Bono’s back into the audience

Check this clip filmed during Until the end of the world from (the very awesome) second show in Brussels… Bono lets himself fall into the audience 2’40” into the song.

U2360 2010 pre-show warm up music

These are some of the songs U2 have been playing over the PA before the start of the show. Thanks to @u2wanderer for Shazam magic, and U2tour.de. Currently missing from the list, a Grinderman song. Probably “No Pussy Blues”.

Listen to these songs on Spotify.

Enola Gay – OMD
Triangle Walks – Fever Ray
Hooting and Howling – Wild Beasts
Deadbeat Summer – Neon Indian
Friends – Band of Skulls
It Will All End in Tears – The Drums
Ghost Rider – Gavin Friday & Dave Ball (download)
Can You Feel It – The Jacksons
Power to the People – John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
The Difference Between Us – The Dead Weather
One Day Like this – Elbow
Dog Days are Over – Florence and the Machine
Song from under the floor boards – Magazine
Howlin’ for You – The Black Keys
Little Girl – Danger Mouse
The High Road – Broken Bells
Bloodbuzz Ohio – The National
Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin
Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
Empire State of Mind – Alicia Keys und Jay-Z
Dig, Lazarus, Dig – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
A Forest – The Cure
Monkey‘s gone to Heaven – Pixies
Lisztomania – Phoenix
Atlas Air – Massive Attack
Supermassive Black Hole – Muse
Killing Me Softly – Fugees
I’m on fire – Bruce Springsteen
Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weekend
Enjoy the silence – Depeche Mode
Alligator – Tegan and Sara

Here’s last year’s list

U2360 – Stade de France – Paris, France

In the afternoon the band soundchecks Pride, Streets, All I Want is You, Mercy and Desire. The concert is sold out and there are a lot of people around the stadium still looking for tickets. The weather is good… a dry show for a change. As per usual in Paris, entry to the stadium is chaotic. Gates fail to open simultaneously and according to some reports some people get hurt. Inside the stadium it’s not much better – the GA area is too full.

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U2360 Munich – Olympiastadion – Munich, Germany

German audience surprises Bono at the end of Northstar.

U2 returns to the city where their singer’s back was Vorsprunged durch Technik. The doctors and nurses get plenty thanks, especially ‘beautiful, beguiling’ nurse Imke. During “Until the End of the World”, presumably responding to the chiming noise The Edge’s guitar was making, Bono quotes from Leonard Cohen’s beautiful “Anthem”: “Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Then it’s from high brow to low brow as Bono sings “Moment of Surrender” wearing an FC Bayern Munich shirt.

continue for setlist

Athens photo slideshow by Alex Maragos

Photos by Alex Maragos

U2360 – Olympic Stadium – Athens, Greece

Bono talks about the similarities between the Greek and the Irish… both broke and capable of ‘godlike genius’ and in an impassioned speech tells the Greek, “we are not defined by financial targets.” He introduces the band as Greek gods and heroes: The Edge is Odysseus, Larry is Apollo, Adam’s Zeus and Bono is Alexander the ‘motherfucking’ Great. Stingray is the only new song played in this country that’s been starved of U2 live since PopMart Thessaloniki, 13 years ago. It’s a great gig with probably one of the loudest, most enthusiastic audiences on the tour so far.

Click to see setlist

Vienna photo slideshow by “despicable_me”

U2360 – Ernst Happel Stadion – Vienna, Austria

U2′s thank you card to support act One Republic (via their tweet)

Afternoon soundcheck (crew only): City of blinding lights, Vertigo, Moment of Surrender, New Year’s Day, Miss Sarajevo, Walk On, Desire.

Bono is in a talkative mood, but he has to be as there are some technical issues that leave space between songs. At one point he resorts to discussing Adam’s farting. Meanwhile, The Edge bears the brunt of the problems. First he doesn’t get his guitar in time for ‘In a little while’, then his guitar fails during ‘Mysterious Ways’, then has to change guitars during COBL and finally it doesn’t seem to be turned up loud enough on ‘Walk On’. ‘Glastonbury’ was listed on the setlist, but not played. The German news site oe24.at claims Bono was given an injection before the show to make him fit to play (“Und dabei musste er heute für das Wien-Konzert extra fitgespritzt werden!”). U2start.com commented: “Great show [...] Bono just didn’t look good at the end.” He was however, in good spirits. Enough to slip in a ‘Rock me Amadeus‘ snippet during Vertigo.

Setlist

Video: Moscow Rocks

U2360 – Luzhniki Stadium – Moscow, Russia

photo by @kardanik

For the first time in their career, U2 play the capital of Russia. Security at the stadium is very strict and the place is full of police and military. In the afternoon, police shut down the Greenpeace, ONE Campaign and Amnesty International stands at the stadium. One Amnesty International activist is reported to have been arrested. Police claim the activists organised an ‘illegal rally’. However, as at every U2 show, these volunteers are actually authorised to set up stands and distribute information. In a Greenpeace blog post about the matter it’s stated “U2′s management are puzzled” by the situation and Bono’s been informed of what went on.

The head of Amnesty International in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, has stated that police detained five volunteers who were distributing leaflets and displaying banners for holding an unsanctioned protest at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium. “I am very sorry about what happened … it overshadowed the concert,” Nikitin said. The activists were later released without charge.

It rained quite hard hard during the show which is attended by Mikhail Gorbachev, “a great hero of mine”, Bono says, “I’ve known him for over 10 years.” Most of the new songs were dropped from the set, except Return of the Stingray guitar and the band delighted the crowd by playing Knocking on Heaven’s Door with Russian rockstar Yuri Shevchuk. Shevchuk has become a significant figure in Russia’s opposition movement since he delivered a rare public rebuke to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in May.

Reports from fans inside the GA area say Russian police wouldn’t allow the fans to leave the GA area and clashed with U2 security. Fans claim Russian soldiers hindered U2 security when they wanted to move the barricades to let fans out. Other people stepped in to separate Russian solders and U2 security.

Unprecedented security measures at U2 concert

Setlist