'Thank you to Jay-Z for getting this space ship off the ground,' said Bono, 'The hip-hop heavyweight champion of the world and not just hip-hop... that band is scary.'
He promised, 'we're gonna have a greater night. Because we can, we must. It's Friday night, we're a long way from home... and we're feeling a little flirtatious.'
And so we were into the second night of U2's fifth visit to New Zealand: '84, '89, '93, '06, 2010' - as Bono listed the years when the band have played Kiwi shows, it seemed like everyone in the house was yelling for 'More!'.
'It's been a long romance with this wild and extraordinary country but tonight I think we should go all the way...'
And they did, with another blistering 24-song set including a series of second-night surprises including New Year's Day, Angel of Harlem ('This goes out to the Queen B' - Beyonce, who is at the show tonight) and Hold Me Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.
One Tree Hill was again particularly poignant as Bono recalled it was written about 'a life unfairly snatched away... we wrote it for Greg Caroll, whose family are with us tonight. But tonight it belongs to the miners of the West Coast Pike River...'
And as it ran, beautiful as ever, down to the sea so the red balloons rose from the stadium into the night and the names of those who have lost their lives lit up the huge screens above the stage.
Other notable moments: 'Streets' featuring some great new video footage of Edge walking the hills back in The Joshua Tree era and thanks to the U2 audience for campaigning for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi: 'She sends her thanks to you all and now we campaign for the more than 2,000 political prisoners... then we will truly rejoice.' And into Scarlet...
Setlist
Return of the Stingray Guitar
Beautiful Day
New Year's Day
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Elevation
Until the End of the World
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Movin' On Up
One Tree Hill,
Angel Of Harlem - Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
In A Little While
Miss Sarajevo
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Relax - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (remix) - Two Tribes
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On - You'll Never Walk Alone
Encore(s): One, Unchained Melody - Where the Streets Have No Name
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender
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