U2 Announces Songs of Experience Tracklisting and Tour

We’ve known for a while that U2’s Songs of Experience album is due December 1, but we hadn’t seen a proper tracklisting until today. Here’s what it will look like.

1. Love Is All We Have Left
2. Lights of Home
3. You’re The Best Thing About Me
4. Get Out of Your Own Way
5. American Soul
6. Summer of Love
7. Red Flag Day
8. The Showman (Little More Better)
9. The Little Things That Give You Away
10. Landlady
11. The Blackout
12. Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way
13. 13 (There is a Light)

The kids on the cover? An Anton Corbijn photo of Eli Hewson (Bono’s son) and Sia Evans, daughter of The Edge.

U2 also announced the Songs of Experience tour, which will start in Tulsa just 189 days after the Joshua Three 30 tour ended in Sao Paulo. If we look at them as two separate productions, that is the quickest turnaround between U2 tours in…well, forever. I’d love to know how management and Live Nation are handling all the logistics, especially since the SoE will (presumably) need new staging and effects.

Another notable thing about this tour is that U2 is employing an increasingly popular thing called “ticket bundling.” Basically that means, “buy a ticket, get a copy of the new album.” And not one that’s just dumped into iTunes, either.

Prince and Arcade Fire were the pioneers at this sort of thing and saw considerable success. Interesting, though, how things have turned around. Getting a copy of a new album is now secondary to seeing the band live. Wild.

Here is the first round of dates. Presales for U2.com subscribers will be available November 14. The general on-sale day is November 20. And yes, Ticketmaster will be using its “verified fan” procedure to make sure as few bots get through.

MAY 2 TULSA, OK BOK CENTER
MAY 4 ST. LOUIS, MO SCOTTRADE CENTER
MAY 7 SAN JOSE, CA SAP CENTER
MAY 11 LAS VEGAS, NV T-MOBILE ARENA
MAY 15 LOS ANGELES, CA THE FORUM
MAY 22 CHICAGO, IL UNITED CENTER
MAY 26 NASHVILLE, TN BRIDGESTONE ARENA
MAY 28 ATLANTA, GA INFINITE ENERGY ARENA
JUNE 5 MONTREAL, QC BELL CENTRE
JUNE 9 UNIONDALE, NY NYCB LIVE. HOME OF THE NASSAU VETERANS MEMORIAL COLISEUM
JUNE 13 PHILADELPHIA, PA WELLS FARGO CENTER
JUNE 17 WASHINGTON, DC CAPITAL ONE ARENA
JUNE 21 BOSTON, MA TD GARDEN
JUNE 25 NEW YORK, NY MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
JUNE 29 NEWARK, NJ PRUDENTIAL CENTER

Notice that there isn’t a Vancouver or Toronto date yet. But they’re coming.