U2 Closes N. American Leg of Innocence + Experience With 150,000 New York Fans

The Edge and Bono perform onstage during U2's "iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE" tour at Madison Square Garden on July 26, 2015 in New York City. 

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

North American leg churns $76 million -- now Europe's on tap.

U2 wrapped the North American leg of the Innocence + Experience tour in stunning fashion with an eight-night, sold-out stand at Madison Square Garden in New York City that grossed nearly $20 million from the attendance of almost 150,000 fans.

Marked by special guests on stage and VIP attendees in the audience, the critically acclaimed shows put up a final tally of 149,942 tickets sold, with a gross of $19,474,285, according to Billboard Boxscore. That takes the total of the tour's opening leg to 650,582 attendance and $76,166,563 gross from 36 shows, all sellouts. Innocence + Experience is produced by Live Nation Global Touring president Arthur Fogel and his Toronto-based team, promoter/producer of all of U2’s tours since PopMart in 1997-98.

The follow-up to the historic 360 tour of stadiums in 2009-11 (which grossed $736.4 million and moved 7.2 million tickets, both all-time records), Innocence + Experience marks the first time U2 has played the relatively intimate confines of arenas since the Vertigo tour in 2005-2007. The band makes full use of the venues, with groundbreaking staging and video that allows for 360-degree seating, including general admission on the floor. Calling the North American leg “a huge success on every level,” Fogel tells Billboard that the tour, “blew everyone away, fans and critics.” He continues, “In our world, people use the term ‘great’ all too easily, [but] in this case it is an understatement. They are the best live band in our business, and if there was any doubt by a few, they should have learned that by now.”

The tour began May 14 in Vancouver, B.C. A Nov. 16 bicycle accident in New York’s Central Park that seriously injured Bono, the band’s frontman, did not delay the start of the tour, which had long been slated to begin in the spring of 2015. In fact, the jogger who first happened upon Bono after the crash, and the EMTs who tended to him, were both in attendance and recognized at the Aug. 30 show, and the latter even fulfilled a promise to knock back a shot of Jameson with the singer, who obliged from the stage.

At the final New York show, Bruce Springsteen took the stage to accompany the band on “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and a cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” Springsteen was attending the show with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Other guest performers throughout the Garden stand include Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Lady Gaga, and Paul Simon. Among the celebrities who attended were Paul McCartney, Nile Rodgers, Alicia Keys, Jon Bon Jovi, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Chris Rock, producer Steve Lillywhite, model Christy Turlington, MTV personality (and former Billboard Touring Awards host) Matt Pinfield, Howard Stern sidekick (and former Billboard Touring Awards host) Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’Abate, tennis great John McEnroe, and filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.

The tour resumes Sept. 4-5 in Turin, Italy, with a 34-date leg that will culminate with four shows in Paris, Nov. 10-15. Included in this European tour, also in arenas, are four shows each in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Berlin, and Barcelona, and six shows at London’s O2 Arena. U2 tours typically span three years, and while it is expected that U2 will return to North America in 2016, Fogel declined to release details, saying only, “I can’t wait for the run in Europe this fall, and beyond.”

http://www.billboard.com/

10 Must-Watch Performances From U2′s ‘Innocence + Experience’ Tour

Bono  performs at the Innocence + Experience Tour at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif

U2 wrapped up the North American portion of their “Innocence + Experience” tour last night at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. It was the first string of shows since they gifted their latest album “Songs of Innocence” to iTunes users last fall and it got off to a rocky start: The Edge accidentally fell off the stage at the first night in Vancouver, prompting the Internet to marvel in how close he got “to the edge.” Weeks later, their longtime road manager unexpectedly passed away, too – making us wonder if there was a curse on the band. Backlash over the band’s marketing strategy, followed by a freak-bike accident that sent Bono to rehab have certainly made it a trying year for the Irish rock group.

But with this tour, they bounced back and played multiple nights in each city and treated longtime fans to a mix of rare tracks, special guests, and hometown salutes. Here are 10 moments from the tour that stuck out as particularly memorable:

1. “When Love Comes to Town” (May 15, Vancouver)

“This is a very special occasion for anyone who loves the blues,” Bono said at the second night of the band’s tour. “This is the day that the world get to say goodbye to the great B.B. King.” From there, they kicked into “When Love Comes to Town,” the number the band dueted with King back in 1988 on their album “Rattle and Hum.” King passed away the day before and U2 hadn’t played the song on tour since August 1993, according to U2gigs.com.

