Are you in Oakland today ? Attending the show ? Standing in GA line today ? Look around for Memphis Mullen today - Ask for some U2 Swag
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In this mornings paper we saw this article that listed the road trip play list for Cali fans attending both shows and we began to wonder ? What would your play list look like. Its a travel day for most today so the news is lite, yea the stage is under way and since we are 24 hours way, its pretty much built. So take a look, maybe a listen and share your thoughts. Here is Carla Meyer’s selection (Shes from the “The Bee”paper)
“Elevation”: This ebullient track kicks the listener instantly into show mode. For extra urgency, try to find the version from the “Live at Slane Castle” CD. It makes the energetic recorded version sound wan.
•“Mysterious Ways”: Bluesy but also technological forward-thinking for its time, it keeps the party spirit afloat.
• “Vertigo”: Catchy in a slightly irritating way, it shows U2 has a flair for hooks even minus soaring guitars.
• “Moment of Surrender”: Knowing this song from the band’s most recent album, 2009’s “No Line on the Horizon” determines the difference between tepid clapping and sincere whooping at its start. This one deserves a whoop. Midtempo, highly percussive and showcasing gutsy vocals by Bono, it’s the loveliest song ever to allude to an ATM robbery.
• “Get on Your Boots”: Atop a psychedelic, distorted guitar, Bono talk-sings “Subterranean Homesick Blues” style and claims, “I don’t want to talk about wars between nations.” It’s kind of goofy.
• “Magnificent”: The lyrics are bland but the jangly guitars offer a reasonable facsimile of early-1980s U2. This song concludes the obligatory new-music portion of our playlist.
• “All I Want Is You”: Bono’s voice is at its breathiest and sexiest.
• “I Will Follow”: An almost perfect ’80s-specific song, mixing straightforward guitar with new wave cadences and stylized vocals and a bridge showing off Adam Clayton’s bass and reminding us U2 is more than Bono and The Edge.
• “Scarlet”: A showcase for Larry Mullen Jr.’s drums, this is more interlude than song, punctuated by Bono’s cries of “Rejoice.”
• “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”: Feedback, guitar crunch, Bono falsetto and an irresistible yearning vibe.
• “One”: Ouch, love hurts.
• “So Cruel”: This song makes “Wild Horses” and “One” sound upbeat.
• “Helter Skelter”: This live track off 1988’s “Rattle & Hum” shows U2’s appreciation for their elders.
• “Where the Streets Have No Name”: “Still building and buurrrning down love!” Thus starts our crescendo-packed final section.
• “With or Without You”: Dramatic and angsty for youngsters, and perhaps even more resonant for people who have been married a long time.
• “(Pride) In the Name of Love”: This tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. is big, historically minded and just … Bono.
• “Sunday Bloody Sunday”: A call for the end of violence in Northern Ireland, with an added romance-in-strife vibe, it never grows old. You must sing this song forever, Bono.
• “New Year’s Day”: A tale of lovers riven by outside forces, this song is genuinely epic, its sound encapsulating Ireland, the British Isles, heather, Heathcliff and New Year’s Day hangovers. Enjoy the show!
Being so tired from walking around Seattle sight seeing the day before, I decided to stay in my hotel room and conserve my energy until it was time to go to Qwest Field. To further save energy, we took a cab to the stadium even though it is just under a mile away. We got to the stadium at 3:00, got in the GA line just long enough to get our wristbands and then walked around to wait for U2 to arrive. Our friends told us Larry had just went it, so I was a little disappointed – but they were wrong.
After meeting a few people I’ve been chatting with on Twitter and giving out some U2TourFans stickers, we saw the flashing lights of the police escort and black SUVs. Edge, Bono, Larry and Adam drove into Qwest Field right in front of us. We looked down the long driveway and saw Bono get out and head back toward us. He hopped on the back of the policeman’s motorcycle and in seconds was talking with us.
My friend, Jenny, and I were in our ‘Larry Mullen Band’ shirts as usual. I shouted, “Is Larry ever coming out to greet the fans?” Bono responded, “He only likes you. I love you.” Then Bono went on to say, “You like that kind of cold stare” (referring to Larry).
Before Bono was about to leave, he asked the small crowd of about 30 people, “Where are the Larry Mullen people?” I shouted, ‘Right here!” and pushed my way toward Bono. He read my shirt as if to make sure I was the ‘Larry Mullen Band’ girl he had been talking to earlier. Then Bono asked, “Do you have a message I can deliver?” I said, “Yes, tell Larry to come out in Oakland since he didn’t come out here.” He said, “OK.” I then went on to tell him that I would be at all the US shows, but I don’t think he heard me. Bono then asked my name and repeated it back to me, “Deena.” When he got in his golf cart to go back, I saw him write something down, so we’ll see what happens in Oakland on Tuesday.
