R.E.M.'s never reuniting!!
― unknown blues singer (morrisp), Monday, 13 February 2023 17:27 (one year ago) link
Not keen on the idea of a Vegas residency, am keen on them revisiting Achtung Baby, puzzled why they're only doing it now though. The anniversary was two years ago and so was the last Achtung box set.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:28 (one year ago) link
Also if they're doing Achtung then are they implicitly also committing more fully to the ZooTV nostalgia that they've only dabbled with over time (the Achtung mini-sets on the Vertigo tour and their 2011 performances [Glasto etc.], plus the face-filter MacPhisto from the last tour)?
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:31 (one year ago) link
Iirc, they missed the anniversary for the Joshua Tree Redux tour, too, right?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:39 (one year ago) link
That tour was 2017 but they did an extra leg in Asia/Oz/NZ in 2019, the other side of the Experience + Innocence Tour
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:49 (one year ago) link
They did play some ACHTUNG in 2011, as noted - I loved that Glastonbury set (on BBC).
I don't know anything about this venue and generally don't like new venues or new concert ticketing practices.
― the pinefox, Monday, 13 February 2023 19:40 (one year ago) link
It really is impressive. What other band has managed to perform with the same exact group intact for 40+ years? I don't think there's anyone even close.
Golden Earring managed 51 years, unchanged, and only split when one of them developed motor neuron disease.
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Monday, 13 February 2023 19:48 (one year ago) link
ZZ Top also made it to 51 years.
― Chris L, Monday, 13 February 2023 20:11 (one year ago) link
Cowboy Junkies are still together with the same line-up after 38 years.
― lord of the rongs (anagram), Monday, 13 February 2023 22:35 (one year ago) link
the reason they're doing achtung baby at the residency is probably just that they (correctly) thought it'd be a more interesting exercise in nostalgia than just a greatest hits show and they'd already successfully done the joshua tree a few years back
― ufo, Monday, 13 February 2023 22:41 (one year ago) link
man I would kind of want to go to this; I've never seen U2 and hate everything they did after Zooropa but always regretted not seeing this tour and I love that album. But no Larry plus likely $1000 tickets means I will not go
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Monday, 13 February 2023 23:39 (one year ago) link
I really do love these guys but opening Popmart with a Vegas show and 25 years later signing on for a Vegas residency is a bit https://www.theonion.com/ironic-porn-purchase-leads-to-unironic-ejaculation-1819565403
― omar little, Monday, 13 February 2023 23:46 (one year ago) link
This is not a Zoo TV reboot or anything, right?
― PaulTMA, Monday, 13 February 2023 23:50 (one year ago) link
no Larry plus likely $1000 tickets means I will not go
If Larry were there, they'd be $5000 tickets!
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 13 February 2023 23:59 (one year ago) link
That PopMart Vegas show was also marred by probably their biggest ever on-stage problems. Careful now U2!
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 00:14 (one year ago) link
Maybe it'll be like Twin Peaks season 3, set in Vegas and things...happen.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 00:16 (one year ago) link
i'd expect they'll be playing achtung baby in full and the stage setup will be heavily referencing zoo tv, so basically?
― ufo, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 00:16 (one year ago) link
I always said I'll see them if they ever reprised Zoo TV properly so it would be nice (if probably very unlikely) that this is the testing ground for a worldwide tour.
So Cruel, TTTYAATW and Love Is Blindness haven't properly appeared on their setlists since Zoo TV (apart from one impromptu LIB in 2006). Even then So Cruel was only played four(?) times. Acrobat was never played until 2018.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 00:42 (one year ago) link
not that i would have paid $$$$ to see the vegas show but no larry is a real kick in the dicklike that’s a real wtf decision
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 00:47 (one year ago) link
I've always wanted to see them play "The Fly", but can Bono still hit those notes?
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 00:50 (one year ago) link
It's not Zoo TV, it's Zoo TV+
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 00:50 (one year ago) link
Bono hit the high notes on the album version of the fly but the edge has always done them live iirc
― omar little, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:04 (one year ago) link
can Bono still hit those notes?
Gonna say no. Here they are in 2018, and it sounds like some pre-recorded backing tracks are in the mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LY_uxUhap0
Which is fine, U2 has long used backing tracks, plus people off-stage triggering stuff, adding additional instruments, etc.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:08 (one year ago) link
I saw some clip of them doing "With Or Without You" some years back, and Bono struggling with the high notes actually really underscored for me what a singer he can be. For sure, he used to sing the hell out of songs like that, but there's no way I'd expect him to be able to keep it up. I think the same thing about someone like Springsteen. For years he was operating at 120%; dropping down to, like, 85% is still more than the work most people are doing.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:11 (one year ago) link
xp Someone I know who absolutely hates U2 used to say "they're playing to f***ing machines!" which always cracked me up.
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:14 (one year ago) link
Ah that actually makes sense, given how Bono would need to sing the 'a man will beg' part
So my next question is, can Edge still hit those notes?
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:35 (one year ago) link
I saw them on the Joshua Tree tour in 2019, Bono's voice was fucked then
― nate woolls, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:42 (one year ago) link
based on that 2018 video it sounds like the edge still does an alright job of it, just they've got a backing track of a choir or something in there too to make it sound fuller
― ufo, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:42 (one year ago) link
The band sounded great and it was a really good show. I'd go and see an Achtung Baby/Zooropa show in a heartbeat.
― nate woolls, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 01:45 (one year ago) link
I guess Edge falling off the stage isn't technically an on-stage problem.
