LIV
Active topics
  1. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]

    Yes the band clearly did think about these songs and this period of their career on 2 brief occasions at the end of 360 and the last third of E&I. And they only did so for E&I because they were returning to Berlin at the end of the tour and wanted to come up with a different narrative for the show that wasn’t too similar to I&E. The 360 celebration didn’t feature any surprises from the album really, underplayed songs but nothing that they shouldn’t be playing regularly, Ultra Violet was the most obscure on the 3 occasions it was played at that stage of the tour but it had already featured heavily on 360 and wasn’t about celebrating AB.
    I personally don't think the setlist shake up in 2018 had anything to do with Berlin. The second leg started in Berlin with the 2015 middle section meaning if Bono didn't lose his voice they would have played 2015 setlists for both shows. I believe the intention was always for 2018 to be something else but laziness or lack of rehearsal got in the way meaning they stuck with the 2015 firmware until they had the confidence to change it up.

    There's no way in hell I believe this band of all bands designed a whole set piece of AB/Stay just because they had to play rescheduled shows in Berlin.
  2. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    End of Vertigo tour - JT2017 = 11 years (8/11 JT songs played in that time)
    End of 360 tour - potential AB tour = 10 years (9/12 AB songs played in that time
    So a higher percentage of Achtung Baby songs have been played from 360 than Joshua Tree songs from Vertigo until the anniversary tour?

    What point does this make?
  3. Originally posted by germcevoy:[..]
    I personally don't think the setlist shake up in 2018 had anything to do with Berlin. The second leg started in Berlin with the 2015 middle section meaning if Bono didn't lose his voice they would have played 2015 setlists for both shows. I believe the intention was always for 2018 to be something else but laziness or lack of rehearsal got in the way meaning they stuck with the 2015 firmware until they had the confidence to change it up.

    There's no way in hell I believe this band of all bands designed a whole set piece of AB/Stay just because they had to play rescheduled shows in Berlin.
    I don’t believe it would have been so AB/Berlin focused if they weren’t going back there at the end of the tour. The Unforgettable Fire was in the running and only dropped it seems to accommodate the Berlin Theme.
  4. Originally posted by germcevoy:[..]
    So a higher percentage of Achtung Baby songs have been played from 360 than Joshua Tree songs from Vertigo until the anniversary tour?

    What point does this make?
    My point is the stats are very comparable and yet we still had a JT anniversary tour. It’s also fair to point out that AB has a lot more songs on it that are more crowd pleasing in the live environment, songs like Real Thing,One, Mysterious Ways, UTEOTW aren’t played because they are AB songs they are played because they are well liked hits or in the case of UTEOTW a live favourite.
  5. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    I don’t believe it would have been so AB/Berlin focused if they weren’t going back there at the end of the tour. The Unforgettable Fire was in the running and only dropped it seems to accommodate the Berlin Theme.
    This is the band that wouldn't play ASOH in Dublin in 2017. They really going to redesign a setlist because they're finishing a tour in Berlin unexpectedly? Not this band.
  7. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    My point is the stats are very comparable and yet we still had a JT anniversary tour. It’s also fair to point out that AB has a lot more songs on it that are more crowd pleasing in the live environment, songs like Real Thing,One, Mysterious Ways, UTEOTW aren’t played because they are AB songs they are played because they are well liked hits or in the case of UTEOTW a live favourite.
    JT at 30 years is a much more marketable tour than AB. To the casual fan who likes old U2 anyway. I don't think the demand would be the same for a full blown AB anniversary (not in stadiums anyway and definitely not so soon after flogging JT to death).

    I don't particularly think that either album lends itself to be played in full sequence in a live setting. The second side of JT remains underwhelming for patches (and felt this way live). Achtung Baby would fare better but they would have to open the show with it IMO. It has the songs to carry it but it will take effort. They need to breathe life back into One and Mysterious Ways, work out So Cruel and Arms around the Word. Who knows.
  8. Originally posted by germcevoy:[..]
    This is the band that wouldn't play ASOH in Dublin in 2017. They really going to redesign a setlist because they're finishing a tour in Berlin unexpectedly? Not this band.
    Of course they would. Why do you think they played TUF then suddenly dropped it? They were going to make it about cities, then zoo station was played in Germany and they stuck with it knowing Berlin was the final show of the tour rather than rotating that slot. The Fly wasn’t added until after this, quite late on. Imo The Fly 100% wouldn’t have appeared if they weren’t playing Berlin nor would Dirty Day. Wild Horses and Stay probably would have but I think zoo station wouldn’t have been played regularly either if it wasn’t for them going back to Berlin.
  9. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    Of course they would. Why do you think they played TUF then suddenly dropped it? They were going to make it about cities, then zoo station was played in Germany and they stuck with it knowing Berlin was the final show of the tour rather than rotating that slot. The Fly wasn’t added until after this, quite late on. Imo The Fly 100% wouldn’t have appeared if they weren’t playing Berlin nor would Dirty Day. Wild Horses and Stay probably would have but I think zoo station wouldn’t have been played regularly either if it wasn’t for them going back to Berlin.
    Why would they play Magnificent once in 2015 then get rid of it? Or Zoo Station once in 2015? Glitches in the matrix.
  11. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    Of course they would. Why do you think they played TUF then suddenly dropped it? They were going to make it about cities, then zoo station was played in Germany and they stuck with it knowing Berlin was the final show of the tour rather than rotating that slot. The Fly wasn’t added until after this, quite late on. Imo The Fly 100% wouldn’t have appeared if they weren’t playing Berlin nor would Dirty Day. Wild Horses and Stay probably would have but I think zoo station wouldn’t have been played regularly either if it wasn’t for them going back to Berlin.


    If it was all about Berlin then why didn't they have it ready for the opening night? Opening the leg with a bang rather than scrambling to turn it into something before filming it for DVD?

    I just don't believe this band of all bands would go to the hassle. They half-assed 2018 and managed to turn it into something when it was running out of time. I'll applaud the effort and some of it was great in person but 2018-19 were just a mess.
  12. Originally posted by germcevoy:[..]
    Why would they play Magnificent once in 2015 then get rid of it? Or Zoo Station once in 2015? Glitches in the matrix.
    Zoo station in 2015 was because they were in Berlin. Magnificent I’m sure had been requested, I might be wrong there. 2015 was completely different though. That was a rotational slot so songs were in and out the Setlist more. Prior to Copenhagen 2 E&I had became firmly fixed with only one rotating slot. I agree they were likely still thinking about changing things even if Berlin wasn’t the final show but I think we would have got a Setlist looking a lot more like Copenhagen 2 than what we got in Berlin. Maybe they would have played a couple of other non AB songs instead of TUF but AB/Berlin was never going to be the theme without the show returning to Berlin. The rehearsals I’m sure leading up to Copenhagen 2 featured a sequence of landlady, stay and TUF, not sure of the order but I’m certain zoo station, the fly and dirty day would not have been played at the final show of the tour or whatever gig they were planning on releasing if it wasn’t for Berlin.