Two Nights in Gothenburg

Setlist concerts at Gothenburg, Sweden, Ullevi Stadium

1. Breathe
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day + Rain (fragment)
6. Mysterious Ways + Norwegian Wood (fragment)
7. One + She's A Mystery To Me (fragment)
8. Until The End Of The World
9. Desire + Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (fragment)
10. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
11. Unknown Caller
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City Of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo
15. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Redanka Mix)
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday + Rock The Casbah (fragment)
17. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
18. MLK
19. Walk On + Never Walk Alone (fragment)
20. Where The Streets Have No Name + All You Need Is Love (fragment)
21. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
22. With Or Without You
23. Moment Of Surrender

Who´s there?

The Edge has just posted this pic in his Twitter... Resting before the big night???
BTW, great pics, Mr The Edge

source:www.twitter.com/360FromTheEdge

Waiting for this evening´s concert

Sweden is ready for the push!!

source:www.u2.gigs.com

Bell X1 Dot:The Other Band that played in Croke Park

Bell X1 Dot is an Irish band that played in the Croke Park gig opening the concerts for U2; an overloaded task that they performed very well. Here is what they said about the "U2 experience" in their My Space...

After a while gawping at The Edge’s guitar Emporium, ducking into the belly of the Claw, feeding at the catering trough, striding the hallowed turf of Croke Park, (where The Bomber Liston, Henry Shefflin and Neil Diamond did tread), watching the ‘2 run through “I Will Follow”, we got to play in the sunshine for half an hour at half past six.

Gremlins out in force – acoustic guitar dead for the first 2 tunes, interference in the ears wrecking Rory’s buzz, flatuulent bass guitar…but we settled into it with 10 minutes to go…

Spanning a bit of the half-back line, we looked out onto the magnificence that is Croke Park, and kinda forgot to enjoy it, I think. I think I’m enjoying the memory of it more than the actual gig. Very surreal. They have umbrellas that cost $400000 that pop up out of the stage if it starts raining. The have 200 trucks between the 3 Claw stages that are bunnyhopping around the world.

And yet. Bono’s guitar was dead for most of “One”. Watching that from the start of the stage, him roaring at his tech to fetch him another…made me smile. Sure it happens the best of us.

“Unforgettable Fire”, “Streets”, “Ultra Violet Light”….glorious. Truly magical, as the sun went down and Croker was a sea of stars.

Special mention to U2’s crew, who were very helpful and interested, courteous and receptive to courtesy…

The band sent us a very sweet note, Guinness and champagne. Lovely lads, they’ll go far

source:www.myspace.com/bellx1

360° Tour: Environmently Friendly

Recently there have been criticism about the risk of pollution such a monumental tour may cause.

Live Nation, the producers of 360° Tour, announces in U2.com:

Live Nation, the producers of the U2 U2 360° Tour, have confirmed their commitment to producing the largest concert tour in history in an environmentally responsible manner with a goal of balancing the Tour's direct carbon footprint through a comprehensive reduction and offset strategy.

Live Nation brought MusicMatters on board in March to be the tour's official Environmental Advisor. MusicMatters pioneered, and continues to be the world leader for, environmental impact reduction of music tours and festivals.

"We identified areas the tour could first and foremost REDUCE its environmental impact without compromising the quality of the fan experience. We are now in the process of implementing these recommendations with Live Nation. Next we will announce a customized U2 U2-360° Tour OFFSET strategy, reflecting the band's robust social change commitment, to offset the remaining tour emissions," said Michael Martin, MusicMatters' Founder and President.

More information will be released as the tour progresses around the world, sharing the global impact of the sustainability initiatives taken.


source:www.u2.com

On the Road with Willie Williams

Willie Williams, long termed associated with U2 tours designs, has been blogging about U2 360°:

Thirteen shows into the tour and the Dublin run just completed.

After our startlingly straightforward opening night, things have continued very well, perhaps even surprisingly well. The run of hurdles which begins any tour includes:

1) Building the thing for the first time

2) Making all the bits work

3) Getting through opening night and the first reviews

4) Getting through the first load out (19 hours)

5) Getting through the first move (four days)

6) Reducing load-out time (now 8 hours)

7) Reducing move time (recently achieved in one day)

Further challenges await, no doubt, but whatever lies ahead, it’s official that we got off to an astoundingly smooth start.

