U2 rehearse full band North Star
So far, U2 have debuted five unreleased songs on the current leg of the 360° Tour. One of these songs is North Star. Originally known as the "slow new song" when it was first rehearsed behind closed doors in Turin on 2 August 2010, it made its live debut at the first show of the tour, 6 August 2010. However, the song was performed just by Bono and Edge; the rhythm section sat it out.
A couple of weeks went by before North Star returned to the set in Helsinki on 20 August 2010. An even longer gap ensued between this performance and its third, in Zurich on 12 September 2010, though it did appear in an early copy of the printed setlist for 30 August 2010, Vienna. Every Breaking Wave subsequently took North Star's spot in that setlist.
Like in Turin, the Helsinki and Zurich performances were by Bono and Edge. The main difference is that Edge used an acoustic guitar in Turin but has subsequently gone electric. Unsurprisingly, fans have quickly started to speculate on how the song would sound fully fleshed out with the participation of Adam and Larry. U2 performing stripped down or acoustic versions of their songs has often been received with a degree of skepticism or disapproval from many fans, hence the assumption that a full band North Star will inherently be better than the three versions performed so far.
Well, here you go. Although the Zurich performance was just by Bono and Edge, the full band rehearsed North Star earlier that day in the soundcheck, and we recorded it. Is it better? You decide.
North Star, full band soundcheck in Zurich:
North Star, Bono and Edge in Zurich:
A couple of weeks went by before North Star returned to the set in Helsinki on 20 August 2010. An even longer gap ensued between this performance and its third, in Zurich on 12 September 2010, though it did appear in an early copy of the printed setlist for 30 August 2010, Vienna. Every Breaking Wave subsequently took North Star's spot in that setlist.
Like in Turin, the Helsinki and Zurich performances were by Bono and Edge. The main difference is that Edge used an acoustic guitar in Turin but has subsequently gone electric. Unsurprisingly, fans have quickly started to speculate on how the song would sound fully fleshed out with the participation of Adam and Larry. U2 performing stripped down or acoustic versions of their songs has often been received with a degree of skepticism or disapproval from many fans, hence the assumption that a full band North Star will inherently be better than the three versions performed so far.
Well, here you go. Although the Zurich performance was just by Bono and Edge, the full band rehearsed North Star earlier that day in the soundcheck, and we recorded it. Is it better? You decide.
North Star, full band soundcheck in Zurich:
North Star, Bono and Edge in Zurich:
Posted on by Axver