2. “Sweetest Thing” (May 26, Inglewood, Calif.)

Bono impersonator Joseph Hier of U2 cover band Hollywood U2 got a thrill of the lifetime when the band invited him up to duet on this tune. Bono even turns over the lead vocal duties at the end, which gave Hier a chance to show off.

3. “Beautiful Day” (June 24, Chicago)

Towards the end of this “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” single, Bono took a moment to address the crowd. “This year, our country did something really important. More people turned out to vote for marriage equality in Ireland than turned out for anything before.” He was of course referring to Ireland’s legalizing same-sex marriage in May.

4. “Gloria” (June 28, Chicago)

It had been nearly 10 years since U2 played “Gloria” when they dusted off this “October” tune. This fan shot video is as close as you can get.

5. “Desire” (July 6, Toronto)

U2 continued their tribute band tributes by inviting up Toronto U2 tribute band “Acrobat” to help them perform a stripped-down version of “Desire” from “Rattle and Hum.” Performing with your heroes is a tall order, but Acrobat pulled it off. Also neat about this video: Watch carefully as the piano disappears.

6. “October” (July 18, New York City)

At the start of U2’s eight show run at Madison Square Garden, they made it clear the Big Apple would be in for a treat. The band pulled out “October” for the first time since November 1989, according to U2gigs.com. The Edge put down his guitar and shifted to the piano – and after the song was over, the significance of its return wasn’t lost on Bono.

7. “Desire” / “Angel of Harlem” (July 22, New York City)

Bono and Jimmy Fallon must have a deep bond now, as they’re both superstars with freak hand accidents in the last year. That bond was solidified on stage, when the band brought up “The Tonight Show” host for a rousing rendition of “Desire,” introducing him as “the singer with the broken finger.” But that wasn’t the only “Tonight Show” moment: Fallon’s house band the Roots joined for “Angel of Harlem.”

8. “Ordinary Love” (July 26, New York City)

“Her ladyness, her Gaganess is here this evening,” Bono said, when introducing pop star Lady Gaga, who was decked out in platform shoes and a black bikini. With little fanfare, she sat at the piano and started up “Ordinary Love,” which Bono reminded the crowd was written for Nelson Mandela (It was U2’s Academy Award nominated song for the film “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”).

9. “Mother and Child Reunion”/”Where the Streets Have No Name” (July 30, New York City)

At the second to last Madison Square Garden show, they brought up Paul Simon to help out with a version of his 1972 tune “Mother and Child Reunion.” It was a quick moment that led to Bono bowing down to Simon at the end, while the band started up their hit 1987 single “Where the Streets Have No Name.”

10. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” / “Stand By Me” (July 31, New York City)

They’ve played together before, but it’s hard to think it ever gets old seeing U2 and Bruce Springsteen together on stage. And Bono never seems to tire in professing his love for the Boss.

http://blogs.wsj.com/

THANK YOU CHICAGO

'Wherever you are, from the Pride Parade all the way to the 4th of July, the Irish are with you and your families. We are with you. '

Final night in Chicago and what a run it's been. 'The end of an 'incredible ten days' as Bono put it, and surrender was again the big idea, the band surrendering to the 'good people of Chicago', the good people to the good music.

Two songs played only sparingly on the tour to date.

'I try to sing this song

I, I try to get in

But I can't find the door

The door is open

You're standing there, you let me in...'

Gloria was unexpected and breathtaking, only its second performance in ten years. 

Then, later, this, written thirty years on.

'That’s how I know 

And why I need to know that there is no end to love

All I know and all I need to know is there is no end to love..'

California sounded beautiful on the 'e' stage, caught between Mysterious Ways and Ordinary Love, a song Bono introduced like this...

'Ok so this song is a special song to us. I was speaking earlier about the man it was written about, we were blessed in our life to get to know and spend some time with Nelson Mandela. 

'We’ve been working for him as a band since we were 18 yrs old, i think it was 1978 we did our first anti-apartheid show for Nelson Mandela, he was like our  boss, got us into debt cancellation and lots of other stuff. 

