Joshua Tree Tour 2017
Legs (3): Leg 1 - North America, Leg 2 - Europe, Leg 3 - The Americas
Shows: 54
  1. Here's my take on the setlist:


    Sunday Bloody Sunday
    New Year's Day
    A Sort of Homecoming
    Pride (In The Name Of Love)
    Where The Streets Have No Name
    I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
    With Or Without You
    Bullet The Blue Sky / Black Dog (snippet) / America (snippet)
    Running To Stand Still
    Red Hill Mining Town
    In God's Country
    Trip Through Your Wires
    One Tree Hill
    Exit / Wise Blood (snippet) / Eeny Meeny Miny Moe (snippet)
    Mothers Of The Disappeared

    encore(s):
    Desire
    Mysterious Ways or UV or EBTTRT
    Vertigo
    Beautiful Day
    Bad
    All I Want is You/40
  2. Originally posted by u2joost:[..]
    I would love a reworking of the set for Europe, starting with JT and then after the break Rattle & Hum.
    so something like:


    1. Streets
    2. ISHFWILF
    ......
    (etc)
    .....
    11. MothersOTD

    encore:

    12. Desire
    13. Van Diemens Land
    14. Hawkmoon 269
    15. All Along The Watchtower
    16. Silver and Gold
    17. Angel of Harlem
    18. God part II
    19. All I want is You
    20. Heartland
    21. Love Rescue me.

    (and I promise I won't complain about it being 'only' 21 songs!)


    I believe Aerosmith wrote a song for you!
  3. Originally posted by mrgunter:The purpose of the tour is to reinvigorate past 'users' and to invigorate new 'users' to U2. It's basic business marketing, I'm OK with it because that is its reason for being.
    Once the campaign objective has been achieved then the band will feel satisfied enough to bring out SOE, then be able to tour playing new songs.
    Look - don't get me wrong, I hate nostalgia, I prefer to keep moving forward and only looking back when I've got a beer in the hand.
    So for all the bitching and moaning just realise that the tour isn't for a vocal small minority (myself included), it's for the vast majority.


    There is no problem with nostalgia. The problem is resisting it and saying you arent and will never be, but then becoming it and not embracing it.

    The more I think about it, to me, they really started to lose direction when Paul McGuinness left. Look - don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for this tour and to see JT in full, but it is what it is... if they wanted to keep this in the moment without the nostalgia effect they should have treated it as if it were 1987. Meaning they had no other material beyond 1987. Duplicate the original setlists from cities you originally played (obviously altered to allow full JT) Thats fresh. Thats different. Thats not so much nostalgia as playing a full album and hits. My two cents.
  4. Nostalgia act or not- i think this tour is unbelievable- Exit/ RHMT/ IGC/ regular OTH...plus the occasional UV/ ASOH and new song- couldnt ask for more

    And dont forget we may have another tour with new material in 12 months.

    Not sure if we will see them tour this much in a 3-4 year period again- so I just want to enjoy every minute
  5. Originally posted by AllBeacauseOfZoo:Nostalgia act or not- i think this tour is unbelievable- Exit/ RHMT/ IGC/ regular OTH...plus the occasional UV/ ASOH and new song- couldnt ask for more

    And dont forget we may have another tour with new material in 12 months.

    Not sure if we will see them tour this much in a 3-4 year period again- so I just want to enjoy every minute
  6. Originally posted by u2joost:[..]
    I would love a reworking of the set for Europe, starting with JT and then after the break Rattle & Hum.
    so something like:


    1. Streets
    2. ISHFWILF
    ......
    (etc)
    .....
    11. MothersOTD

    encore:

    12. Desire
    13. Van Diemens Land
    14. Hawkmoon 269
    15. All Along The Watchtower
    16. Silver and Gold
    17. Angel of Harlem
    18. God part II
    19. All I want is You
    20. Heartland
    21. Love Rescue me.

    (and I promise I won't complain about it being 'only' 21 songs!)


    No WLCTT? Love the idea anyway.
  7. Originally posted by AllBeacauseOfZoo:Nostalgia act or not- i think this tour is unbelievable- Exit/ RHMT/ IGC/ regular OTH...plus the occasional UV/ ASOH and new song- couldnt ask for more

    And dont forget we may have another tour with new material in 12 months.

