http://www.u2.com/news/title/lift-off-in-santiago

 

'You said you'd wait Chile, you said you'd wait until the end of the world...' And five years after the band last played in South America, five weeks after the last show and 21 months after this tour opened in Barcelona, U2360 achieved lift-off at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago tonight.

 

The 23-song set featuring tracks from nine different U2 albums, opened with Beautiful Day ('Larry Mullen right behind you...') and closed two and a half hours later with Moment of Surrender. Set list surprises included One Tree Hill, only twice previously played outside New Zealand since 1990, and a moving instrumental version of Mothers of the Disappeared between One and Streets.

 

'There's lots been going on here in the last five years,' reflected Bono. 'Both upsetting and inspiring times. From where we've been standing Chile - you look so strong - fuertes, fuertes, fuertes - and pretty handsome too.'

 

A special guest joined the band to share vocals on One Tree Hill: 'We'd like to ask to the stage the very gifted, the very wonderful Francisca Valenzuela.' The young and talented Chilean singer-songwriter brought a beautiful new dimension to a song with special connections to Chile and its most famous poet and political activist:

'Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love.

You know his blood still cries from the ground.'

 

Bono dedicated the song to Joan, wife of Victor Jara. 'We never forget Victor Jara,' he added, and Pride too was, 'For Victor Jara once more.'

 

Another veteran Chilean artist and activist, who's known and worked with the band since the 1980's was also here tonight. 'Rene Castro,' announced Bono. 'An old friend, in the house!' Rene was responsible for creating the memorable stage backdrops on the LoveTown Tour at the end of the 1980's.

 

The country, as Edge points out on a video for U2.com, has changed dramatically for the better since the band first played here, but change is still coming in other countries - and the set list tonight referenced the dramatic people movements taking place in 2011. Sunday Bloody Sunday went out to a country in north Africa ('Libya, can you hear us?') while Scarlet segued into Walk On with a meditation on Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

'This beautiful spirit is out now, is free, she wants to thank U2 fans, Amnesty International, all people who campaigned for her - rejoice.' But the military junta that kept her under house arrest still locks up its political activists. 'Are you hearing us Burma?'

 

An irresistible version of Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me led into a pretty epic version of With or Without You - this Chilean audience sang at full volume all night, but never more so than now.

'Our hearts and our prayers go across the world from Chile to the people of Japan,' said Bono, with the opening bars of Moment of Surrender. A poignant note to close a powerful show.

 

 

Opening concert in Argentina.

 

And they started with Even Better Than the Real Thing :w00t: :w00t: :w00t:

 

 

Opening night of three at Estadio Unico de La Plata in Buenos Aires tonight and a big surprise right at the top of the show as the return of Space Oddity gave way to the unmistakable opening bars of Even Better Than The Real Thing. A huge response from this capacity crowd for a song that hasn't been in the live set for almost a decade, and the Argentinian volume levels didn't drop all night.

 

 

Full story here on the Official Site

 

http://www.u2.com/news/title/opening-night-in-argentina

 

 

And here it is. A bit shoogly but you get the idea

 

ooooooh lucky Argentina!

 

Sounds good :w00t:

 

I still prefer the boots song for concert opener

You are quite clearly deranged. -_-

Yeah, I've been told that before :P

 

Twinkle likes the song too

 

Where is Twinkle hiding these days? not seen her around for ages :unsure:

Run off with Scotty by the looks of it :o

:lol: could be

 

in his chopper :unsure:

http://www.u2.com/news/title/argentina-argentina

 

 

Thunder and lightning set a dramatic scene for tonight's final date in Buenos Aires. The Argentine national anthem was followed on the stadium sound system by Soda Stereo, another tribute to Gustavo Cerati, and just as we were expecting the new show opener... we didn't get it.

 

There's nothing predictable about this show. Tonight The Return of The Stingray Guitar was back to announce the arrival of the band on stage with Bono singing 'Argentina, Argentina...' as the unreleased track segued into Beautiful Day. They were among the first of five changes to the show including the return of Pride and, for the first time in 2011, to Bad.