'Him and the Arch… Archbishop Tutu these were two great heroes of ours, this is an aside, but it was the Arch’s wedding anniversary yesterday with Leah his missus, 60th wedding anniversary... that's pretty cool. What are the odds of these two men coming from the same neighborhood. That's pretty incredible.  Alright, this song came second at the Oscars...'

Sounded like a winner tonight, but then the whole night sounded like a winner, these five shows. Thank you Chicago...

All the way down to the final song, an ancient song, the one we all left the building singing.

'How long to sing this song...'

www.u2.com

Interview with Bono and Larry Mullen Jr.

Jason Rockman from CHOM 97.7 , radio in Montreal, Canada  interviewed Bono and Larry Mullen Jr.

https://soundcloud.com/chom977/u2-interview-with-jason-rockman-from-chom




http://www.chom.com/

'Something We've Never Played Before...'

Another loud, loud  night in Montreal with plenty of special guests in the house including locals Win Butler and Regine Chassagne from Arcade Fire and Guy Laliberté of Cirque du Soleil.

'We want to do something that we've never played before. If it goes wrong, blame it on The Edge.' 

Then this.

'Punk rock party in a suburban home
Everybody’s famous here but nobody’s known
We got no music cos the speaker’s blown apart...'
On the 'e'stage, and out of the blue, a surprise debut for 'Lucifer's Hands', one of the Songs of Innocence tracks released only on the Deluxe album, the one with a second disc. The 12th new song to feature in the #U2ie set list to date and can it be long until we hear 'The Crystal Ballroom' ? Funny you should ask, someone was holding up a sign making just that request. 'We'll get to it...' came the singer's response. Another surprise, for another night.

Also starting to demand it's own slot in the show is that transcendent epic from No Line On The Horizon. 
'At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me...'
Moment of Surrender popped up twice tonight, at the close of Beautiful Day and then during Bad. How long until it's played in full?



One of the biggest moments came with Pride (In The Name of Love) when the screens lit up with the faces of leading activists in Azerbaijan, imprisoned by the authorities for speaking up for human rights. Amnesty International has been banned from the European Games which have just opened in the country.
'Blessed are the freedom makers, sing for Amnesty...
Six friends of ours locked behind bars for the crime of expressing their opinion...
Emin.  Khadija.  Anar.  Leyla.  Rasul.  Intigam ...
'Sing a message of love from a city of love, Montreal...'

http://www.u2.com/

U2 Play Old Hits, Share Stories at Thrilling 500-Capacity Roxy Gig

U2 paused their Innocence + Experience Tour for rare, thrilling club show at L.A.'s Roxy Theatre.

Bono knows how to work a room, only for decades he's been working arenas and stadiums, offering sweeping gestures on the most epic stages. Last night at the Roxy Theatre on L.A.'s Sunset Strip, U2 showed they could still dial things down to the most intimate level, playing a thrilling set for 500 ecstatic fans.

The band is currently in the middle of five shows at the 17,000-capacity Forum. Their Innocence + Experience tour is high-tech and high-concept, but here they seemed excited to deliver a straight-ahead rock show of passion and drive with a set list that included four songs from their 1980 debut, Boy. Even the band's first L.A. show in 1981 was at the old Country Club in suburban Reseda – a venue with about twice the capacity of the Roxy.

Things kicked off with the post-punk swirl of "The Ocean" before the Edge's slicing guitar signaled the transition to "11 O'Clock Tick Tock." Bono stood centerstage in black motorcycle jacket and shades, leaning into a forest of hands aiming cell phone cameras at his face. He was soon splashing water into the crowd as the band dove into U2's explosive first U.S. hit single, "I Will Follow."

The group played another cut from its debut album, "The Electric Co.," and here Bono kneeled while the Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. stretched out on a fitful instrumental break. Midway into the song, Bono introduced the three musicians he's played with since they were Dublin teenagers, giving Clayton a long hug. "Who am I? What am I?" he then asked the crowd, singing of fools and regrets via the melancholy lyrics of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns," which the band has quoted within "The Electric Co." since that first U.S. tour.

The club show was a kind of local make-up gig after U2 bowed out from last year's KROQ "Almost Acoustic Christmas" show following Bono's devastating Manhattan bike accident. Tickets were distributed free to listeners by the station, a crucial early radio supporter of U2 in the U.S. Also in the room were fans like Jack Nicholson, Tom Morello, Aaron Paul and Courtney Love.

