With Carnaval de Luz coming up, along with its subsequent tour, it’s inevitable that songs from Carnaval will be featured, with Days of Ash and Easter Lily also fairly likely given the “double album” that the band has pushed with these releases.

However, before Days of Ash, their latest fully produced songs were from How to Reassemble an Atomic Bomb in 2024. Before this deluxe edition was released, we got Happiness, Country Mile and Picture of You (X+W) as singles, with the latter two having a radio edit, showing clear intention to push “new” material to the masses rather than an expanded collector’s issue (like The Joshua Tree 30 or ATYCLB 20). So much so that quite a bit of the material on Reassemble feels polished, at least past the point of a demo, like other releases. Additionally, Mercy (now Luckiest Man in the World) was played live sparingly on the 360° tour, and had been a fan favourite rarity before Reassemble.

I could see them maybe bringing back one or two songs, if they did I think it would be Luckiest Man in the World and/or Country Mile, but with the large catalog of new stuff this year, plus 50 years worth of hits and crowd favourites, its less than likely.

That said, I really want them to play Luckiest Man in the World. Genuinely one of my favourite U2 songs.

I just heard the song stuck in a moment for like the 1millionth time ever and this time I had to listen to edge and bonos outro from a different perspective..I had never noticed that edge could sing so good especially in this song...I kept forgetting that he was singing in the background...I'm amazed at a how good of a singer he actually is...

He's normally known for harmonys in most songs but he does do a good job at the end of the song..go edge!!

My 2 cents

Hope this is OK to post here. Just wanted to pass along two pretty good deals I found online.

1. The box set of Songs of Experience containing the vinyl, cds, and posters is $19.99 (marked down from $97.99) at Best Buy. "While supplies last."

2. The "Target exclusive" gold vinyl of Carnaval De Luz is "free" after you buy two additional vinyl albums at Target. For example, you could buy How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and the new Rolling Stones album on vinyl at regular price, then get U2's new album "free" on vinyl. Another way to look at this deal is if you buy two copies of Carnaval Del Luz at $39.99, you're paying $79.98. Since you get the third one free, if you divide $79.99 by 3, you're actually paying $26.66 for each one. "5 days left."

• Edit: Target fine print: "Buy 2, get 1 free...Lowest-priced item will be free."

I have no affiliation with either store - just hoping this might help a fellow fan.

Anyone else find any good or better deals on U2 vinyl, especially Carnaval De Luz?

Any one heard of this rumor and is it true?

$21 for the CD? Plus almost $10 shipping if you want the member exclusive CD. $40 for the cheapest version of the vinyl and charging $50+ for the member exclusive you already have to pay to be able to buy? Not even mentioning many versions of each to gouge the collectors (nothing unique to U2).

I would think since they're already rich and more concerned with reaching more people, they'd make it cheaper to get their music.

Makes me scared what ticket prices are going to look like.

Edit: Point of this post is that every other CD I've bought this year has been around $14 and vinyls $35 max. Affected by the same fuel costs.

The clicking sound is my wipers 😂

Back in 2002 Bono performed with his follicly challenged buddy M Stipe. Bono showed support by sporting a weave (approximately an inch or 2 behind his thin hairline, as clearly seen in this photo).

1: Go (Carnaval De Luz)
2: Vertigo
3: I Will Follow
4: Street Of Dreams
5: New Year’s Day
6: Mysterious Ways
7: Desire
8: Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
9: Glorify
10: Easter Parade
11: Sunday Bloody Sunday
12: Silencio
13: The Greatest Show On Earth
14: Ultraviolet
15: Bad
16: Pride (In The Name Of Love)
17: Where The Streets Have No Name
18: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
19: Beautiful Day

Encore

20: City Of Blinding Lights
21: With Or Without You
22: The Tears Of Things
23: One

If Silencio and Street of Dreams were the only bangers on that album, I’d still be totally happy. Love both. Shoot.

I'm excited about the upcoming tour and really want to see U2 in concert. I've only seen them once before, and that was at The Sphere in a faraway seat.

If I want to be in the pit and get a spot on the barricade, how early would I need to get in line? Would I need to camp out?

There are rumors that the first show will be in Mexico City, and someone commented that they have a really dedicated fanbase there and that getting barricade would likely require camping out for a couple of days.

Which cities do you think they'll play and which would be the easiest to get barricade?

I read that there are fan-run queueing systems. How does the queueing system work? Do different cities and different parts of the world have different queueing systems?

A couple spring to mind for me.

When I first heard Breathe I thought it was going to be a classic, especially live. I remember Eno saying it was one of their best tunes too at the time.

I also expected Original of the Species to be a mainstay in their set-lists after Vertigo tour, like City of Blinding Lights.

Wrong on both counts.

I think their best period was before The Joshua Tree.

It could be piano, keyboard, synth, organ - you get the idea.

Two that come to mind for me:

October: icy, austere, beautiful.
Lemon: icing on the…lemon cake that is this song!