 

It was a seriously rocking night with @alonsonico on twitter, who lives in La Plata, reporting that his 'flat is shaking right now because of the concert.'

 

The sonically reimagined Even Better Than The Real Thing arrived when we weren't expecting it after 'Boots' and La Plata kept shaking for Mysterious Ways. It was turning into a memorable way to bid farewell to our weeks stay in this wonderful land.

 

Following Still Haven't Found, Bono thanked Muse, after another electric opening set, 'for coming with us on this incredible adventure.' It set him dreaming out loud about his country... and this country.

 

'I think the Irish and Argentine we speak too much. We drink too much.

We are religious but we argue with God.

And when we are not arguing with God we argue with the British...'

 

You might have the edge on us in the football, he continued, but 'In the rugby we kick your arse. We are a tiny country and you are a BIG country.

Our ego is as big as your ego. We think we invented you. We believe an Irishman is one of the fathers of Argentina. Admiral Brown came from County Mayo...'

 

And in another unexpected twist, now the band welcomed a very special guest to the stage in Leon Gieco (pictured above), the celebrated Argentine folk singer and with Larry and Adam watching on, he performed Solo Le Pido A Dios (I Only Beg God) with Edge and Bono joining on guitar and the entire stadium joining on vocals.

 

There's a video in the link

from U2.com

 

http://www.u2.com/tour/article/title/all-i...s_u2360_tour/76

 

New Year's Day, All I Want is You and Love Rescue Me all arrived in the show tonight for the final stop in a record-breaking week in Mexico.

 

'Thank you for this last week,' said Bono in Spanish towards the end of With or Without You. 'We've had some great times in this country. This has been the best of all. Can we consider ourselves Irish Mexican?'

 

From the top of the show it felt like this third night in Mexico might be a big one: 'Even better than last night...' said Bono, after Even Better Than The Real Thing, not forgetting a special send-off to a band who've played support on this tour more than anyone else. 'We'll miss you when you're gone - Snow Patrol...'

 

The signature opening of New Year's Day reminded everyone that on a third night in a city the band tend to throw in the surprises and this was the first of five tracks that weren't in the show last night.

 

'I've been trying to describe my friends, ' explained Bono. 'Tonight ladies man Adam Clayton; on drums our macho man Larry Mullen Jnr; on guitars and everything else our resident genius The Edge... for myself I'm a jack of all trades.'

 

That said he has a few specialisms including lead vocals and what better opportunity to illustrate this than a rare outing for All I Want is You. With Larry in a t-shirt reading 'Sexico', Bono celebrated the great week the band have had here: 'Last week in Mexico, birthday candles, dancing with my lady, drink-ing tequila, drink-ing tequila...' Only Love Rescue Me could follow that and it did with 100,000 voices on the chorus.

 

'We broke every record here... Every night! We really thank you for coming,' said Bono. 'I hope we can live up to this place that you've put us in.'

:unsure: Love Rescue me

 

not heard of that song before

A nice article about U2 reaching Denver on tour and the special history Colorado has with the Band. (ie Red Rocks)

 

 

Feature: U2 — The story of the band and the state (Colorado) that welcomed it to the New World

 

 

As U2 released its first few albums in the early ’80s, it was clear to a select few that the Irish rock group had the potential to be big.

 

The band members knew it. Those early publicity stills are more about the fire in their eyes than their questionable fashion sense.

 

Band manager Paul McGuinness knew it and agent Frank Barcelona trusted in it.

 

And the early adopters, the fans who fell in love with “I Will Follow,” from the band’s debut “Boy,” they were sure of it — especially once they’d seen U2 live.

 

With or without the help of any individual person or place, U2 was going to evolve into one of the world’s greatest and biggest rock bands — and one day put on a show like its behemoth 360 Tour, the highest-grossing tour of all time, which is playing Invesco Field at Mile High on Saturday night.

 

Saturday will be a special night, as even the band will agree that few places helped U2 find its audience more than Colorado — its venues, its fans, its promoters, its believers.

