Vancouver update, 5 and 6 May 2015
We have a fair bit of news from Vancouver for you today, encompassing rehearsals from Tuesday and Wednesday. This post summarises information shared by U2FanPeter on Interference in the following posts: 1, 2, and 3.
On Tuesday, as well as the songs already reported, the band ran through early versions of The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, and - can you believe it - an acoustic reinvention of The Fly. The Ground Beneath Her Feet has only ever been performed acoustically before; it was played sporadically during 1999-2001. Some of you will recall the band rehearsed Tryin' To Throw before the 2010 European leg of 360. The version of No Line On The Horizon performed on Tuesday night was similar to the semi-acoustic version played on 21 August 2010 in Helsinki.
Now let's move on to Wednesday night. The band ran through a potential concert opening sequence of:
- The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
- Out Of Control
- Vertigo
- California (There Is No End To Love)
- I Will Follow
- Iris (Hold Me Close)
- Cedarwood Road
In a later post Peter emphasised that Bono has the lyrics for Out Of Control "nailed".
On Wednesday they also rehearsed some surprises: Sweetest Thing with Edge on acoustic guitar and piano at the end that Peter believes is by Bono; and an acoustic take of The Hands That Built America by Bono and Edge. It's worth noting that although Hands was snippeted in Bullet for the duration of the Vertigo Tour, none of its few full live performances have been at proper tour dates. As for Sweetest Thing, given how successful it was as a single in 1998, it's remarkable how infrequently it has been performed live! I remarked upon this last year in my Tour Predictions series.
Peter also has some updates on the setlist structure. Although it seemed U2 were rehearsing Invisible as a concert opener, it now appears it will open the second half of the show after intermission, and it sounds like the band have an intermission video that's being tested - it includes some political material and snatches of Anarchy In The UK by the Sex Pistols. Now it seems The Miracle is being rehearsed as a show opener, and that One/With Or Without You/Ordinary Love is being rehearsed as an encore sequence.
The band also continued working on the transition from Miracle Drug to Streets. Peter has identified a snippet being used as part of this transition - Sting's Fields Of Gold. The band also seem to be working on a powerful juxtaposition for Every Breaking Wave, with Bono holding a long note at the end as the band explodes into Bullet The Blue Sky. The band have kept working on the reinvented Sunday Bloody Sunday, which may be a sign that unlike 2009 the new take will be performed in concert.
Songs known to be rehearsed so far
New songs: California (There Is No End To Love), Cedarwood Road, Every Breaking Wave (full band and acoustic versions), Invisible, Iris (Hold Me Close), The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone), Ordinary Love, Raised By Wolves, Song For Someone, The Troubles, Volcano.
Old songs: Angel Of Harlem, Bad, Beautiful Day, Bullet The Blue Sky, City Of Blinding Lights, Desire, Elevation, Even Better Than The Real Thing, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, I Will Follow, Magnificent, Miracle Drug, Moment Of Surrender, Mysterious Ways, No Line On The Horizon, One, One Step Closer, Out Of Control, Playboy Mansion, Pride, Running To Stand Still, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Sweetest Thing, The Electric Co., The Fly, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, The Hands That Built America, Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Until The End Of The World, Vertigo, Where The Streets Have No Name, and With Or Without You.
That's a total of 43 songs so far. Nice! To take us out, there's some more rehearsal audio online - another recording of Bullet:
On Tuesday, as well as the songs already reported, the band ran through early versions of The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, and - can you believe it - an acoustic reinvention of The Fly. The Ground Beneath Her Feet has only ever been performed acoustically before; it was played sporadically during 1999-2001. Some of you will recall the band rehearsed Tryin' To Throw before the 2010 European leg of 360. The version of No Line On The Horizon performed on Tuesday night was similar to the semi-acoustic version played on 21 August 2010 in Helsinki.
Now let's move on to Wednesday night. The band ran through a potential concert opening sequence of:
- The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
- Out Of Control
- Vertigo
- California (There Is No End To Love)
- I Will Follow
- Iris (Hold Me Close)
- Cedarwood Road
In a later post Peter emphasised that Bono has the lyrics for Out Of Control "nailed".
On Wednesday they also rehearsed some surprises: Sweetest Thing with Edge on acoustic guitar and piano at the end that Peter believes is by Bono; and an acoustic take of The Hands That Built America by Bono and Edge. It's worth noting that although Hands was snippeted in Bullet for the duration of the Vertigo Tour, none of its few full live performances have been at proper tour dates. As for Sweetest Thing, given how successful it was as a single in 1998, it's remarkable how infrequently it has been performed live! I remarked upon this last year in my Tour Predictions series.
Peter also has some updates on the setlist structure. Although it seemed U2 were rehearsing Invisible as a concert opener, it now appears it will open the second half of the show after intermission, and it sounds like the band have an intermission video that's being tested - it includes some political material and snatches of Anarchy In The UK by the Sex Pistols. Now it seems The Miracle is being rehearsed as a show opener, and that One/With Or Without You/Ordinary Love is being rehearsed as an encore sequence.
The band also continued working on the transition from Miracle Drug to Streets. Peter has identified a snippet being used as part of this transition - Sting's Fields Of Gold. The band also seem to be working on a powerful juxtaposition for Every Breaking Wave, with Bono holding a long note at the end as the band explodes into Bullet The Blue Sky. The band have kept working on the reinvented Sunday Bloody Sunday, which may be a sign that unlike 2009 the new take will be performed in concert.
Songs known to be rehearsed so far
New songs: California (There Is No End To Love), Cedarwood Road, Every Breaking Wave (full band and acoustic versions), Invisible, Iris (Hold Me Close), The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone), Ordinary Love, Raised By Wolves, Song For Someone, The Troubles, Volcano.
Old songs: Angel Of Harlem, Bad, Beautiful Day, Bullet The Blue Sky, City Of Blinding Lights, Desire, Elevation, Even Better Than The Real Thing, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, I Will Follow, Magnificent, Miracle Drug, Moment Of Surrender, Mysterious Ways, No Line On The Horizon, One, One Step Closer, Out Of Control, Playboy Mansion, Pride, Running To Stand Still, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Sweetest Thing, The Electric Co., The Fly, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, The Hands That Built America, Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Until The End Of The World, Vertigo, Where The Streets Have No Name, and With Or Without You.
That's a total of 43 songs so far. Nice! To take us out, there's some more rehearsal audio online - another recording of Bullet:
Posted on by Axver