We got in the GA line and had about an hour wait in the hot Seattle sun before we were let into Qwest Field. While waiting we got to hear the sound check. I was quite excited to hear The Fly, but disappointed it wasn’t included in the set list later. Once inside, we got a nice spot in the inner circle on Adam’s side – a great view for Lenny Kravitz.
Lenny was a great opening act, a lot better than The Fray. He didn’t take the stage until 7:30 and only played 45 minutes, but played the four songs I know – It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over, American Woman, Fly Away, and Are You Gonna Go My Way. Lenny had these great female backup singers that reminded me of Elvis’ Sweet Inspirations. Lenny also did karate moves that reminded me of Elvis. Could Lenny be a fan of The King?
After Lenny Kravitz’ performance, we went over to Edge’s side and stood behind the stage to wait for U2 to enter. It was odd getting our neck’s stamped (instead of our hands) for re-entry to the inner circle. Security kicked us off the rail where we were waiting for U2 to enter, claiming the fire marshall wanted that space cleared. So instead of having us lined up along the rail like we were, they had us lined up horizontally sort of blocking the way to the inner circle. Not sure how that wasn’t a fire hazard.
But as soon as U2 came out of that tunnel, security couldn’t hold us back and we were again on the rail. Larry came by and smiled at me, and I think he may have waved – of course I was screaming his name and wearing my Larry Mullen Band shirt.
We decided to stay on Edge’s side for the show, and it was a good decision. We had a great view of the show. It was side view, but we could see everything. At the end of Vertigo, we went behind the stage to wait for Larry and his conga to start his walk for I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight. He again smiled at me as I screamed his name and jumped up and down - actually I think he’s laughing at me, but I’ll take it.
For Moment of Surrender, we moved behind the stage to wait for U2 to leave. Instead of standing by the stairs at the stage where we could have gotten a good picture, we waited back toward where the tunnel is. As Larry was walking out, Jenny shouted, “Larry!” He smiled and made a b line for us. He shook Jenny’s hand and then mine – still smiling. I thanked him. But this does not excuse Larry from coming out in Oakland on Tuesday to meet me.
Coming later this morning we will have the show report from Memphis - She was at the show last night and we expect to have agreat review in from her. Did you notice her chat with Bono ? Meantime the setlist has been updated - We await for MM to file her report
Bono is back to leaping and jumping again, and the delay in the end might prove lucky. During the past year, U2 has honed its show, added a few songs and integrated video of the Arab spring revolt into a moving “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Reviews of this leg — the seventh of the tour — are stellar. “Fresh and edgy as ever,” proclaimed The Salt Lake Tribune. “Lives up to image, hype,” raved The Denver Post.
The staging for “360 Degree” includes a 164-foot-high steel support rig, nicknamed “The Claw.” If that sounds like an expensive stage prop to haul around — it requires 120 trucks to transport — U2 can afford it: Even with a break for Bono’s rehabilitation, the “360 Degree” show has become the highest-grossing tour in concert history, surpassing the Rolling Stones’ “Bigger Bang
But that’s where the legendary U2 singer found himself Tuesday, stuck on the side of the road near Vancouver, his thumb extended in hopes of catching a lift. His chariot arrived in the form of a ride that brought him to his destination and turned the self-described rugby player on to Canada’s favorite sport.
“I like ice hockey, because people who play ice hockey are the kind of people who pick up hitchhikers,” Bono told a concert crowd Wednesday in Edmonton, Alberta, as seen in a video posted on YouTube. “I know this from personal experience.”
Bono and his assistant were out for a walk when, according to numerous reports, it started to rain. The U2 frontman/hitchhiker said that Edmonter Oilers player Gilbert Brule and his girlfriend were driving in a truck when they spotted the forlorn traveler.
Kelsey Nichols told CNN affiliate CTV, that she didn’t believe her boyfriend, Brule, that the hitchhiker was Bono. “I said no, we’re not picking up a hitchhiker. We’re going to die,” she said later, with a smile. “There’s no way.”
But Nichols, who was driving, changed her mind and turned around. According to the Edmonton Sun, the couple had set out for a local park to walk their German shepherd — a dog that eventually shared space in the back of the truck with the singer and his assistant.
During his Edmonton show Wednesday, Bono said that he had decided “that I now want to be Gilbert Brule,” a five-year NHL veteran center who scored seven goals in 41 games last season with the Oilers.
He then went on to cast his bandmates as other members of the Oilers’ franchise, dating to its 1980s heyday as a juggernaut on ice.
The lead singer decreed that Larry Mullen, U2’s drummer, would be Mark Messier, who won five Stanley Cups with Edmonton and another with the New York Rangers. Bassist Adam Clayton was dubbed Grant Fuhr, in honor of the famed ex-Oilers’ goalie. As to The Edge — who was born as David Evans — “he’s kind of the Great One,” Bono decided in casting him as nine-time league MVP, Wayne Gretzky.
