Hello, this idea came to me after hearing news of U2 re-recording their songs and Bono mentioning how he loved the energy coming from the band on the E stage. What if they were to do what Bruce Springsteen & David Byrne have done on Broadway, but take the idea to several cities? I know that Covid is a wrench here, but let’s play along shall we?
We’ve already seen & heard the wonderfully unique Apollo show in 2018, but what if that spawned an idea for a certain type of show that they can present in one fixed location for multiple weeks.
In my idea, they would start it Thanksgiving weekend in NYC at a nice theater and play up until Christmas. Breaking for the holidays. They don’t need to play 7 days a week, but the 2 weekend nights and maybe 1 weekday night. You can have an orchestra or a brass section. Special guests, etc.
Then take the idea to L.A. after the New Year and pick a similarly nice theater out there for a month.
Rinse & Repeat in London and Dublin for the spring. Maybe take it out a bit further for the summer. Or shitcan the idea and tour like normal.
They can build the set list off of what they did at the Apollo show. Focus on the early club days in the beginning of the set and then do what they want. Most likely what they’ve been recording recently.
It would be nice PR. The music world would certainly nod a respectable nod toward the band. You can already hear the sound bites from Bono about how “it’s just 4 men in the room creating music & magic.” LiveNation might be happy.
They’d need to make tickets just expensive enough, so it’s not full of Wall Street types or celebs. Let the fans afford tickets for multiple nights.
Is this something that you’d want, instead of an Achtung Baby/Zoo TV 30th anniversary tour? It’s certainly a courageous concept and something that the band has never done. Something is cooking with these old tunes being re-recorded. I can’t see them playing them in an arena or in a stadium.
No. I’m just a fan. It occurred to me, as I stated in my OP, when I was pondering why they were going through the trouble of re-recording their back catalog.
So. I've been saying and speculating for the last three or so years that U2's future is extended residencies. Apparently they are looking at a stadium tour next time out. THere was some talk from the band and crew that they were tired of North American arena tours. To your point, they could do the residencies instead. I say bring on the residency but I want a full on rock and roll show. The band can take breaks, or split the show into two or three sets, but I personally want a full throttle, in your face, rock and roll show while U2 can still put one on. I don't care if it's Achtung Baby 32, Zoo TV 2.0, a Greatest Hits show, or new material that grabs you, shakes you, and doesn't let you go, I just want Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry to go full tilt and leave it all on stage for us one more and perhaps final time.
I think U2’s next tour will be stadiums. Stadium tours are back in fashion, surprisingly. More money, fewer shows, I really think U2 will go this route. Plus in 2023 it will have been 5 years since U2 have played Europe, North America, and South America, so demand will be higher than it was in 2018.