Bono has been pulling people onstage for years, but the gesture seemed more tender at the Roxy, where he brought a young woman up from the front row and put an arm around her to sing "Beautiful Day." It was a truly emotional moment, and she sang along when not overcome by the experience.

The night got even more emotional when U2 dedicated two songs to their longtime road manager, Dennis Sheehan, who died suddenly in his hotel room the day before. First was "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of," originally written as an imaginary conversation with INXS singer Michael Hutchence after his 1997 suicide.

"He actually lived the dignity that our music aspires to," Bono said of Sheehan. "You fight with your friends. You love your friends. You die for your friends. You work with your friends. It's kind of a dysfunctional family in U2 . . . but actually quite functional in other ways because we do look after each other."

The military beat of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" followed as Bono sang for his fellow Irishman on a stage lit up in deep red. The song, about the 1972 massacre of unarmed protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, was despairing and defiant. Fans bounced hard to the beat, and Bono's wail led into the Edge's splintering, confrontational solo.

U2 began their encore with 2004's "Vertigo" as the crowd counted off the opening: "Uno, dos, tres . . . catorce!" Singing at the edge of the stage, Bono slowly fell forward, then backward onto the outstretched hands of fans for a brief moment of crowd-surfing.

At night's end, he spoke of U2's first trip to Los Angeles and a visit to Zuma Beach in search of Brian Wilson's house. He noted there was a Beach Boys album at U2's first rehearsal in 1976. "We heard he had a piano in a sand pit and we just thought this man had the music of the spheres," Bono said as the band eased into Songs of Innocence's celebratory "California (There Is No End to Love)." They added a bit of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and closed a short but potent set with a forceful, mystical sound of their own.

Set List:

"The Ocean"

"11 O'Clock Tick Tock"

"I Will Follow"

"The Electric Co."

"Beautiful Day"

"Elevation"

"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"

"Sunday Bloody Sunday"

"Out of Control"/"Iris (Hold Me Close)"

---

"Vertigo"

"Song for Someone"

"California (There Is No End to Love)"

 http://www.rollingstone.com/

"One of the Best shows I've ever seen .Sounding better than ever."
Julian Lennon in his Instagram account: https://instagram.com/julespicturepalace/

Five things about U2's massive first night at the Forum

U2 performed the first of a series of show at the Forum on Tuesday evening. Lead singer Bono sings "(The Miracle Of) Joey Ramone" to open the show.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

The Irish mega­rock band U2 opened five nights at the Forum on Tuesday with a set that drew from throughout its 30­plus years as a band. The Times will have a full review of their heavy debut later in the morning, but until then, five quick observations.

 1. The Forum is oval shaped, which usually relegates many of the cheap seats to binocular views. But U2 made great use of the space, and did so in a way that felt inclusive to nearly every fan in the house. Though the main stage was still at one end of the oval, an extended catwalk connected it to a smaller stage at the opposite end. The setup allowed all four to move among the length of the arena and connect with a huge swath of the crowd. Above the catwalk hung a double­sided billboard­sized video screen that projected images, drawings, set­pieces and whatnot at precisely timed intervals throughout the night. Best, the screen was semi­transparent and held within it a second catwalk that rose and fell. At one point all four stood on the raised stage and played while a precisely positioned video moved with kinetic energy around them.

 2. As with many of the dates thus far on U2’s “Innocence + Experience Tour,” the band greeted its fans with the 2014 song “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone),” one of a few early indications that the band had ‘70‘s­era New York on its mind. Before U2 arrived onstage, it warmed up the crowd with guitar band Television’s “Marquee Moon,” followed by music from Talking Heads’ “More Songs About Buildings and Food.” As the band moved toward the stage, the sound system played Patti Smith’s “People Have the Power.”

 3. At one point mid­set, Bono spied a lookalike in the crowd, and pulled him up on stage. Indeed, from the cheap seats the guy was a ringer. In fact, the imposter was a professional lookalike who plays in a Los Angeles cover band called Hollywood U2. In what must have seemed like an impersonator's wildest dream, Bono and fake Bono did a duet of "Sweetest Thing." (Unlike in such dreams, nobody was naked.) 

