night, so there’s a chance for it to gel with the audience.

]]> By: Ste http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230320 Ste Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:21:36 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230320 People are nuts. This is a fan U2 site right? I obviously love the bands back catalogue...but at this stage, new music is much more interesting that the old regulars. Just because everyone knows MySterious Ways...and everyone goes nuts...does not mean its more interesting than Breathe say. I would take a full concert of No Line, rather than the older material. Also, I have to comment, whatever about the intention of playing in stadiums, the fact is, if your not up the front, it can be a serious buzz kill, when people starting wandering off for beers, or leaving early. I mean, leaving early! Just because you dont know a song very well... I would go as far to say that that shows a serious lack of respect to the artists. Anyway... Ste People are nuts. This is a fan U2 site right? I obviously love the bands back catalogue…but at this stage, new music is much more interesting that the old regulars. Just because everyone knows MySterious Ways…and everyone goes nuts…does not mean its more interesting than Breathe say. I would take a full concert of No Line, rather than the older material.

Also, I have to comment, whatever about the intention of playing in stadiums, the fact is, if your not up the front, it can be a serious buzz kill, when people starting wandering off for beers, or leaving early.

I mean, leaving early! Just because you dont know a song very well…

I would go as far to say that that shows a serious lack of respect to the artists.

Anyway…

Ste

]]> By: PhilK http://www.atu2blog.com/u2-faces-the-music-about-new-songs-at-concerts/1788/comment-page-1/#comment-230317 PhilK Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:54:56 +0000 http://www.atu2blog.com/?p=1788#comment-230317 Personally, I'm disappointed that NLOTH is not resonating with much of the US fandom. As a long time die-hard and veteran of many U2 shows over the years, I am most excited to hear the songs from the album the tour is promoting. I've been to 2 360 shows this tour so far (Chicago 1 and NY 1)---folks in Chicago seemed to get into the new tracks quite a bit more than in NY. Where I was sitting in Giants Stadium, most of the section didn't even stand up at the beginning of the show---and it was not until Mysterious Ways - Elevation that folks starting getting into it. Playing 75% of the new album from tour to tour is what has kept U2 relevant. The moment they become a greatest hits touring act (i.e. Rolling Stones), they will hang it up. Only 5 new tracks at FedEx Field---I'd have been really bummed. Not sure what has happened to Unknown Caller---I love it in Chicago 1. 2 more shows left this leg (Dallas, Vegas)---keep it fresh with new tunes, boys! Personally, I’m disappointed that NLOTH is not resonating with much of the US fandom. As a long time die-hard and veteran of many U2 shows over the years, I am most excited to hear the songs from the album the tour is promoting. I’ve been to 2 360 shows this tour so far (Chicago 1 and NY 1)—folks in Chicago seemed to get into the new tracks quite a bit more than in NY. Where I was sitting in Giants Stadium, most of the section didn’t even stand up at the beginning of the show—and it was not until Mysterious Ways – Elevation that folks starting getting into it.

Playing 75% of the new album from tour to tour is what has kept U2 relevant. The moment they become a greatest hits touring act (i.e. Rolling Stones), they will hang it up. Only 5 new tracks at FedEx Field—I’d have been really bummed. Not sure what has happened to Unknown Caller—I love it in Chicago 1.

2 more shows left this leg (Dallas, Vegas)—keep it fresh with new tunes, boys!

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