OPENING NIGHT OF THE U2 360 WORLD TOUR IN BARCELONA: MAGNIFICENT!!

RED CARPET ROXY IN FRONT OF THE CLAW HANGING ABOVE THE STAGE

 Where do I start? I was completely blown away last night at the opening show of the U2 360 World Tour in Barcelona-the sights and the sounds were unreal. The

The stage

 stage was in the center of the Camp Nou football stadium with a claw of screens hanging above the stage that transformed into a circular honeycomb patterned plasma which projected videos of the band and others throughout the evening. The sound was mind blowing and so clear. Before the band made their crowd rousing entrance onto the stage, a metal bridge that was lowered connecting different parts of the stage and extra lights were hung after Snow Patrol completed the first set. Even the lead singer from Snow Patrol, Gary Lightbody,  proclaimed U2 “the greatest rock band in the world.” Unfortunately, they didn’t take the opportunity to blow out “Chasing Cars” as I would have liked, but it would be hard to fill sound into that massive arena unless it was U2.

Needless to say, the 90,000 audience members went crazy when the band took to their musical home, launching into “Breathe” from “No Line On the Horizon” right away with their trademark high energy sound. Following soon after, it was “Beautiful Day” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I Am Looking For,” then a touching tribute to the King of

Bono belting it out

Pop, Michael Jackson. Bono referred to the pop icon as an “unspeakable talent” then dedicated “Angel of Harlem” to Michael while intertwining Jackson’s classics hits “Man in the Mirror” and a few lines of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” into Harlem. Pretty amazing!

The most unexpected feature of the show was the live feed to the international space station in which the astronauts were projected onto the 360 degree plasma and showed their support of the One Campaign, with one of the crew members actually joining Bono’s cause and Bono chanting, “The future needs a big push!” Larry posed the question to one of the astronauts, “Is the world really round?” to which the astronaut lightheartedly retorted, “That’s classified information.” Also, there was a  political message in honor of Burmese pro-democracy prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi during “Walk On”, in which audience members donned facemasks with her likeness on them and will continue to do so the every night of the tour.  

It was very obvious the boys from Dublin loved being back on the stage as Bono fell into little bits of inner laughter

Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. rocking out

 and joked about forgetting the lyrics after he sang “One” and bassist Adam Clayton fist pumped during “Where the Streets Have No Name.”  In addition to Larry Mullen Jr.’s rotating drum set, he journeyed out onto the far stage to play bongos on the dance remix of “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.” Other treats included a rare performance (the first time in 20 years) of “The Unforgettable Fire,” “Pride (In The Name of Love),” “City of Blinding Lights,” “With or Without You,” “Ultra Violet,” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Here is the full set list:

1. Breathe
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day
6. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / Movin’ On Up (snippet)
7. Angel Of Harlem / Man In The Mirror (snippet) / Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (snippet)
8. In A Little While
9. Unknown Caller
10. The Unforgettable Fire
11. City Of Blinding Lights
12. Vertigo
13. Crazy Tonight
14. Sunday Bloody Sunday
15. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
16. MLK
17. Walk On / You’ll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
18. Where The Streets Have No Name
19. One
    Encore(s):
20. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
21. With Or Without You
22. Moment of Surrender

A truly extraodinary night with one of the greatest rock bands of all time. A show not to be missed.