More tour hints
Today we have a few new tidbits about the tour, albeit small tidbits.
The first is very vague indeed. U2 are the subject of a Time feature, which you can read here. At the end, it provides information both on a second album and a tour: "There’s more music on the way ... a whole new album and a world tour." The band are not shying away from publicising their intentions to go on another big global tour. But can we get some more details?
Yes, we can get a smidgen more detail, thanks to a couple of interviews Bono did today. One was with KROQ's Kevin and Bean. You can listen to the full interview here. At the end of the interview, Bono spoke about touring. First he indicated that plans are in motion, but not finalised. "We've got some stuff up our sleeves about playing live and, you know, we are coming your way next year and maybe before that if we can cook up something." Could there be special promotional performances in the works for the last few months of the year? With the physical release of Songs of Innocence next month, that would make sense.
Bono then went on to talk about how he would like to play the songs. "I want to play some of them acoustically because these songs were designed ... [to be] great tunes that if you play them with acoustic guitar or on piano in a pub that they would stop people from going home at closing time. They're that kind of tunes and I want people to be aware of that ... I want people to just listen to the tunes and I think the best way to do that is to do some acoustic sessions." Combine this comment with the fact that the deluxe edition of Songs of Innocence will contain up to eight acoustic versions of the new songs, and you can see the band's passion and belief in this material suiting the acoustic treatment. Mid-show acoustic sets have not always been universally popular among fans, sometimes dismissed as an afterthought, but Bono's emphasis today on performing acoustic versions suggests the format has played a significant role in their recent thought.
Will these acoustic sessions be special promotional appearances, will they be integrated into the tour's setlist, or both? Well, Bono definitely alluded to the former in his interview. "If we can [do an acoustic session] with KROQ, that's what I'd like to do." Look out for a possible live performance on KROQ, then. It has happened before, back in 2000.
Another interview, with Jo Whiley, also indicates U2 will be doing some acoustic sessions for radio. After the 4:30 mark in the interview, Jo asks U2 if there might be some live acoustic shows "before Christmas". Bono says "I don't know ... if we are, we'll come on your show". Jo responds "will you come and do an acoustic session for me?" Bono: "Absolutely." She says she will check her schedule to make sure there is space for U2; "that session is booked". That escalated quickly!
This article was updated about 15 minutes after original publication to include the quotes from the Jo Whiley interview.
The first is very vague indeed. U2 are the subject of a Time feature, which you can read here. At the end, it provides information both on a second album and a tour: "There’s more music on the way ... a whole new album and a world tour." The band are not shying away from publicising their intentions to go on another big global tour. But can we get some more details?
Yes, we can get a smidgen more detail, thanks to a couple of interviews Bono did today. One was with KROQ's Kevin and Bean. You can listen to the full interview here. At the end of the interview, Bono spoke about touring. First he indicated that plans are in motion, but not finalised. "We've got some stuff up our sleeves about playing live and, you know, we are coming your way next year and maybe before that if we can cook up something." Could there be special promotional performances in the works for the last few months of the year? With the physical release of Songs of Innocence next month, that would make sense.
Bono then went on to talk about how he would like to play the songs. "I want to play some of them acoustically because these songs were designed ... [to be] great tunes that if you play them with acoustic guitar or on piano in a pub that they would stop people from going home at closing time. They're that kind of tunes and I want people to be aware of that ... I want people to just listen to the tunes and I think the best way to do that is to do some acoustic sessions." Combine this comment with the fact that the deluxe edition of Songs of Innocence will contain up to eight acoustic versions of the new songs, and you can see the band's passion and belief in this material suiting the acoustic treatment. Mid-show acoustic sets have not always been universally popular among fans, sometimes dismissed as an afterthought, but Bono's emphasis today on performing acoustic versions suggests the format has played a significant role in their recent thought.
Will these acoustic sessions be special promotional appearances, will they be integrated into the tour's setlist, or both? Well, Bono definitely alluded to the former in his interview. "If we can [do an acoustic session] with KROQ, that's what I'd like to do." Look out for a possible live performance on KROQ, then. It has happened before, back in 2000.
Another interview, with Jo Whiley, also indicates U2 will be doing some acoustic sessions for radio. After the 4:30 mark in the interview, Jo asks U2 if there might be some live acoustic shows "before Christmas". Bono says "I don't know ... if we are, we'll come on your show". Jo responds "will you come and do an acoustic session for me?" Bono: "Absolutely." She says she will check her schedule to make sure there is space for U2; "that session is booked". That escalated quickly!
This article was updated about 15 minutes after original publication to include the quotes from the Jo Whiley interview.
Posted on by Axver