pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

photo by Soren McCarty (Denver show)

U2 is one of the biggest rock bands in the world.  They’ve been a band for almost 35 years – all the same four guys.  Sit back and think about that for a minute.  Sure, they haven’t been without struggles, but they’ve been a solid force in rock music for a long, long time.  Saturday night was my third time to see them (PopMart 1996, Elevation 2001), and based on the reviews and photos I had seen, I knew I was going to be blown away…

Qwest Field started being configured for U2’s 360º Tour earlier that week.  The 360º Tour features the largest concert stage structure ever and a 360-degree staging/audience configuration that allows fans to surround the stage from all sides.  The large parking lot full of semi-trucks wasn’t just for Bono’s sunglasses supply.  Check out the GeneStout.com media recap of the stage build out (with Mike Savoia’s photos – more from Mike below, too).  See a time-lapse build-out of the Denver show (FB video link).

We positioned ourselves at near the north side of the outside of the loop for the show – as we hadn’t gotten there early enough for the inner loop.  After running into a bad batch in the crowd (i.e.- drunk as hell d-bags), we backed off and watched from a nice safe distance.  Opener Lenny Kravitz hit the stage around 7:30 and played a solid 50 minutes set.  One new song, and a cadre of his hits.  Cindy Blackwell was not on drums – that was the only noticeable absence.  Lenny had some ear-monitor issues near the end, which was frustrating him, but he put on a great show regardless.

Lenny’s Setlist: 50 minutes

• Come On Get It [new song]
• Mamma Said
• It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over
• Let Love Rule
• American Woman [The Guess Who]
• Fly Away
• Are You Gonna Go My Way

After a short break, the David Bowie tape intro started, and U2 walked out onto the stage…

U2’s Setlist: 2+ hours

• Space Oddity [tape intro, David Bowie]
• Even Better Than The Real Thing
• I Will Follow
• Get On Your Boots
• Magnificent
• Mysterious Ways
• Elevation
• Until The End Of The World
• All I Want Is You
• Stay (Faraway, So Close!) [acoustic]
• Beautiful Day with NASA video* & Space Oddity snippet (*video below)
• Pride (In The Name Of Love)
• Miss Sarajevo
• Zooropa
• City Of Blinding Lights
• Vertigo
• I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight with Discothèque and other snippets
• Sunday Bloody Sunday
• Scarlet
• Walk On
• Encore 1: Aung San Suu Kyi Message [tape]
• One
• Where The Streets Have No Name
• Encore 2: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
• With Or Without You
• Moment of Surrender

They rocked out, and from our vantage point it was like watching alien TV.  Some of the best moments for me… The kick-off “Even Better Than the Real Thing” followed by the throwback “I Will Follow” (this show was going to be all over their catalog).  The NASA Commander Mark Kelly video intro to “Beautiful Day” (from space – video below).  The snippet of “Discotheque” was excellent (POP is a great, under-appreciated album).  Bono swinging out on his lit-up microphone during “Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me.”

Oh, and Zoo-fucking-ropa.  The expanding televisions caught me off guard… it was a circus of sights and sounds.

A massive spectacle from a massive band.  A truly entertaining experience.  U2 blows about any other live show out of the water as far as sheer force, light, power, and energy.

My Photos from the show:
(really, just shots of the TV… sigh…)

Mike Savoia’s Pro-shot Photos:
(used with permission)

check out the links to Mike Savoia’s work below

The Appropriate Linkage:

• U2’s Site
• Amnesty International
• One Campaign
• U2.com splash page for Seattle show (with photos & video)
• U2’s Social Media Links (see below)
  
• Lenny Kravitz’s Site
• Lenny Kravitz’s Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
• Mike Savoia’s Digital Photography from the Seattle Show (6/4/2011)
  
• Lenny Kravitz album on Savoia’s FB
• U2 album on Savoia’s FB
• SavoiaPhotographyLive.com

Check out more tour dates below.  #U2360SEA

~Dan – np: Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire

U2’s rescheduled 2011 North American dates:

• May 21 Denver, CO Invesco Field (formerly June 12/10)
• May 24 Salt Lake City, UT Rice Eccles Stadium (formerly June 3/10)
• June 01 Edmonton, AB Commonwealth Stadium (formerly June 23/10)
• June 04 Seattle, WA Qwest Field (formerly June 20/10)
• June 07 Oakland, CA McAfee Coliseum (formerly June 20/10)
• June 17 Anaheim, CA Angels Stadium (formerly June 6/10)
• June 18 Anaheim, CA Angels Stadium (formerly June 7/10)
• June 26 East Lansing, MI Spartan Stadium at MSU (formerly June 30/10)
• June 29 Miami, FL Sun Life Stadium (formerly July 9/10)
• July 05 Chicago, IL Soldier Field (formerly July 6/10)
• July 08 Montreal, QC Hippodrome (formerly July 16/10)
• July 09 Montreal, QC Hippodrome (formerly July 17/10)
• July 11 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre (formerly July 3/10)
• July 14 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field (formerly July 12/10)
• July 20 East Rutherford, NJ New Meadowlands Stadium (formerly July 19/10)
• July 23 Minneapolis, MN TCF Bank Stadium (formerly June 27/10)