4. As is often the case, the band left plenty of room for free­form musical Bono­isms ­­ musical references that suggested the range of the band's influences. Over the course of the night amid U2's new and old work, Bono tossed in melodies and lyrics from songs by the Beach Boys, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Ramones, the Who and others. During the encore, the band covered part of Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion."

 5. The full set list, courtesy setlist.fm:


The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
The Electric Co.
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Iris (Hold Me Close)
Cedarwood Road
Song for Someone
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Raised by Wolves
Until the End of the World
Intermission: The Wanderer
Invisible
Even Better Than the Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
California (There Is No End to Love)
Sweetest Thing
Every Breaking Wave (acoustic)
Bullet the Blue Sky
Pride (In the Name of Love)

Beautiful Day
With or Without You
Encore:
City of Blinding Lights
Where the Streets Have No Name
Mother and Child Reunion

One

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

2nd Night in Phoenix Arizona:'PUTTING THE GAY BACK IN GAELIC.'

Second show in Phoenix and a great celebration - not least because of the YES vote for marriage equality in Ireland.

Here's some headlines from the show:

Got to start with 'Pride (In The Name of Love)'. Bono introduced it with thanks and pride that Ireland had voted 'YES' to marriage equality. Here's what he said.
'This is a moment to thank the people who bring us peace. It's a moment for us to thank the people who brought peace to our country. We have peace in Ireland today! And in fact on this very day we have true equality in Ireland.
Because millions turned up to vote yesterday to say, 'love is the highest law in the land! Love!
The biggest turnout in the history of the state, to say, 'love is the highest law in the land!'
Because if God loves us, whoever we love, wherever we come from... then why can't the state?'

That trilogy of songs from Pride into Beautiful Day and into With Or Without You nearly takes the roof off the arena. Everybody singing every line of every song. Did we mention that the Irish voted for marriage equality? We did, and Bono altered the lyric of 'Pride' to sing 'Free at last, they took your life, they could not take your gay pride...' and then introduced Beautiful Day: 'We're putting the gay back in Gaelic!'

Iris, remembering Bono's mother, is already proving one of the standout live tracks from Songs of Innocence - with everyone singing the closing refrain. Here's how it arived last night.

'Lately we've been asking ourselves, 'Why are we still a band?

Why did Adam Clayton become a bass player, he's not answering that but it's something we are very very grateful for. What made Larry Mullen a drummer? When I ask him that he says I should keep philosophical questions to myself.
This man gave us our first job and we are still in it.

The Edge is a special case, he fell off himself. He's a Welsh man, comes to Ireland... what are the odds of that?

What are the odds that I would meet these three men?

I met someone the other day and they said 'You know, my mother met your mother and at the time you weren't getting on too well at your school, and it was my mother that told your mother to send you to Mount Temple.
That's where I met these three men.
What a wild ride of a coincidence
So do what your mother tells you.
For me, it was when my mother left me, age 14, that's when I became an artist, and I sing, we sing, this for her.
For Iris... beautiful Iris...'

www.u2.com

FIRST NIGHT IN PHOENIX:What would you do if Bono asked you to play with him?

U2 are just five shows into their Innocence + Experience Tour, and they're already taking fan requests and breaking out super rarities. At Friday night's show in Phoenix, the group was all set to play "The Sweetest Thing" on the B stage until Bono stopped them. "This guy I met earlier asked us to try 'In God's Country,'" Bono said. "Let's try a little of it." As the Edge worked out the chords of a tune he hadn't played in 14 years, Bono looked around the floor for the fan. "Are you the dude?" he said. "Do you know the chords?"

he fan then came onstage, jumped around manically and gave 3/4th of the band bear hugs. (Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. wasn't having any of it, even holding up his drums sticks to block the dude.) He did know the chords to the song, though Bono stopped him after a second and instructed everyone to slow down so he could remember the lyrics. The song was done a handful of times in 2001, but hasn't been part of the regular setlist since the Joshua Tree tour in 1987.

Bono seems to briefly regret his impulsive decision when they struggled to get it started and the guy keeps talking to him instead of playing ("would you just play this, please?"), but once they kicked into it he rose to the occasion and remembered most of the lyrics. When the somewhat ragged version came to an end the guy literally bowed down to the band, finally got his moment with Mullen and even tried to join in on "The Sweetest Thing," seemingly thinking he was now the fifth member of the band. At this point Bono politely escorted him off, and that guy has a story to tell for the rest of his life.