The greatest joy for me personally is to witness how well the basic idea works. As a configuration for U2 to play a stadium show, this feels like the one they were born to do. They have taken to it effortlessly and the audience completely gets it. I spent much of the second show in Paris wandering the Stade de France, spending a good amount of time round the back, up high, down low, then round to the sides and finally a brave half hour in the mosh pit. Much as it’s fair to say that given completely free choice there are obviously some vantage points you’d chose over others, it turns out that our press line about there being no bad seats in the house was based more in reality that artistic license.

The gear has held up remarkably well despite the killing schedule and the frequent inclement weather. Milan was our first move, punctuated by regular torrential downpours–proper rain, with thunder and lightning (we’ve had a lot of thunder and lightning now I come to think about it, which makes a man glad to be touring the world’s first lightning-conductor-mirror-ball). The rain caused some equipment casualties but not nearly as many as I’d expected. The LED element of the screen appears to be utterly robust so the nightmare of abseiling with hairdryers remains a PopMart memory. The PA has been fine and out of 200 PRG “Icon IIs” [that's Bad Boys to the rest of us--ed.] only two went down. The screen motors need a little love and attention but so far so good and the LED in the stage all fell out when the 92 sub-base cabinets under the runway kicked in, but really there’s been very little to complain about.

Speaking of which, I have also been amazed at the lack of crew whingeing. I had full expected, if not death threats, then certainly some terse comments in catering once the grueling schedule really kicked in. In Dublin on July 26, the crew had their first day off since load in at Nou Camp on June 7 so it has been a long haul thus far (we were due a day off in Barcelona on July 1, but somehow they managed to squeeze in a video shoot). Nonetheless, everybody (and I do mean everybody) involved, though clearly knackered on occasion, seems genuinely energized by the experience of being part of this extraordinary adventure.

I have completely lost track of how many crew we have now, or even how many trucks. I saw someone with the bag tag number 399 this week, so we must have hit 400 tour staff by now. More than half of these are drivers, of course, but the universal crew itself is now comfortably into three figures. I do know that we’re into a second bus of caterers, so you can work backwards from there to figure out the rest. The food is fabulous, by the way, which is doubtlessly another contributing factor to the tour’s morale.

And the shows? Well, they’re just stellar–especially when we’re in a good stadium, the look of the show being so heavily tied up with the architecture of the venue itself. Paris was the most beautiful, but the Berlin Olympic stadium would give it a run for its money. The volume of the audience is pretty startling too, being surrounded by them and having increased venue capacities to near 100,000 in the larger places. The band clearly thrives on all of the above and having shown up so well rehearsed are able to make the most of it. We’re up to a pool of about thirty-something songs ready to go now, so it’s fun to play with the set-list from night to night.

Next up is Sweden, then no sleep til Gelsenkirchen….

source:www.livedesignonline.com/u2360tour/

From Fan to Playwright

www.atu2.com has posted an interview with Barri Tsavaris, playwright ,performer but above all U2 fan.
She has written "I Will Follow" a full-length play about how her love for U2 has woven itself into her life. Next month that play, I Will Follow, will debut in Manhattan at FringeNYC, which is the largest multi-arts festival in North America and features performers from around the world. Ten percent of all ticket proceeds will go to the ONE Campaign.
She says of her play:

"I Will Follow is a semi-autobiographical story about the pleasures and pitfalls of a young woman’s fanatical obsession with U2 -- one of the few constants in an otherwise (hilariously) tumultuous life. It's my story, but dramatized. Through a series of flashbacks, I introduce the audience to the colorful characters I've met along the way (my charmingly overbearing mother, other U2 fans, and the Bono who watches over me, who I call "Bono-God"). My love of U2 guides me through some tough times and provides many amazing experiences, but my character is often challenged to find a healthy balance between being a devoted fan and living a realistic life. Ultimately it's about my search for truth, love and religion through the music of U2, and the challenge of finding yourself when you're already committed to following something else."

To read the whole interview,click here.

For more info about the play, click here.

source:www.atu2.com//www.iwillfollowtheplay.com/