b-sides and setlists

[bgmckinney]

This is an Axver question, I guess, but if anyone else knows...
What's the biggest number of b-sides ever to appear in a U2 show? Have they ever played more than two in one night?

 

[Axver]

Yes, there are instances of three b-sides in a single show. Most of these date from the early days (e.g. Boy/Girl, Touch, and Things To Make And Do all appeared in the same set multiple times), and I believe this last occurred on 3 August 1987 in Birmingham.

Source: http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/show603.html

1. Bullet The Blue Sky
2. Running To Stand Still
3. I Will Follow
4. Silver And Gold
5. Gloria
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Exit / Van Morrison's Gloria (snippet)
8. In God's Country
9. The Electric Co. / Break On Through (snippet)
10. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Exodus (snippet)
11. MLK
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. Bad / Walk On The Wild Side (snippet)
14. October
15. New Year's Day
16. Pride (In The Name Of Love)

encore(s):
17. Party Girl
18. Spanish Eyes
19. With Or Without You
20. 40

Killer set, too. First Silver And Gold ever, and I love that Party Girl/Spanish Eyes combination (it was used a few times on the JT Tour).

 

[intedomine]

Yes, there are instances of three b-sides in a single show. Most of these date from the early days (e.g. Boy/Girl, Touch, and Things To Make And Do all appeared in the same set multiple times), and I believe this last occurred on 3 August 1987 in Birmingham.

Source: http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/show603.html

1. Bullet The Blue Sky
2. Running To Stand Still
3. I Will Follow
4. Silver And Gold
5. Gloria
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Exit / Van Morrison's Gloria (snippet)
8. In God's Country
9. The Electric Co. / Break On Through (snippet)
10. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Exodus (snippet)
11. MLK
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. Bad / Walk On The Wild Side (snippet)
14. October
15. New Year's Day
16. Pride (In The Name Of Love)

encore(s):
17. Party Girl
18. Spanish Eyes
19. With Or Without You
20. 40

Killer set, too. First Silver And Gold ever, and I love that Party Girl/Spanish Eyes combination (it was used a few times on the JT Tour).

When it comes to setlist knowledge, you are the master....

 

[bgmckinney]

Yes, there are instances of three b-sides in a single show. Most of these date from the early days (e.g. Boy/Girl, Touch, and Things To Make And Do all appeared in the same set multiple times), and I believe this last occurred on 3 August 1987 in Birmingham.

Source: http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/show603.html

1. Bullet The Blue Sky
2. Running To Stand Still
3. I Will Follow
4. Silver And Gold
5. Gloria
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Exit / Van Morrison's Gloria (snippet)
8. In God's Country
9. The Electric Co. / Break On Through (snippet)
10. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Exodus (snippet)
11. MLK
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. Bad / Walk On The Wild Side (snippet)
14. October
15. New Year's Day
16. Pride (In The Name Of Love)

encore(s):
17. Party Girl
18. Spanish Eyes
19. With Or Without You
20. 40

Killer set, too. First Silver And Gold ever, and I love that Party Girl/Spanish Eyes combination (it was used a few times on the JT Tour).

Thanks.
Yeah, that is a killer set.
I know you're campaigning for Slow Dancing in Japan but I'd prefer Spanish Eyes - we haven't seen that since Elevation.

 

[Axver]

I just did a bit of checking, and unless I've seriously overlooked something, that 1987-08-03 show is indeed the last instance of more than two b-sides in a single gig. Later on the JT Tour, they certainly came close to doing it again but didn't. On Elevation, it could have happened: Party Girl and Spanish Eyes were played in Barcelona on 2001-08-08 and Sweetest Thing was still in rotation at that point, but didn't appear at that show. And in any case, by that time, Sweetest Thing had been re-released as a single.

I don't know of any instance of more than three b-sides in a show. I do not believe it has happened if you strictly define b-side. However, if we take a period of time where a song was a b-side and did not make an album until later, such as mid-1980 before Boy's release when Stories For Boys and Twilight were still b-sides, then some shows may have had more than three b-sides. Unfortunately, we have only one full set from the period of time between 11 O'clock Tick Tock's release (which took U2's total of current b-sides to four: SFB, Boy/Girl, Twilight, Touch) and Boy's release, and it has just one then-current b-side, Stories For Boys; Things To Make And Do was then an unreleased track.

By no means am I willing to discount the possibility that at some point in 1980, U2 played a set that featured four or more songs that were then currently b-sides, but right now, the best we can do is three in a show.

 

[Axver]

Thanks.
Yeah, that is a killer set.
I know you're campaigning for Slow Dancing in Japan but I'd prefer Spanish Eyes - we haven't seen that since Elevation.

I'd actually probably enjoy Spanish Eyes more too as it's one of my top twenty U2 songs and Slow Dancing is not, but there are two compelling points for me in favour of Slow Dancing for the Vertigo Tour:

1. Slow Dancing is the only b-side to be played on every tour since its debut thus far, but is yet to appear on Vertigo. Spanish Eyes missed Lovetown and Popmart and looks set to miss Vertigo despite supposedly originally being in the Madrid setlist.

2. Slow Dancing is a song the band can do very easily - just Bono singing off a lyrics sheet and Edge strumming the chords (we even had a sheet with lyrics and chords in Auckland). They could do just a couple of verses and the chorus. I don't think Spanish Eyes has similar potential.

 

[bgmckinney]

I was thinking it might have been ZooTV that would have had three. That tour got Can't Help Falling in Love, Unchained Melody, Slow Dancing, She's A Mystery, Satellite of Love, and no doubt some others I'm forgetting about. Interesting.
But then, Mystery was never actually released, was it?