 

Read full article here

Edited May 18, 201114 yr by Jupiter9

World may end on Saturday, but U2 is going to rock Denver

 

 

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-world-may-en...0,6746340.story

 

Bono joins in Spider-boos

 

 

U2's Bono says he agreed with the terrible reviews for Spider-Man on Broadway, for which he wrote the score along with The Edge.

 

"It might have been a little hard for some other people around here to take that, but we don't disagree with the New York Times," Bono tells Nightline's Cynthia McFadden in an interview that aired Friday. "That's the sort of stuff we were saying backstage."

 

Among those who did not believe bad reviews? Former director Julie Taymor, who was forced out.

 

"Julie would not accept this," Bono adds. of the $70 million musical , the most expensive in history, which will officially re-open June 14.

 

 

 

 

Source.. calgaryherald

Born To Start Parties: U2 Dances Through The Rapture In Denver

 

 

When U2 first took the alien stage perched atop Invesco Field’s grass at 8:45 p.m. Saturday, the packed crowd of 70,000-plus fans welcomed the Irish band with the kind of reception normally reserved for the venue’s regular tenants: the Denver Broncos.

 

Synchronized foot-stomps and “the wave” and all-day tailgating led to that climactic moment, and for the next two hours, Bono, The Edge, Clayton and Mullen were more important names than Tebow, Moreno, Bailey and Dumervil.

 

And in Colorado, that’s saying something.

 

The sheer scope of U2′s record-breaking 360 Tour was undeniable proof, as if we needed it, of the group’s continued North American appeal. Can any other band pull off a stadium tour in the U.S. right now? Nope. And oddly, U2 frontman Bono comes off better in a stadium than he does in an arena. The exaggerated movements. The two-fisted mike lean-ins. The outrageous struts and over-the-top plays to the camera. Bono was born for this job. And right now, he’s the only cat making it happen on this level.

 

 

And just how did it happen Saturday? We’ll start with the stage, which was set amid four towering, thorny, green-and-orange legs spread like a spider. It’s an imposing, alien structure that houses most of the show’s lights, sound and the circular LED screen.

 

The band played to the stage’s titular in-the-round strengths, strutting the outer ring like cats on the prowl. There was plenty of call-and-response with the audience, and of course Bono had a couple of seemingly off-the-cuff monologues.

 

These guys are pros, and they make it look effortless.

 

They couldn’t have started stronger musically. An impassioned “Even Better Than the Real Thing” filtered into an anthemic “I Will Follow,” leading into a pummeling “Get On Your Boots.” “Boots” is the lackluster single off the band’s latest, 2009′s “No Line on the Horizon,” but its hook — courtesy of the Edge and his dizzying guitar tones — is a party-starter, and it fit right in with the older tracks.

 

Bono drew in the audience to help him kick-start “Elevation,” and later he drew more from 2000′s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” with an expectedly jubilant “Beautiful Day” and an elongated tribute to peace campaigns via “Walk On.”

 

“Sunday Bloody Sunday” came off more like a polished rock anthem than a desperate call to action, but “Where the Streets Have No Name” was the hands-in-the-air rager it needed to be. “One” was quite moving while “Mysterious Ways” sounded like an out-of-place anachronism — because it is, not because of the band’s note-perfect performance.

 

The fact that the world was supposed to end a few hours before show time wasn’t lost on anybody — especially since U2 and Saturday’s opener, the Fray, are both openly spiritual bands. But Bono capitalized on the coincidence by dedicating his “Until the End of the World” to Harold Camping, the reverend who called out Saturday as the day of rapture.

 

“To be taken up to the air, sounds like fun to me — just as long as Larry Mullen is with me,” Bono said in a midsong sermon. “God is in the house.”

 

 

And then Bono and the boys did something crazy. Bono, standing on a stage bridging the core stage with the outer ring, started shaking and spazzing while the group indulged into an almost-violent instrumental breakdown. Maybe it was Bono being crazy Bono, or maybe it was his simulation of what the rapture would look and feel like — with an assist from tweaked lighting and choppy video work.