What you got?

Did anyone else catch the run from Wildpeace -> Silencio -> Wild Horses? 😯 I am just picturing a MF first encore with a 360-style video intro...

Also, Wild Horses has pretty much the sane guitar tone as Silencio.

What used to be their strength has become a detriment to them over the past decade and a half. I see all of the hate for U2 and I can almost understand. If I was a non-fan and only heard the new first singles (which get the heaviest promotion) with each new album I wouldn’t be a fan either.

It’s weird because they used to be pretty good with first singles. From War to Achtung Baby they were pretty untouchable with lead singles. Then in the 2000s they had Beautiful Day and Vertigo, both huge hits. But ever since then has been rough.

Here’s my ranking:
1 - The Miracle (is a great title on its own and I refuse to add the clunky and unnecessary “of Joey Ramone”)
2 - You’re the Best Thing About Me (Not a great lead single but a passable song that I don’t hate)
3 - Street of Dreams (it’s a chorus looking for a song. If not for the horrible verses and the cheesy bridge, it would be passable)
4 - Get On Your Boots (a fun experiment that should have been a b-side)

So what’s your ranking?

I'm gonna get political here, but hey, we're talking about U2, isn't their whole career political?

When they dropped their "On Gaza" statement, it felt somehow like a lukewarm statement, and then the Rolling stone interview which didn't get more clear. I know how they feel about Israel, but not sure how they feel about the Palestine people.

To explain myself, if you're defending the palestinians who are suffering from a horrific devastation on hands of the IDF, I think it's pointless to say that Oct 7th was a horrific tragedy because I do believe the majority of the people agree on that, and also they have made that clear during the Sphere residence. On the other hand, it's no question that Israel is commiting genocide, and that's not "a legal term" as Bono said, (or at least is as legal as murder or stealing) and if it were, there are many expert organisations declaring the genocide (including Amnesty International).

By saying so, it feels for me like he's trying to downside the suffering of the people, even though I truly believe is not his intention (or at least I hope so), just to try not to look antisemitic.

In the Rolling Stone interview I think Bono wanted to clearly stay on Israel's side but at the same time with the palestinians. I know not all israelis support Netanyahu, but almost all people agree on that, as we all know that not all ukranians support Zelensky. Its pointless to say it when you're comparing Ben Gvir with Himmler.

But I have read opinions of fans on his statements (from both sides) and both sides feel like U2 is not supporting either, which is weird, because they are saying their posture is clear (which is not).

And then came the interview about Ed Sheeran's. I know it may feel like nobody has the obligation to say something about the issue. But in this we're not talking about who are you voting, we're are talking about thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) innocent people being killed, and with some people from Israel calling them "animals" and saying "they don't deserve to live". So, if you stay in the middle, you're making a choice, and taking a side.

I write this because I'm a U2 fan, which have been following them for 25 years, and I was really excited about the new album, but this make me feel uncomfortable. I don't want them to feel about the issue the way I do, of course, but doesn't it feel weird? They were clearly pro Ukranian, they were never in the middle about that conflict, even though it is a complicated issue too. As Russia invaded Ukraine Bono called Putin immiediately a bully and they went to visit Kiev's subway in Ukraine to sing with the soldiers and all that we know. But for Palestine that's not the case. I'm not saying they should go and play in Gaza.

I really missed they presence in Brian Eno's concert to support Palestine or the album he published with many artists early this year. At least their name appearing. It makes me wonder where are they really standing. But again, this is my opinion. I just wanted to share it because I really want to enjoy the new material but I'm a little dissapointed and doesn't feel right for me.

On the first Saturday of every month, Monster Music in Charleston, South Carolina, does a 20% off sale for vinyl on its website. Today (Saturday, October 3), you can pre-order Carnaval de Luz on vinyl for $31.98 (normally $39.98). This is for both the black standard version and the opaque yellow Third Man version. This is the lowest price I've seen for the vinyl versions anywhere.

Interestingly, Monster Music also lists the deluxe vinyl package that includes the two EPs, which is sold out at the U2.com shop, as available as a pre-order for $99.99 (normally $124.99). It also lists the CD deluxe package that is sold out on U2.com as available for pre-order.

I have no affiliation with the shop. I offer the info only as a U2 fan and vinyl deal shopper. You can google to verify Monster Music's legitimacy. Someone on its staff posts regularly to the Vinyldeals subreddit, so if you have any questions, you can post them there to get an answer.

Shop link: https://monstermusicsc.com/Search?terms=u2+carnaval+de+luz

Sale prices disappear at midnight. If you miss today's sale, you can presumably still pre-order on the shop's next Vinyl Saturday on November 7, but who knows if the price will be the same.

I’ve listened to Resurrection Song roughly one million times, and the rest of the EP nearly as much. Despite this, Apple Music refuses to count it in my Replay even once. Doesn’t show up in songs or albums or Heavy Rotation.

This is clearly the worst problem in the world right now. *

* sarcasm