 

[Axver]

I was thinking it might have been ZooTV that would have had three. That tour got Can't Help Falling in Love, Unchained Melody, Slow Dancing, She's A Mystery, Satellite of Love, and no doubt some others I'm forgetting about. Interesting.

Yeah, but CHFIL and Satellite are covers, and not only is Unchained Melody a cover but I believe it was always just a snippet post-One.

If you're willing to count covers that were used as b-sides, you can probably find a set with 3+ b-sides. However, when I talk b-sides, I think of original songs; my logic is that I would never talk about All Along The Watchtower being an album track even though it appears on an album, so I don't consider Satellite Of Love to be a b-side really either.

 

[bgmckinney]

2. Slow Dancing is a song the band can do very easily - just Bono singing off a lyrics sheet and Edge strumming the chords (we even had a sheet with lyrics and chords in Auckland). They could do just a couple of verses and the chorus. I don't think Spanish Eyes has similar potential.

Yeah when they played it in Barcelona they kind of fudged it up. But then, they did that on JT too. I know of no other band (I say this with love) that has such trouble playing their own songs.

 

[U2girl]

1. Slow Dancing is the only b-side to be played on every tour since its debut thus far, but is yet to appear on Vertigo.

Really? I know it was played on Lovetown and Elevation, did it make Zoo TV and Popmart too? And more than just a snippet?

 

[bgmckinney]

Yeah, but CHFIL and Satellite are covers, and not only is Unchained Melody a cover but I believe it was always just a snippet post-One.

If you're willing to count covers that were used as b-sides, you can probably find a set with 3+ b-sides. However, when I talk b-sides, I think of original songs; my logic is that I would never talk about All Along The Watchtower being an album track even though it appears on an album, so I don't consider Satellite Of Love to be a b-side really either.

I follow your logic.
What got me thinking about this, though, was noticing that Spanish Eyes and S&G were both part of standard-issue JT sets. I thought it interesting that the band would chose to incorporate two songs that would have been unknown to any but serious fans. So then I wondered how far away from recognizable album tracks the band had ever wandered - but then again, CHFIL and Unchained are perfectly recognizable tracks. So I'll agree with your reasoning.

 

[Axver]

Yeah when they played it in Barcelona they kind of fudged it up. But then, they did that on JT too. I know of no other band (I say this with love) that has such trouble playing their own songs.

Haha, I know. There's that great Spanish Eyes from one of the November 1987 shows in Denver where the band can't figure out how to end it, came to a stop ... and then just launched into it a second time around!

And more recently, they have certainly had some fun trying to figure out how to end Angel Of Harlem!

 

[Axver]

Really? I know it was played on Lovetown and Elevation, did it make Zoo TV and Popmart too? And more than just a snippet?

Yep. It actually appeared more times on ZooTV than it has on any other tour. I believe all but one or two of its performances have been just Bono and Edge though, and typically incomplete - but independent, so not a snippet.

I follow your logic.
What got me thinking about this, though, was noticing that Spanish Eyes and S&G were both part of standard-issue JT sets. I thought it interesting that the band would chose to incorporate two songs that would have been unknown to any but serious fans. So then I wondered how far away from recognizable album tracks the band had ever wandered - but then again, CHFIL and Unchained are perfectly recognizable tracks. So I'll agree with your reasoning.

I actually don't think Spanish Eyes and Silver And Gold are that unknown. I know a music video was done for Spanish Eyes, and I've played Silver And Gold for people who were in their 20s in the 1980s and they recognised it even though they were the casual sort of fans who barely know much beyond Pride or AIWIY.

The band were certainly more willing to take risks with obscure songs around the late eighties, though. I mean, look at the appearances of When Love Comes To Town, Slow Dancing, or She's A Mystery To Me, all well before their release.

 

[bgmckinney]

Haha, I know. There's that great Spanish Eyes from one of the November 1987 shows in Denver where the band can't figure out how to end it, came to a stop ... and then just launched into it a second time around!

And more recently, they have certainly had some fun trying to figure out how to end Angel Of Harlem!

November 7... it's always Bono who screws it all up. "Am I supposed to sing 'way-hey-hey baby hang on' here, or 'way-hey-hey here she comes?' Just fuck it all."

 

[Axver]

November 7... it's always Bono who screws it all up. "Am I supposed to sing 'way-hey-hey baby hang on' here, or 'way-hey-hey here she comes?' Just fuck it all."

He even wasn't sure how to end it in Auckland! You'd think that after 6 or so recent performances of one of your biggest hits that you've played frequently over the years, you'd have some idea of how to bring the thing to a close!

 

[thelaj]

The ZOO TV DVD has Unchained Melody as a separate track...

 

[Axver]

The ZOO TV DVD has Unchained Melody as a separate track...

And Rattle And Hum's tracklisting includes Gloria ...

 

[theu2fly]

Axver, why was Where The Streets Have No Name not played during a few shows?

 

[phillyfan26]

And Rattle And Hum's tracklisting includes Gloria ...

Rattle and Hum's DVD case advertises 11 new songs, which includes that and the snippets of Bad. It's in reality 7 or 8 songs.

 

[Axver]

Axver, why was Where The Streets Have No Name not played during a few shows?

Well, on the JT Tour, it was typically the opener. When the band felt like using a different opener, guess what got the chop. Keep in mind that Streets hadn't yet acquired its legendary status then.

On Lovetown, it was missed only once, on 1989-11-18, when Gloria took its place. I attribute this one to Lovetown setlist variety.

And it hasn't been missed since.