The setlist changes will likely continue as the tour carries on. Before a recent show in San Jose, Bono told a fan they'd play the Songs of Innocence bonus track “The Crystal Ballroom” at some point. "It really is important to do that," he said. "It’ll take us a few weeks to settle things in. It's so great, that song." Much of the show that takes place on the catwalk and and the main stage is pretty locked in setlist-wise, though during the encores and the B stage segment they have a lot of freedom to play around.

Hey guys, as long as you're taking requests, how about "Red Hill Mining Town," "Lady With The Spinning Head," "Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)," "Please" or "Exit?" We don't even have to play guitar. We can just watch.



 http://www.rollingstone.com/

U2 tour review: Seeing is disbelieving

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A U2 show comes with heightened expectations and an almost euphoric anticipation for a cultural touchstone. It's an impossibly high bar to meet.
For more than two hours last night, the seminal Irish rock band did just that.
A blistering start and finish book-ended a tech-tinged show that is bombastic, brilliantly absurd arena rock.
U2 kicked off its U.S. leg of the Innocence & Experience tour under vexing circumstances: a physically damaged lead singer and a record, Songs of Innocence, that sparked a backlash after it was distributed for free to 500 million people via iTunes in September. (U2 is working on a new album, Songs of Experience.)
From those setbacks, the venerable band saw the opportunity to turn uncertainty into a platform to redefine its place in rock 'n' roll's pantheon.
That it did, Monday night at SAP Center here. An invigorated band tore through anthems and new stuff under a reconstituted sight-and-sound show. Enormous speakers from the ceiling spread out sound more evenly in the arena. Dazzling screens split the room in half. At times, it was a case of seeing is disbelieving.
A Magneto-sized digital image of Bono reaches out to corral Edge performing inside a cage suspended from the ceiling. The lead singer walks the streets of his childhoodDublin, in the rain, suspended above the crowd. An oblong box overhead depicted the band performing inside giant projections and animated sets, ornamented with dazzling lights, spinning glitter balls and LED videos.
A spry Bono showed no ill effects from a bicycle accident in Central Park in November that resulted in damage to his eye socket, shoulder, elbow and left hand. His voice is still commanding and emotive.
"Welcome to the first night of our U.S. adventure," Bono said after a four-song blitz to open things: The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone), Out of Control, Vertigo and I Will Follow.
The concert was divided into two parts: the first covered U2's youth yet drew heavily on its latest album, Songs of Innocence. A blizzard of confetti and technological stagecraft ended the 50-minute set. "We aren't afraid of technology — we rather like it," said Bono.
The concert's second half was larded with the classic anthems: An inspired Pride (In the Name of Love), a soaring Angel of Harlem. Mysterious Ways was especially infectious. U2 paid tribute to the late, great B.B. King with When Love Comes to Town, its successful collaboration with the blues legend.
Four stages covering much of the arena floor afforded fans to be near Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. at any given time.
The fifth "member" of U2 was the oblong-shaped LED screen that greatly assisted the first half of the show, offering stunning visuals to enliven newer material that the capacity crowd was unfamiliar with or — in some cases — indifferent.
But there were slices of heart and humanity. A lovely new ballad, Every Breaking Wave, showed off Bono's incomparable voice. The rousing Where the Street Has No Name punctuated the encore.
When U2 last visited the San Francisco Bay Area, in 2011, it was at cavernous Oakland Stadium during the 360° Tour. Monday's U.S. opener was far smaller, more intimate and yet just as jaw-dropping in its staging and inventiveness.
The live staples of a U2 show were still there, in their soul-lifting glory, along with eye-popping pyrotechnics and some Bono preaching.
After 40 years together, U2 reached that impossibly high bar. Again.

http://www.usatoday.com/

Nashville, July 2, 2011

'I went out walking under an atomic sky
Where the ground won't turn and the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye.
Yeah, I went with nothing, nothing but the thought of you.
I went wandering....'


On a hot night in Nashville, the first time the band have played the city in thirty years, it was a spine-tingling moment as 'Still Haven't Found' ended and Bono, accompanied by Edge, segued into The Wanderer  -  the first performance at a U2 show of a song the band wrote for - and performed with - Johnny Cash, for their 1993 album Zooropa.

And there was a second special moment - right at the end of the show - when one fan came up on stage and led the band and stadium in 'All I Want Is You'. Something else!

