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  1. "I've got the rest of my money on The Showman so Bono can wear a funny hat, or a new jacket, or paint his face, or use stilts or something."

    This made me LOL.
    Thank you!
    (Can't get bono on stilts out of my head now...)
  2. Originally posted by MattG:Warning: mega post ahead

    Obviously we can't predict the exact order, but I've been thinking a lot about how they're going to re-use the same shit for a new tour and also how to keep old parts from getting stale...I have a few ideas & observations below.

    For reference, let's divide the show into
    Act I (Miracle thru UTEOTW),
    Act II (E Stage),
    Act III (Bullet thru end of main set),
    and Encore.

    1. All "greatest hits" (non-SOI tracks) from Act I that are repeated for this tour will now appear in Act III or the encore.

    I think this will be true for a multitude of reasons. First, even though "recycling" seems to be on U2's mind lately, I don't think they're going to give us anything close to a carbon copy of the last iteration of the tour. They may not ditch I Will Follow or Vertigo, but they will close the show down in a sense of "bringing it full circle."

    They're also not afraid to use I Will Follow and Vertigo at the end of a set, now that both have been played at the end of the JT shows. Obviously IWF's origins trace it back being the first and last song played from their early shows...thematically, having it at the beginning of the Innocence tour and the end of the Experience tour almost seems obvious. I wouldn't mind them dropping Vertigo even though its a fantastic live song, but if it sticks around, I see it late in the game. I don't think we're going to see Out of Control, Sunday Bloody Sunday, or Until the End of the World this time.

    2. The only Songs of Innocence references we're going to get will be through their recycled parts in the new material

    Every Breaking Wave was easily the hardest part of the show for Bono last time around, and it was hardly "amazingly received." Other than that, every regular SOI song was in place to convey a theme. I think we'll see the exact same thing this time around.

    3. The show will follow the exact same format

    There isn't any logical way around this, to me. The show has so many different elements (keeping to a theme, getting inside the screen, getting to the E stage, getting back to the main stage) that it can't break too far from the original if it wants to have any sort of flow. I really have no problem with this.

    4. Streets or bust.

    I have this weird, weird inkling that they're going to drop this. I don't think a single song from Joshua Tree is going to be played. IF they play anything from The Joshua Tree, my official prediction is that this is the only song we'll hear.

    5. The setlist will heavily feature All That You Can't Leave Behind

    This, to me, is the most "grown up" U2 album and I wouldn't be surprised to hear Stuck, Kite, Walk On, and obviously Beautiful Day. Note that the songs from Innocence all had a theme of "holding on." Holding on to memories, holding on to people, holding on too music, and finally the crux of the tour: "There is a light, don't let it go out." The ATYCLB songs are largely about being able to let go. In Kite, "I want you to know that you don't need me anymore"...in Walk On, "You've got to leave it behind"...Stuck, about well...getting un-stuck! I think that the new album's motifs will play off of that theme and these songs will fit in surprisingly well.

    6. The Showman will be a staple because Bono cannot pass up the opportunity to play a character.

    I'm being a bit cheeky here, but the real point I'd like to make is - I believe we've heard most of the songs we'll be hearing on tour already. I don't see the band NOT playing anything that's already been released, as they're all relatively poppy and fit a live set.

    I figure we'll see 6-7 songs per night from SOE. 5 staples, and a few rotating. Best Thing, Get Out, American Soul, and Little Things will probably be played every night (just a guess - they may ditch American Soul seeing that they rarely played Volcano, but Kendrick tying Get Out/American Soul together will make for a cool video opportunity and segue they probably won't pass up). Anyway, that's four tunes right there - I've got a feeling they're going to use 13 to tie the lightbulb back in.

    I've got the rest of my money on The Showman so Bono can wear a funny hat, or a new jacket, or paint his face, or use stilts or something.

    7. The lightbulb and stage will be lit blue, and throughout the course of the show change to either yellow or green.

    This doesn't have anything to do with the setlist, I'm just leaving it here.
    --

    Now, with all of this being said, it would be easy for me to just list a bunch of U2 songs below in text format, and it would look like any other mock. Spoiler alert: I did that, and it didn't look particularly "exciting." But suspending my disbelief for a second, I typed this up and just LOOKING at it as if it were actually potentially a real setlist, my heart skipped a beat. What if this was what you saw on Twitter on opening night?


    [image]

    I'll be the first to admit it looks a little wonky. But hey, I didn't have a lot of faith in Innocence's first act, and it ended up being a really cool part of the show. This has a little something for everyone...

    -The ZooTV nuts would be pissing themselves over Fly, Numb, Zoo, and Tryin' all in the same set.

    -The "statistic" people (I'll admit, I can be one of them) would tout the following: It's been 12 years since Zoo Station and Love & Peace were regularly in a setlist. 15 years since we've heard Stuck with the full band (which I honestly love), and Kite. 25 years since Tryin' has shown up in more than a snippet.

    -The people who couldn't care less about deep cuts get Beautiful Day, Stuck, Desire, Walk On, Vertigo, Pride, One, I Will Follow - a bit easy on the heavy war-horses, but I'm fully aware that Streets will probably join them and that I'm wrong on that prediction.

    I just think this fits really well together apart from not knowing what The Showman or 13 sound like. The reason I implemented the color change into my prediction is that I believe during 13, the colors of the stage will change and signify the completion of the cycle from Innocence to Experience....either BACK to Innocence, where life begins, or to turn green - a combination of blue and yellow - to signify what a full life is made up of. Innocence AND Experience.

    Consider this my official and only prediction for this thread


    All of this makes sense to me. Well put.

    BUT I really hope the ATYCLB-heavy prediction is wrong. Not just because it's near the bottom in album rankings for me, but because initially I had always envisioned SOI = 80s, and SOE = 90s (with the JT 2017 tour the "bridge" between the two). If instead they jump straight from their 80s' "innocence" period to 2000, I'll be a little upset. Although based on the songs we've heard so far (apart from Blackout), this looks likely. Oh well.
  3. Surely they’ll play the GOOYOW and American Soul combo just so they can have the Kendrick bits
  4. I think they will drop songs from TJT altogether, and focus more on Pop this time. I just hope they give pride a rest as well, they have played it now for over 30yrs and its starting to become a bit tiresome.
  5. 1st part all songs of SOI, 2nd part all of SOE. Last song is 40. F.... The casuals. ? ? ? ? ?
  6. I would love that, but it's impossible and if they played it every night, many people here would complain...
  7. Ok, second night 1st part SOE, 2 nd part SOI.?
  8. agree but last song all I want is you
  9. Originally posted by electricwar1:I think they will drop songs from TJT altogether, and focus more on Pop this time. I just hope they give pride a rest as well, they have played it now for over 30yrs and its starting to become a bit tiresome.
    need people to bug them about pop
  10. I think there should be at least 3 songs encore different every night...
  11. This may be an unpopular opinion but other than Miracle (for live concert purposes) I really don't want SOI in the setlist. Granted I know they will play SOI but I'm just not all for it. I really hope we get more Pop, UF, and AB/Zooropa.
  12. I really don't think they're going to touch the SOI stuff.