1. As someone who has only seen them live once, I am praying for more tours!!!
  2. Originally posted by TheRefugee:[..]
    Yes, of course.

    The band can play as many AB songs as they wish in a new fresh tour that isn’t one dedicated to marking an anniversary of the album itself. I’m simply expressing a preference for something new that is not beholden to observing the anniversary of the release of an old piece of work. I’d prefer them to avoid the creative bankruptcy of living of past glories. They don’t have long left, so I’d prefer them to use the time they have to live in the here and now and not in the past.
    They’ll release an album and tour it regardless of any anniversary stuff. As with the JT anniversary tours it didn’t sacrifice SOE or the E&I tour. They’re not going to release more albums and play more ‘new’ tours by sacrificing anniversary tours. No anniversary tours just means less tours overall.
  3. I take your point. However, for me, another anniversary tour is just confirmation that they are firmly in legacy band territory which I suppose they are now. It’s just tough to accept and brings with it a sense of resignation that “the future has dried up”, but the truth is bitter some times I guess.
  4. Originally posted by TheRefugee:I take your point. However, for me, another anniversary tour is just confirmation that they are firmly in legacy band territory which I suppose they are now. It’s just tough to accept and brings with it a sense of resignation that “the future has dried up”, but the truth is bitter some times I guess.
    That doesn’t add up either. If they continue to release new music and tour it how can they be in the legacy act territory? And how will the future have dried up? For them to become a legacy act they would need to stop releasing new music and touring it, something they’ve never stopped doing and shown no signs of stopping.
  5. Plenty of signs of slowing down; frequency of album releases, number of new songs released, all equals diminishing returns. Plus you are a legacy band if you’re living off your legacy which is exactly what an anniversary tour is all about.
  6. Originally posted by TheRefugee:Plenty of signs of slowing down; frequency of album releases, number of new songs released, all equals diminishing returns. Plus you are a legacy band if you’re living off your legacy which is exactly what an anniversary tour is all about.
    Again that doesn’t add up. The band have released 30+ songs since the back end of 2014, less than 7 and a half years. Not much different to there 1990’s return where some would say they were at their peak. An anniversary tour might be about their legacy but that doesn’t then define the band as a legacy act in general when they follow that up with new material and tour it. There’s band that have only been going half as long as they have that don’t promote new material like they do.
  7. It adds up to 2 albums in over a decade. On the lower end of the prolific scale one must surely admit!!!
    Anyway, you’re fairly entrenched in your position. That’s fair enough.
    Looking forward to the new material. Any day now🤞🏻
  8. Originally posted by TheRefugee:It adds up to 2 albums in over a decade. On the lower end of the prolific scale one must surely admit!!!
    Anyway, you’re fairly entrenched in your position. That’s fair enough.
    Looking forward to the new material. Any day now🤞🏻
    It adds up to 30+ songs in 7 and a half years. About the same or more than most established bands. Most of these songs being played live as well. They’ve been releasing and promoting new material on tour to a good level. We sometimes get frustrated at the gaps in between albums but compare them to most of the other big bands out there and they’re no different and they definitely play more new material on tour than most. It’s an insult to call them a legacy act based on they facts.
  9. Indulging in anniversary tours is at least in part the band accepting their status as a legacy act, as a band beyond their peak and who have fans wanting to hear the hits. There’s no shame in that, nothing to be insulted about, certainly when a band is past its peak and that peak was as impressive and dominant as U2’s was.
  10. Originally posted by TheRefugee:Indulging in anniversary tours is at least in part the band accepting their status as a legacy act, as a band beyond their peak and who have fans wanting to hear the hits. There’s no shame in that, nothing to be insulted about, certainly when a band is past its peak and that peak was as impressive and dominant as U2’s was.
    Every band has fans wanting to hear their hits. When a new artist brings out a new album and tours guess what songs most people want to hear are? The hits. By the time they’re 3 or 4 albums down the line it’s still they same hits people often want to hear. As for their peak, that is a matter of opinion. Commercially in terms of releases certainly U2 are past their peak that’s factual but they could quite easily have been playing greatest hits tours for the last 15 years or playing sets that were more in the greatest hits bracket rather than playing 7 or more new songs each night during I&E, the same for E&I. I think it is an insult not to separate the likes of what U2 are doing which is playing concerts with fresh new material and releasing albums and then comparing that to a Rolling Stones say, who are great at what they do, but haven’t given new material a chance for a long time. Even compared to bands that have only been around since the 00’s U2 are still playing more new material live. All the good bands out there must be legacy acts then.
  11. U2 is unquestionably past their peak. Their core audience is now predominantly in their 40s and 50s. Time gets us all.

    However, I don’t believe they are a “legacy” act….yet. The JT anniversary tour was 1 step into that musical grave, but give them credit for coming back with the E&I tour as well. They deserve a ton of credit for not totally falling into the Stones, Eagles, Phil Collins, Sting legacy tours mode to this point.

    In my view though an AB Anniversary tour would be hugely disappointing. I would so much rather see them continue to give new albums a shot. Sure no new album will likely live up to an AB or a JT, but I’d rather see them try new and fail than just milk their catalog. Once they don’t have the spark to put out a new album that they believe in enough to tour it, they should walk away.