Inside the Vanderbilt Stadium the atmosphere was electric with the stage almost covering the whole field and the audience packed to the rafters.
'Where you gonna take us Music City?'
Soon enough The Fly took us to Berlin, circa 1991 but it wasn't long before the 360 spaceship took us even further back - to Underwood Auditorium on December 2nd 1981.
'Wow, that's a hard fact to take in...'
'Well, we're here now, some things remain the same: my name is Bono and we're a band from Dublin.'
Larry, explained Bono, is the man who gave them their first job and rendered them unemployable: 'He's handsome - and he's had that haircut since 1981!'
Adam is a 'prince of a man, one of the most 'gifted rock'n'roll bass players of all time' while without us Edge 'would still be in his bedroom twiddling knobs.'
'In a city of masters, we are students - will you sing with us?'
Nashville said Yes to that and Still Haven't Found became The Wanderer which led to memories of 'some special times with Johnny and June here in Nashville over the years.'

Big thanks to the crew tonight, on the occassion of the 100th 360 show, shout-outs to campaigning politicians and country music folk and special mention of a visit to Nashville in 2002 when Bono hooked up with Charlie Peacock and Jars of Clay - credit to the USA for the role it is playing in fighting HIV/AIDS in the poorest countries.

'You've heard of the miracle of the loaves and  fishes? We're going to try to make this spaceship disappear. Let's turn this place into the milky way and  think of our little planet spinning around the sun... Thank you Nashville.'

But this show had one last surprise and a  moment one fan will never surrender. With the band  about to walk off stage, Bono started talking to someone on the front row: 'You want to play what?'
Before you know it, this dude was up on stage,  holding Bono's Irish Falcon guitar and being introduced to Music City.
'My wife's name is Andrea,' he explained. 'I'm kinda nervous man!'
But as he started playing, the band backing him, Bono started singing, 'All I Want Is You' and the nerves disappeared.

'You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want your story to remain untold....'

A spine-tingling moment and when it was over Bono hugged him and gave him his  guitar - something to pinch when he wakes up from his dream. 

SET LIST

Even Better Than The Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until The End Of The World
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
The Wanderer
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy / Discotheque
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On

ENCORE

One
Where The Streets Have No Name

ENCORE 2

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment Of Surrender

Picture gallery 


www.u2.com

Miami, Florida, 29th June 2011

The North American debut of the new track, North Star ( which appears in the movie  'Transformers: Dark of the Moon') is  ' a love song to the universe' as Bono called it,  was one of the stand-out moments on a hot and sticky evening where the rain stayed away and the 360 space ship took off again.

'We love Miami,' explained Bono. 'That's well known. The balmy summer heat, the palm trees, the dolphins, the Marlins... by the way we love the Marlins.' (That went down well - the Marlins had to move several games from this, their home stadium, to accomodate the 360 show this week.)

'Miami is a sort of crossroads between South America and North America, the Caribbean and Ireland. Irish people are like Latin Americans...  who don't know how to dance.'

An opening quartet of tracks from Achtung Baby set the scene tonight before we went back to 1979 ('I Will Follow') and forward to 2009 ('Boots') and when we arrived in the 1980's, 'Still Haven't Found' paid  tribute to Clarence Clemons with a tip of the hat to Jungleland.  

'Unos, dos, tres...' 

'Are you ready to take the roof off... if we had a roof?'  By Vertigo everyone was ready and the roof we didn't have was duly removed. 'Crazy' became ' a love song to Cuba - one day Cuba will be free' and as Walk On arrived, Bono invited everyone to remember Cuban human rights activist Dr Oscar Elias Biscet. Dr Biscet endured many years in prison in Cuba for opposing the government and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George Bush in 2007. 'Let everyone in Cuba know he is special to us and we are watching... we are watching.'

A barnstorming Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me gave way to a transcendent With Or Without You before Moment of Surrender paid tribute to the late and great Clarence Clemons, whose brother Bill was here tonight.

'There's one brighter star in the firmament, his name is Clarence Clemons, his family and friends are here tonight... good night Clarence Clemons, good night Miami.'

Setlist

Even Better Than The Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until The End Of The World
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / The Promised Land
North Star
Beautiful Day / Space Oddity
Elevation
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo / La Bamba
Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On
One
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow / Where The Streets Have No Name
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Picture gallery. 
www.u2.com

East Lansing, Michigan, 26th June 2011

"C'mon East Lansing -  go green… go white… go orange… where you going to take the Irish tonight?'