Brule, who flew from Vancouver to Edmonton so he could go backstage at Wednesday’s concert, told CTV that he was “star struck” upon meeting the rock star and taking him to Horseshoe Bay.
“I couldn’t believe he said that,” said Brule of Bono’s gushing praise. “That was insane — I think I want to be him.”
Its been since 1997 when their last appearance was here. U2 remains timeless – 35 years of hits, moods, and tests of the holy sprit. U2 fans are not like other fans, oh sure we have heard that before about other fan bases, however the truth is that U2 fans dig deep and have passion for life, and love of people beyond space and time.
The stage is so massive it sets the tone for a intimate show
Bono of course knows how to work his audience with a few references to Canada and even a well scripted invite of a female from the audience to recite the lyriices of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” Bono was in the zone, ready bring the passion and power to all those that waited to see them
U2 band took the stage around sunset to open with Even Better Than the Real Thing. Read into that what you want. The Edge’s distinctive chiming guitar led the way in I Will Follow, sounding as fresh as it did when it came out in 1980. Mysterious Ways brought the energy to an even higher level, something that would happen repeatedly throughout the night: Beautiful Day, Pride (In the Name of Love), Vertigo, each song much more than a mere song, but a stadium anthem that invites the mass singalongs that again are thrilling in themselves, just to be there. To elevate, as it were, rock songs into such grand and grandiose statements would seem absurd from anyone but U2.
Fourteen years since their last appearance in Edmonton, Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry have almost perfected the stadium rock experience. They’re not ashamed to make it as big as they possibly can – because that’s what we expect from these guys.
Under a partly cloudy Wednesday sky, and a 50-metre alien crustacean known as the claw or spaceship, Bono and his boys took fans to new heights of excess, excitement and hockey hysteria at Commonwealth Stadium — 14 years after the band’s last visit to Edmonton.
(Truth be told, the excess started hours before their 9:09 p.m. start time — with a police escort from the airport to the venue for a quick sound check.)
If you’ve been keeping track of the U2’s current 360 tour, you’ll know the first few songs didn’t differ much from their usual set list — starting with Even Better Than The Real Thing, I Will Follow, Get On Your Boots, Magnificent and Mysterious Ways — five songs from three different decades of their career.
In a way, watching the Irish rockers on their giant screen was almost better than trying to see the real things on a puny stage in the middle of a huge football stadium, especially for those fans standing on the field. Bono and his bandmates looked larger than life on their circular screen, and so did the entire scope of the show, thanks to camera angles which incorporated the breadth of the almost sold-out stadium.
“Welcome to the 325 tour,” Bono quipped, making a dig at Commonwealth’s seatless south end.
Late morning, May 21, 2010, word shot around the world of his emergency back surgery and U2’s need to postpone a series of shows, including a stop in Edmonton.
Bono reportedly came close to losing the ability to walk, but his recovery looks complete — as he crouched under his microphone, shimmied, and swaggered around the stage, which featured an outer circular rim and two moving bridges. After hurling a bunch of white roses into the crowd during Until The End of The World, he treated fans to a story about hitchhiking in Vancouver and getting a lift from none other than Oiler Gilbert Brule and his girlfriend. The tale then prompted Bono to compare each one of his bandmates as to a former Oiler.
The Edge, or “Wayne Gretzky” on guitar, stickhandled his way through explosive anthems (Elevation, Beautiful Day) and touching ballads (All I Want Is You). Stoic bassist Adam Clayton, or “the Grant Fuhr of the band,” backstopped with steady and sensual bass lines, while drummer Larry Mullen Jr., or “the Mark Messier” of U2, was suave yet feisty behind his kit.
Unlike the band’s show in Winnipeg, where the city’s name was spelled with only n (and Manitoba was referred to as a state) on the band’s giant screen, there were no such gaffes in Ed- or rather Edge-monton. Instead, fans were treated to such happy pre-show facts as the number of suicides this year (422,982) and the number of days until the end of oil (15,535).
U2, of course, need a lot of the liquid to power their beast of a tour, yet the Irish rockers try to compensate for their materialistic ways by supporting social and political campaigns, such as Amnesty International, Make Poverty History and Product RED AIDS.
Fans celebrated the latter two efforts by bringing red and white balloons to the show, which provided a bit of distraction for a few minutes after the opening act, The Fray, left the stage.
As expected, Bono dedicated the last song of the night, Moment of Surrender, to the survivors of the Slave Lake fire, as thousands of cellphones lit the stadium in a warm glow.
“I have some people here from Slave Lake I’d like to dedicate my song to,” he said. “Whoever it is you want to hold in your hearts, hold them in your heart.”