― Unfairport Convention (PBKR), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 03:27 (one year ago) link
Fortunately Bono took over the falling-off-the-stage department on the next tour (I was there).
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 03:29 (one year ago) link
A friend who helps:
https://external-preview.redd.it/nzTdgnDim6TidIX266eBGFSqYmediJcO6kOadAKzT5E.jpg?auto=webp&s=f690df8368033ed2a01e84a22154ece5e0aaf4c9
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 03:40 (one year ago) link
There's being clumsy where you step and then there's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbriItBGGLM
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 04:11 (one year ago) link
Gonna say no. Here they are in 2018, and it sounds like some pre-recorded backing tracks are in the mix:As with “Even Better Than The Real Thing, “The Fly” was apparently always played in a different key for live performances. Which prompts the question, how many bands lowered the keys of brand-new songs (as opposed to older songs the singer may struggle with) in order to play them live?
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 12:22 (one year ago) link
It was said long ago that U2 didn't play 'Red Hill Mining Town' for long in 1987 for this reason (and didn't release it as a 45 because they couldn't play it live? - despite Neil Jordan having made a video?). Presumably it's never been played since.
I have an idea that 'The Unforgettable Fire' posed Bono a problem also, but then again I have a DVD of them playing that in USA 1987. It's exciting to see, but they can't really replicate the instrumental thrills in the middle.
― the pinefox, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 13:10 (one year ago) link
"Just What I Needed" by the Cars is pitched sharp on the record because Roy Thomas Baker sped it up, but it was always played live in a different, lower key.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 13:10 (one year ago) link
I have an idea that 'The Unforgettable Fire' posed Bono a problem also, but then again I have a DVD of them playing that in USA 1987. It's exciting to see, but they can't really replicate the instrumental thrills in the middle.When I saw them in 1985 they didn’t seem to struggle with it, though Bono didn’t attempt the highest falsetto notes. The instrumental midsection worked well with Edge doing the string parts on slide guitar against a sequencer. But since so much of the chorus is at the absolute top of Bono’s range, I can see why they may not have played it live much.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 13:25 (one year ago) link
how many bands lowered the keys of brand-new songs (as opposed to older songs the singer may struggle with) in order to play them live?
Would Friday I'm in Love count? The studio version of which was pitched up.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 13:44 (one year ago) link
Energy-wise you ain’t gonna get these guys anymore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEyrhdBIyD8
― omar little, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 14:46 (one year ago) link
Iirc they've been playing Even Better Than the Real Thing for years now with sort of energy-sapped verses. Maybe it's a purely artistic decision but idk.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 15:08 (one year ago) link
Just watched that "The Fly" 2018 clip and it sounds pretty great. I think Edge is the one hitting those notes with just the organ/pad and percussive elements in the backing track, as it is on the album
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 15:50 (one year ago) link
FWIW, for post-2000 U2, the 2001 show at Slane is hands down the one to see IMHO. Cheap DVD's are easy to find for those who want a physical copy, and it challenges even the Red Rocks DVD for the best one they've released. (The Zoo TV DVD at Sydney is still my favorite, but a lot of people complain that the sound quality - perhaps the mix - isn't as good as it could be judging by audio-only releases from that tour, but I think the visuals make up for it.)
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 16:25 (one year ago) link
that 2018 version of the fly does sound really good. that one remains solidly within Bono's vocal wheelhouse, probably 3/4 of achtung baby remains well within reach for him -- wild horses, mysterious ways, and ultraviolet are the ones where he really stretched out i think but the former pair might be well-served by the lower register vox, they would prob sound better. ultraviolet is the one where i kinda wish he'd still be able to hit all the high notes.
― omar little, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 17:27 (one year ago) link
Bono's own father pointed out early on that he was a baritone masquerading as a tenor. That being the case, a lot of U2's material had an inbuilt shelf-life. If even guys like Robert Plant lose their high notes, what chance did Bono have to still be able to sing something like "The Unforgettable Fire" by his sixties?
― Vast Halo, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 17:36 (one year ago) link
Bono's own father pointed out early on that he was a baritone masquerading as a tenor.
This makes sense. But did Bono take care of his voice? I feel like there's a lot of musicians for whom long-term self-care is an afterthought at best, or is maybe addressed too late to have much of an effect. I mean, Roger Daltrey is 78 and still singing "Tattoo" in its original key, and Paul Thompson is 71 and driving Roxy Music like he's 21, so it's definitely possible to retain one's strengths over the years.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 17:58 (one year ago) link
Paul Thompson is 71 and driving Roxy Music like he's 21
lol he sooooo wasn't. PT is one of my all time favorite drummers, and my eyes were on him most of the show, but there was no way he was driving much anything. Still good, tho.
Daltrey, not sure he was ever much of a smoker, which may be key.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 18:22 (one year ago) link
Bono def pushed his voice past its natural zone on earlier recordings and frequently sounded awkward in certain spots. i sense he probably got some vocal training after awhile which allowed him to lose that awkwardness and smooth everything out, but it all likely took its toll. He smoked for awhile too, which didn't help. He sounds good in the lower register, so it could be a net gain should he choose to go that route exclusively on future albums though who knows how many of those there will be.
― omar little, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 18:41 (one year ago) link
as far as old timers who can still do it, Richard Thompson is in a class by himself
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 19:09 (one year ago) link
Andy McCluskey of OMD still has the chops, and the dancing
― omar little, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 19:11 (one year ago) link
Michael Penn recorded "No Myth" in C, but when he performed it on TV at that time he sang it in G.
― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 15 February 2023 17:03 (one year ago) link