    Not sure if we will see them tour this much in a 3-4 year period again- so I just want to enjoy every minute
    Agree 100%. If they were releasing multiple bootlegs (a la Pearl Jam) then I might complain. However, a lot of us are only going to one show (or only a few shows - I might go to Buffalo in Sept) so the lack of variation doesn't bother me too much - and admittedly, however, I still haven't completely forgiven them for the "bait and switch" of the I&E tour. The removal ASOH and now UV sort of stinks but whatever. I'm getting to witness six songs I've never seen performed live and two songs that I haven't seen in 25 years.

    It's going to be a fun evening on Friday.

  8. Originally posted by DesertDog:Here's my take on the setlist:


    Sunday Bloody Sunday
    New Year's Day
    A Sort of Homecoming
    Pride (In The Name Of Love)
    Where The Streets Have No Name
    I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
    With Or Without You
    Bullet The Blue Sky / Black Dog (snippet) / America (snippet)
    Running To Stand Still
    Red Hill Mining Town
    In God's Country
    Trip Through Your Wires
    One Tree Hill
    Exit / Wise Blood (snippet) / Eeny Meeny Miny Moe (snippet)
    Mothers Of The Disappeared

    encore(s):
    Desire
    Mysterious Ways or UV or EBTTRT
    Vertigo
    Beautiful Day
    Bad
    All I Want is You/40
    Desire and AIWIY would indeed be nice additions to these setlists.
  9. I've been doing a lot of thinking about what U2 could really do with this show to keep the theme and element intact, but just pick better "hits" to surround the show with. I think it's important that from Mothers til the end of the show, all of the songs are really big, popular, stadium songs. I just don't think they're choosing the right ones. Decided to analyze it song by song below, more for my own thoughts, but for sharing as well:

    1. Miss Sarajevo
    This song just needs to go. I "get" it...it's impacting after Mothers, it shows a stark contrast between the part of the country where the streets have no name, and how its own government can oppress. But it's a little too heavy, and doesn't really work. The "America" theme is well-sold enough - they aren't losing anything by replacing this one with a huge stadium rocker.

    Since Ultraviolet was on the table, and now its been replaced with Mysterious Ways (even though both are clearly lyrically in the vein of supporting the women-theme), I don't think Achtung Baby is off limits at all. My pick for encore opener would be Until the End of the World.

    2. Mysterious Ways
    The theme is slightly less strong with Sarajevo not in front of it, but I guess this still works as a tribute to women, like they've been doing. Stadium rocker, everyone knows the words, there aren't any fans up on stage, the slide solo is back...why not? My pick would be to keep it.

    3. One
    Every time I look at a U2 setlist, this is a song I could drop without even batting an eye. But then, every time I hear it live, it knocks me away. They had success rotating it on the last tour, so I think they should be doing the same here instead of just eating up another whole slot with one war-horse. Why not split the slot with another great U2 ballad, capable of filling a stadium with ample opportunity for singalong: All I Want is You?

    4. Beautiful Day & 5. Elevation
    These two need to rotate. Elevation fucking rules in a stadium that huge, but it's definitely a little bit more tired. Beautiful Day is a horrendous arrangement if you ask me, but I like that it at least attempts to be different. I'm not going to put my head up in the clouds and think they'd ever stop playing these songs in stadiums.

    6. The Little Things & 7. I Will Follow
    They need to drop Little Things completely. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever to play 1 hour and 55 minutes of amazing, grandiose rock show, and then play an unreleased song that starts wicked slow in a stadium that holds 70,000+. People are leaving, you say? Go figure! When what's waiting on the other side of that final song is a huge crowd to get out of the stadium, find your parking, what-have-you, why let the only thing standing in your way be a museum full of people standing still as statues listening to a song they've never heard before? I know U2 can "do whatever they want," but you just don't close a stadium show like that. IWF all the way.

    8. Vertigo
    Amazing closer. Glad its finally in the final spot, glad they're doing the reprise...everything about it is great.

