U2 360 Gothenburg, July 31, 2009


(image courtesy @U2gigs)

U2 play Gothenburg in Sweden on a rainy day. Queues at this show are reportedly the shortest on the tour so far. In the afternoon, the band rehearse Until The End of the World, No Line on the Horizon, Breathe and another, unidentified, track.

Swedish fans organise a succesful ‘white wave’ flash mob, with audience members holding up white fabric as U2 launch into ‘Breathe’ (picture). The band play an exciting set with ‘One’ appearing halfway through the show – something they also tried at Dublin 1 and Amsterdam 2, both concerts we enjoyed very much. We think the song works much better in this spot. Amusingly, Bono tells the crowd to ‘shake your big fat ass now’ at the start of Mysterious Ways. Despite the alternate setlist, both Unknown Caller and The Unforgettable Fire, are played as well. It’s too windy to fully extend the screen and it also affects the sound in the stadium. And whoever’s running the teleprompter may get a bollicking, as Bono started Streets with the first line of the second verse.

Setlist

  1. Breathe [ Video ]”>Video // Video – Flashmob ]
  2. No Line on the Horizon
  3. Get On Your Boots
  4. Magnificent [ Video ]
  5. Beautiful Day (snippet: Rain) [ Video ]
  6. Mysterious Ways (snippet: Norwegian Wood [ Video // Video ])
  7. One (snippet: She’s A Mystery To Me) [ video ]
  8. Until The End of the World
  9. Desire (snippets: Don’t stop till you get enough) [ Video ]
  10. Stuck in a Moment [ Video ]
  11. Unknown Caller
  12. The Unforgettable Fire
  13. City of Blinding Lights
  14. Vertigo
  15. Crazy Tonight (remix)
  16. Sunday Bloody Sunday (snippet: Rock the Casbah)
  17. Pride
  18. MLK (snippet: You’ll Never Walk Alone)
  19. Where the Streets Have No Name (snippet: All You Need Is Love)
  20. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) [ Video ]
  21. With Or Without You
  22. Moment of Surrender [ Video ]

(All information gathered via Twitter and @u2gigs in particular)

It’s good to see the U2 organisation have started tweeting from the shows. They also have an interesting YouTube channel with clips that are embeddable. The fandom’s provided them with a crash course in 00’s social media use over the last few weeks.