U2gigs.com

U2gigs.com - U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere 2023/2024

· Home
· All Tours History
· E+I 360° photos
· JT30 360° photos
· Live Releases
· U2 Pictures
· Bootleg Covers
· Personal Charts
· News
· Twitter Archive
· FAQ
· Contact





Day 12 rehearsals in Laval, 20 April 2018 (and analysis so far)

This article has been updated with the full practice set and corrected analysis information - this is why you normally do it, Ax!

With Bono back in town and just a few days left booked in Laval, the band spent the day running through a potential set for the third time. The order is not fully confirmed but this is what is known to have been played. With thanks again to U2Songs, here are the spoilers:



  • Unknown intro song
  • Love is All We Have Left (pre-recorded)
  • The Blackout
  • Lights of Home
  • Beautiful Day
  • I Will Follow
  • The Ocean
  • Iris
  • Cedarwood Road
  • Song for Someone
  • Sunday Bloody Sunday
  • Raised By Wolves
  • Until the End of the World
  • Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
  • Elevation
  • Desire
  • The Showman
  • Vertigo
  • Acrobat
  • You're the Best Thing About Me
  • Staring at the Sun
  • Pride
  • Get Out of Your Own Way
  • American Soul
  • City of Blinding Lights
  • One
  • Love is Bigger than Anything in its Way
  • 13

So... a few assumptions/some speculation based on the last few days. Assuming a structure similar to the i+e tour we can divide the set into three parts; Act 1 has been slightly lengthened from 10 songs (most nights, 9 on a few small occasions) to 11 songs. 7 of those 10 songs have carried over, three have been changed, and one has been added; the order has also been slightly shuffled. The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) has been replaced as an opener by The Blackout, with Lights of Home being the added song that follows. Beautiful Day has been moved up from the end of the second set/encore and traded places with Vertigo. I Will Follow remains in the fourth slot, while the other early set Boy/October song now follows it, with The Ocean taking that place for now. The remainder of the first act is currently identical, right down to the playing style of Sunday Bloody Sunday. It is well worth remembering though that on the first version of a set back on 14 April, Iris was not played at all while the SBS/RBW slots were replaced by Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and Acrobat respectively.

Is the Intermission still there? Well, we don't know that yet. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me is the song that is frequently reported to be following Until the End of the World. Logically that would be seen as taking the place of Invisible, which was the constant opener of the second act. But, remembering that this is all speculation, the fact that Elevation has been rehearsed with the Influx Remix opening could mean that U2 are also considering that for the second act opener. Does that mean HMTMKMKM is the Intermission? Thankfully not, as it has definitely not been pre-recorded!

The first three songs of the second act in 2015 remained constant, and were followed by two songs (on rare occasions three) that rotated between nights. Two of those rotational songs, Elevation and Desire, are now in the places of the i+e tour's Even Better Than the Real Thing and Mysterious Ways, and the second act has so far been largely identical in the full set run-throughs, with the exception of day 10 which was shortened for time and the addition of one song today. Based on the three full sets so far (keeping in mind that a) the band are still juggling the set and working out the kinks, and b) it is more than likely that they are working on songs with the PA turned off), it seems like the rotational songs have moved up to act 1 or not been determined yet.

No encore break has yet been indicated but, again working off the structure of the 2015 tour, it seems that City of Blinding Lights now closes the main set (a spot frequently occupied by the still-absent Where the Streets Have No Name in the past), while the encore remains three songs in length and opens with One. It is unlikely that the second act is just 7 songs in length and ends with the acoustic Staring at the Sun. The "political portion" could then end the main set, or open a rather lengthy encore. Given all of that above, the current set(s) U2 seems to be working with/have considered at least in part could be as follows (italic songs are ones that may not be done every night):

  • Unknown intro song
  • Love is All we Have Left (pre-recorded)
  • The Blackout
  • Lights of Home
  • Beautiful Day
  • I Will Follow
  • The Ocean
  • Iris
  • Cedarwood Road
  • Song For Someone
  • Sunday Bloody Sunday / Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
  • Raised By Wolves / Acrobat
  • Until the End of the World
  • Unknown Intermission (if being done)
  • HMTMKMKM
  • Elevation
  • Desire
  • The Showman
  • Vertigo
  • Acrobat
  • You're the Best Thing About Me
  • Staring at the Sun
  • Pride
  • Get Out of Your Own Way
  • American Soul
  • City of Blinding Lights
    Encore
  • One
  • Love is Bigger Than Anything in its Way
  • 13 (There is a Light)

And remember that since this has been done by Matkin, the above is likely to almost entirely wrong! The only song to have been rehearsed and does not seem to yet have a place in the set is The Fly; and even then, only a few riffs were heard so it seems the band are not particularly considering it for inclusion.

Songs rehearsed in Canada so far (songs underlined were rehearsed for the first time today):

Boy (2): I Will Follow, The Ocean
War (1): Sunday Bloody Sunday
The Unforgettable Fire (1): Pride (In the Name of Love)
Rattle & Hum (1): Desire
Achtung Baby (5): One, Until the End of the World, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, The Fly, Acrobat
Non-album single (1): Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Pop (1): Staring at the Sun
All That You Can't Leave Behind (2): Beautiful Day, Elevation
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2): Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights
Songs of Innocence (4): Song for Someone, Iris (Hold Me Close), Raised By Wolves, Cedarwood Road
Songs of Experience (9): Love Is All We Have Left (pre-recorded), Lights of Home, You're the Best Thing About Me, Get Out of Your Own Way, American Soul, The Showman (Little More Better), The Blackout, Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way, 13 (There Is a Light)



Posted on by Matkin


U2gigs.com Social


© 1996 U2gigs.com

Switch to Desktop design