    So, with it laid out that way, the only thing this encore needs is a littttttle bit of reorganization, and only two tour debuts, to look more like:

    Until the End of the World
    Elevation / Beautiful Day (rotate)
    Mysterious Ways
    One / All I Want is You (rotate)
    I Will Follow
    Vertigo

    And to me, that already looks a lot better. It's funny how much more appealing Mysterious Ways is (and even Elevation!) when I imagine just coming off the rock-high of UTEOTW.
  10. Originally posted by MattG:I've been doing a lot of thinking about what U2 could really do with this show to keep the theme and element intact, but just pick better "hits" to surround the show with. I think it's important that from Mothers til the end of the show, all of the songs are really big, popular, stadium songs. I just don't think they're choosing the right ones. Decided to analyze it song by song below, more for my own thoughts, but for sharing as well:

    1. Miss Sarajevo
    This song just needs to go. I "get" it...it's impacting after Mothers, it shows a stark contrast between the part of the country where the streets have no name, and how its own government can oppress. But it's a little too heavy, and doesn't really work. The "America" theme is well-sold enough - they aren't losing anything by replacing this one with a huge stadium rocker.

    Since Ultraviolet was on the table, and now its been replaced with Mysterious Ways (even though both are clearly lyrically in the vein of supporting the women-theme), I don't think Achtung Baby is off limits at all. My pick for encore opener would be Until the End of the World.

    2. Mysterious Ways
    The theme is slightly less strong with Sarajevo not in front of it, but I guess this still works as a tribute to women, like they've been doing. Stadium rocker, everyone knows the words, there aren't any fans up on stage, the slide solo is back...why not? My pick would be to keep it.

    3. One
    Every time I look at a U2 setlist, this is a song I could drop without even batting an eye. But then, every time I hear it live, it knocks me away. They had success rotating it on the last tour, so I think they should be doing the same here instead of just eating up another whole slot with one war-horse. Why not split the slot with another great U2 ballad, capable of filling a stadium with ample opportunity for singalong: All I Want is You?

    4. Beautiful Day & 5. Elevation
    These two need to rotate. Elevation fucking rules in a stadium that huge, but it's definitely a little bit more tired. Beautiful Day is a horrendous arrangement if you ask me, but I like that it at least attempts to be different. I'm not going to put my head up in the clouds and think they'd ever stop playing these songs in stadiums.

    6. The Little Things & 7. I Will Follow
    They need to drop Little Things completely. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever to play 1 hour and 55 minutes of amazing, grandiose rock show, and then play an unreleased song that starts wicked slow in a stadium that holds 70,000+. People are leaving, you say? Go figure! When what's waiting on the other side of that final song is a huge crowd to get out of the stadium, find your parking, what-have-you, why let the only thing standing in your way be a museum full of people standing still as statues listening to a song they've never heard before? I know U2 can "do whatever they want," but you just don't close a stadium show like that. IWF all the way.

    8. Vertigo
    Amazing closer. Glad its finally in the final spot, glad they're doing the reprise...everything about it is great.

    So, with it laid out that way, the only thing this encore needs is a littttttle bit of reorganization, and only two tour debuts, to look more like:

    Until the End of the World
    Elevation / Beautiful Day (rotate)
    Mysterious Ways
    One / All I Want is You (rotate)
    I Will Follow
    Vertigo

    And to me, that already looks a lot better. It's funny how much more appealing Mysterious Ways is (and even Elevation!) when I imagine just coming off the rock-high of UTEOTW.
    I agree with almost all of this. I'll take Ultraviolet over MW any day of the week, and it's just as grandiose... Everything else, pretty spot on!

    One will work just as easily with the "Mothers/Refugees" theme in my opinion, so you can use that for the segment.

    The Little Things... Dig the song, and get where they're trying to go... It just doesn't work, and as you said, it just doesn't fit with this show!
  11. I doubt any SOI songs will be appearing on this tour...which to be honest is fine with me...however...got me thinking...what was the last tour that featured no songs from the tour of their previous album?

    Guessing Zooropa is the only other album to have no songs played on the next tour (Popmart)? At first I thought it was No Line until I remember they played Magnificent once on i&e tour. Is that right?

    (of course they haven't had a new album out since SOI, so I imagine this would also be the first time to be touring and playing zero songs from their newest album)