We had our own festival at  Michigan State University's Spartan Stadium  with an exuberant audience singing along at every note, the joint rocking from 'Real Thing' to Moment of Surrender'.

Let's shrink this place down to a little club,  Bono told a 65,000-strong crowd, before adding, ' or a pub like Dooleys'. 

'I Will Follow' went down just as well tonight as it did when they played it in that very pub Dooleys, in East Lansing, nearly thirty years ago in December 1981. 'Where is Mr. Dooley?' Bono asked. 'I believe he's still around.'

According to The Detroit News, if it wasn't quite that small pub tonight, it was certainly as cosy as a stadium can become. 'A smaller band would have buckled under the sheer enormity of it. But U2 stepped up to the plate with an ease and confidence that matches its ambitions, and somehow made the stadium setting feel intimate.'

'We're very glad to be here in MSU right now, ' said Bono. 'What makes this country so beautiful is not just landscape, your country is a beautiful idea...'

Special mention for people here and across the state who've worked for the ONE campaign, and for 'another great American idea - the Peace Corps.'  This is not a band that made it to university - Edge managed six weeks, Bono two - but they were always learning.

'U2 became our university, Rolling Stone our textbook...
'We're still students, wouldn't you agree ?
'I still haven't found what I'm looking for...'

After 'Still', Bono was in reflective mood again, recalling an album which marks its twentieth birthday this year - and the long journey they took to find it. In Berlin, a wall coming down and one going up in the studio, the risks they took and the ones they'll continue to take. Jann Wenner  of Rolling Stone  gets special mention, along with all 'the people cheering us on when we were making some of our most experimental music... And we appreciate that.'

The night races past, carried on a wave of noise from a rockin' audience, and soon it's a Moment to Surrender, dedicated again to Clarence Clemons.

'Not just a man, more a force of nature - music just spilling out of him.
But you could hold anyone in your heart or mind right now...'

SET LIST

Even Better Than The Real Thing

The Fly

Mysterious Ways

Until The End Of The World

I Will Follow

Get On Your Boots

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Stay (Faraway, So Close!)

Beautiful Day

Elevation

Pride (In The Name Of Love)

Miss Sarajevo

Zooropa

City Of Blinding Lights

Vertigo

I'll Go Crazy / Discotheque

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Scarlet

Walk On

ENCORE

One

Where The Streets Have No Name

ENCORE 2

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

With Or Without You

Moment Of Surrender

www.u2.com

Baltimore, Maryland, 22th June 2011

What a beautiful midsummer nights dream' said Bono, towards the end of one of the hottest nights of the tour in Baltimore tonight. 'Unbelievable...'


 'Real Thing'  opened the show but  it was a surprise to hear Edge wind up The Fly after that - hard to beat the 'Kraut Rock - circa 1991'.


Florence and The Machine were up earlier for their first night on the tour and Bono thanked them for taking a ride on the space ship.

'It's great to be back, it's so beautiful, Maryland...' The rolling hills reminded him of Wicklow - that went down well.


After introducing everyone else, first of several special mentions to Clarence Clemons as 'Still Haven't Found' featured snatches of Springsteen before we were all singing Stay (Faraway So Close).

'If I could stay, then the night would give you up.
Stay, and the day would keep its trust.
Stay, and the night would be enough....'

Setlist 

Even Better Than The Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until The End Of The World
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / The Promised Land
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Beautiful Day / Space Oddity
Elevation
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Crazy Tonight / Discothèque / Psycho Killer
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On / You’ll Never Walk Alone
One
Amazing Grace (snippet) / Where The Streets Have No Name
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender / Jungleland

Picture gallery

www.u2.com

'A Time To Run For Cover...'

Is there a time to run for cover

A time for kiss and tell.
A time for different colours
Different names you find hard to spell..

Miss Sarajevo captured live in Anaheim and featuring a remarkable new animation by Run Wrake.

The idea of using childrens drawings came from Bono, who remembered an exhibition he'd seen of children's pictures in Mostar. Images of princesses and beauty queens seque into drawings from warzone, the matter-of-fact childrens illustration style complementing the theme of the song. 


www.u2.com