Toronto 4: The week ends with disco balls

Gee, we don’t know what more to say about Toronto 4 than what our editor-in-chief had to say. Yes, U2 played “Discotheque.” (Audio/video to come soon now available.) We think we liked Willie’s light show for the song more than we liked the musical performance. (Oops, did we say that aloud?) Pretty, colorful disco balls displayed across the curtain lights as Bono sang a snippet of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax.” Très eighties!

Once again, Daniel Lanois performed “One” with U2 for their final Vertigo show in Toronto. We suspect that the band might like him or something.

Later in the show, Bono proved our suspicions about Lanois correct by giving special thanks to the Canadian producer for his musical guidance through the years.

Hmm, what else is there to say about Toronto 4? U2 brought an American on stage: Mr. Eddie Vedder from a lil band called Pearl Jam to sing “Old Man River.” (See video link below.)

It would have been more entertaining to hear Vedder add his vocals to a U2 song, but we won’t complain.

Eddie Vedder – Old Man River
Discotheque – part 1
Discotheque – part 2
Postage stamp sized video, audio ok

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Lights, camera, third leg!


“If we fuck up, just blame Larry. He doesn’t show up for rehearsals…No one’s heard this one. Well, maybe three people.”
–Bono, introducing “Fast Cars”

U2 gave fans a treat at the opening of third leg of the Vertigo tour in Toronto by performing a swanky, hip-swaying rendition of “Fast Cars,” a song they have never performed lived. The Toronto audience also received another Vertigo tour first with the addition of “In a Little While,” which has not been heard since the Elevation tour in 2001. After muddling through the song, Bono apologetically explained, “We haven’t played this one in…[laughs] a little while.” Also new to the tour was “Old Man River” tagged to “One.” (Promo Bono would call it an extended snippet.)

“We normally start in Toronto and move west. We moved up to Toronto,” said Bono, who asked the audience not to forget about rock ‘n roll while the city endures the international film festival and its many celebs.

In the audience were U2 producer Daniel Lanois; actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Orlando Bloom, and Kate Blanchett; film makers Neil Jordan and Atom Egoyan; Barenaked Ladies’ singer Stephen Page; media personality George Stroumboulopoulos; and Canadian singer and activist Chantal Kreviazuk.

(Photos: U2log.com)