Here's my quick recap of U2's decade (2010 to 2019):
-Top grossing live act with over 1 billion, just ahead of their peers Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi. Are aging live acts also for moneyed, aging fans now?
-Only released two albums: Songs Of Innocence and Songs Of Experience - the fewest albums they have ever released in any decade. Is this a sign of U2 productivity decline or is the album format dead?
-Permitted Songs of Innocence to be given free to millions of iTunes users without their consent. I think that is the ballsiest thing U2 has done, more than doing the Passengers project or booking a tour before finishing an album or releasing The Fly as the first single of Achtung Baby. Do you agree?
-Finally played Red Hill Mining Town and Acrobat live. And for those looking for deep cuts, finally snippeted Walk To The Water. Could U2 finally debut live Heartland, Drowning Man, or Playboy Mansion?
-Did two concept tours that were more like storytelling or Broadway with the Innocence and Experience era, and it sold very well. I don't think any rock band has every tried anything this innovative and out-of-the-norm - the whole starting from the I stage to the E stage, including playing in the middle - and the role playing whether it was talking to his younger self in Bullet or as Paul Hewson turned "effing Bono" turned into the Devil in the innocence tour. Has any band ever attempted something like this?
-First time in their career to play an album complete and in sequence. They actually toured a 30-year old album successfully. Has any band ever done this?
-Visited new places for the first time: Singapore, Korea, Philippines, and India.
-Only played 1 Pop song (Staring At The Sun) in just 1 leg (America) of just 1 Tour (Experience). Pop was the album that got the least tour exposure this decade - represented by only 1 song and in just an acoustic duo version. Meanwhile, even Passengers got a full-band Your Blue Room and Miss Sarajevo! Was this a good thing? Could Pop make a triumphant return in the 20's?
All in all, it was a great decade for U2! Can't wait what the future brings.
Cheers,
J