 

That we couldn’t quite tell says it all. U2 knows how to entertain like nobody else, and few left Saturday’s show feeling they didn’t get their money’s worth

 

 

Source...interference.com

By my reckoning only 19 shows to go before the end of the 360 tour. They must be bored out of their skulls by now :blink:

Opening at Winnipeg concert. Even Better Than the Real Thing

 

 

The crowd ain't very bouncy. North American crowds are never very bouncy :unsure:

 

Irish Superstars Rock Oakland

 

 

Arguably the only band to emerge from the '80s post-punk era to challenge the popularity and cultural importance of such iconic '60s and '70s rock artists as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones or Bruce Springsteen, Irish rock quartet U2 has managed to not only survive intact for over three decades but has actually maintained its songwriting edge and relevancy in the pop music world.

 

Formed when singer Paul "Bono" Hewson, guitarist David "The Edge" Evans, and bassist Adam Clayton were all teenagers responding to an ad placed by drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. on a high school bulletin board. After starting out as a Beatles and Stones cover band called the Feedback, the quartet eventually started recording original songs and even charted a couple of singles in Ireland before signing to Island Records and producing their debut album 'Boy.'

 

With their larger-than-life anthems addressing religious issues and political injustices, U2 brought together Bono's charismatic delivery and The Edge's original guitar with the rock solid rhythms of Clayton and Mullen, Jr. to create one of the most compelling sounds in rock. On classic albums like 'War' 'The Unforgettable Fire' and the breakthrough 'The Joshua Tree,' U2 delivered an earnest message that showed faith in the redemptive power of rock and roll.

 

After some backlash against the overly pretentious concert film 'Rattle and Hum,' the band embarked on a reinvention as ironic pop superstars in the early '90s with a string of electronic-influenced albums 'Achtung Baby,' 'Zoo TV' and 'Zooropa' while introducing pioneering technology to their over-the-top stage show. U2's sound evolved while the band achieved the kind of global fame that allowed Bono to pursue his favorite causes like third world debt relief by meeting heads of state.

 

With their return to basic, heartfelt rock on 2002's 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' and the recent 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,' the band continued one of the most remarkable careers in rock. U2's twelfth album, 'No Line on the Horizon,' was released in February 2009 and took a more experimental direction as it reunited the quartet with 'Unforgettable Fire' producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. While North American dates for the band's 360º Tour were postponed for a year after Bono suffered a serious back injury requiring major surgery, U2's return to the States has been hugely anticipated. Still a powerhouse live act that can sell out stadiums in a matter of minutes, U2 will pack Overstock.com Coliseum with loyal fans singing every word of every song they play. Retro rock favorite Lenny Kravitz warms up the crowd in the opening slot.

 

Source/

...KTVU.com

 

 

I like this ...live from Oakland

Edited June 14, 201114 yr by Sacramento

From

http://www.spinnermusic.co.uk/2011/06/18/u2-360-tour/

 

 

U2 Explore Alternate Careers, Toast Manager's Birthday in Anaheim

 

In more than 30 years of performing and two years into the highest grossing tour in music history, one would think U2 would have accomplished everything they set out to do. But at Friday night's gig in Anaheim, Calif., at Angels Stadium, Bono wanted to fix one thing that he had never achieved.

 

Speaking of their longtime manager, Paul McGuiness, Bono said he had been at almost every U2 gig "but never been on a U2 stage. Without this man, things might have turned out a little differently."

 

To prove how different, Bono listed what all four band members alternate careers might be. According to the frontman, Adam Clayton would've been a handbag designer and Larry Mullen Jr. a highway patrolman in Dublin. As for he and the Edge, Bono had a bit of fun. He named himself a theater critic, perhaps in response to the reviews of 'Spider-Man: The Musical,' and the Edge, who was recently turned down by the city of Malibu in his bid to build mansions, would be a city planner. :lol:

 

Thankfully for both the band and its fans, McGuiness was on hand to alter music history, and for his 60th birthday, Bono finally got him into the spotlight. "For the first time ever on a U2 stage, Paul McGuiness," Bono said, leading the whole stadium in a sing-along of 'Happy Birthday.'