U2

What makes a U2 concert so special? What is it about a U2 show that compels us to travel hundreds and thousands of miles to see virtually the same concert over and over?

A U2 show is more than just the songs in the concert. It is the feeling you get when you hear those songs. Whether they lift you up or remind you of a special time in your life, either way, the feeling you get when you hear U2 songs is euphoric. But a U2 concert is more than just those euphoric songs that are played. It is 80,000 people singing those songs together. The fact that each person at that show is feeling the exact same excitement you are. It is a sense of community and belonging. More than just the U2 concert itself, it is the whole experience. The traveling and hanging out with fellow U2 fans. The day of the U2 concert is a great time for U2 fellowship since we arrive at the stadium in the early afternoon either to line up in the GA (general admission) line or to wait for Bono, Larry, Edge and Adam to arrive. With many hours to kill before the concert begins, U2 fans share their U2 experiences, such as favorite songs, albums and concerts.

My favorite U2 concert, of the 75 I have seen, was on the Elevation Tour in Providence, Rhode Island on October 31, 2001. It was my favorite U2 member's 40th birthday, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. It was the night Larry and I shared a drink. The morning of the show, I woke up outside around 8am – pretty good sleeping outside in 30 degrees for five hours. I went up to the warm hotel room until about 10am, then had some breakfast. I stayed in the GA line all day without leaving, except to take a shower around 3:30. I got everyone in the GA line to sign the big orange birthday card I made for Larry. I put my name and email address on the back just in case. The band didn’t arrive until after we were inside. Wearing our Larry Mullen Band shirts, we got our spots at the rail up front and center between Bono and Adam.

I held up my birthday card for Larry as they walked on stage, but he didn’t notice it. There were many, many signs including one saying, ‘Bono let Larry sing.’ During Elevation, Bono sang, ‘ Celebration’ then said, ‘Happy Birthday.' After "Stuck in a Moment," Larry’s 40th birthday celebration began. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Larry. A birthday cake was brought out, and Larry pretended to throw it out into the audience. Larry took the mic and came to the front to talk while Bono sat behind the drums. Larry said, "Bono can’t play drums. It took me 40 years to get up front. I’m glad I’m spending my birthday with 18,000 of my closest friends. I feel like I could borrow money from you." Then Bono asked for a bottle of champagne, which he shook up a la ZooTV and sprayed the audience. Edge took a swig, then Larry drank and continued to drink for the next few songs.

After "Kite," Larry got off the drums and made a B line for me. I got my card and shirt in hand so I could give it to him, but that’s not why he was there. He gave me the champagne bottle – with champagne still in it. I drank some and shared it with my friends. Larry wanted to share his birthday with ME! He wanted ME to have a drink on his birthday. I was SO excited I didn’t even realize they played "Wild Honey," which they rarely play. After "Pride," Larry came back over to me so I could give him the birthday card and Elvis tee shirt. I said, "Thank you. Happy Birthday." He smiled and said, "Thank You." Later on, Bono noticed our Larry Mullen Band shirts, shook his head and smiled.

I doubt there will ever be another U2 show like that night in Providence. Granted it was Larry’s 40th Birthday, and I love Larry, but also for the rarities U2 played that night. "Slow Dancing" was played for the first time on the Elevation tour, and only the 11th time ever. "Party Girl" and "Wild Honey" were played for the first time on that leg of Elevation – and I’ve only heard those songs a couple of times ever. There was just a great energy in Providence that night. I still have that champagne bottle that Larry gave me on his 40th birthday.

Bom dia,
Acompanho a Banda desde 1985, na época dos disco long play ou compacto e meu primeiro álbum, o primeiro disco que comprei foi "War". Sempre soube o posicionamento social e político do grupo, penso ser o que me chamou a atenção e cativou desde o princípio.Mas aqui no Brasil, vivemos tempos difíceis, de beligerância e intolerância de diversas formas, racial, social,religiosa. Uma sociedade apolítica, mas que fundamenta suas crenças no que a imprensa local determina.
Acredito que essa é a melhor Tour em que estive, visto ser minha segunda vez num show do U2. Estive em 2006, em Vertigo e mesmo passando por um momento delicado, pois estava tomando medicação para síndrome do pânico e depressão, saí do estádio 90% melhor do que quando cheguei.
A atual turnê, é de uma dos melhores, se não a melhor, assim como o álbum do grupo e se pudesse iria em todas, Setilist fantástica, iluminação e palco minimalista e remetendo a uma simplicidade do inicio dos shows da Banda. Amei!!!!Parabéns e que venham muito mais........

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Good Morning,
I accompany the band since 1985, in the days of long or compact disc and my first album, the first record I bought was "War". I have always known the social and political position of the group, I think it is what caught my attention and captivated me from the beginning. But here in Brazil, we live in difficult times, of belligerence and intolerance of diverse forms, racial, social, and religious. An apolitical society, but that bases its beliefs on what the local press determines.
I think this is the best Tour I've been on, seeing it as my second time at a U2 show. I was in Vertigo in 2006 and even going through a delicate time, since I was taking medication for panic syndrome and depression, I left the stadium 90% better than when I arrived.
The current tour is one of the best, if not the best, as well as the group's album and if it could go in all, fantastic Setilist, minimalist lighting and stage and referring to a simplicity of the beginning of the bands shows. Congratulations and many more ........

Let me begin with, "U2 is the greatest band in the universe!" I have a strong connection with the band as the Joshua Tree tour was the first concert I ever attended back in 1987. 28 years later, they are still the best live band. I have been very fortunate to have seen them for most of their tours, Elevation, Vertigo, 360 and now ie. I was a broke college student during Zoo and PopMart.

U2 has a very loyal fan base. You will meet people that have seen 50-400 of their concerts. I am fortunate to have seen them 4x already during this tour.

The live experience during the ie tour is very personal and intimate. Bono shows such strong emotion during Iris which makes you want to cry. I heard Out Of Control at the 2nd Phoenix show and I had tears of joy rolling down my cheeks as that was the one song I have been waiting to hear since Elevation. LA 4th show they played 40 which made me cry......."How Long To Sing This Song......." Such a great tribute to the late Dennis Sheehan. Bono is the perfect frontman, always introducing the band as if we are meeting them for the first time. (Brandon Flowers never introduces the other Killers) Bono always has crowd interaction from shaking hands, kissing women's hands, bringing up a lucky fan for the Meerkat live stream and singing to a lucky fan (like me during Beautiful Day in the 2nd night Phoenix show) I'm still on cloud 9!!! Larry, The Edge and Adam also interact with the crowd. I know first hand as I got an air kiss from Adam. The Edge smiled at my friend. Larry shakes hands with people at the e stage.

I can go on and on how U2 is the perfect band. No other bands compare to them. What band has loyal fans waiting all night thru rain and hail to see them? What band always mentions how they tour for the music and the fans?? I sure don't think they need the money.

I will continue to see them until they tour no more. I ❤️ U2

Great show, very basic staging, which is a nice change of pace for U2 recently. It allowed you to focus on them as a band, 4 guys playing music together.

As a tour kick off, there will be some glitches and bugs, the worst of which is when The band and Bono totally flubbed the entire song With or Without You!!! The band was out of sync right from the start and that must have rattled Bono because he false started the first verse, got the lyrics wrong, then just stood there silent while the crowd sort of tried to chime in with the vocals. It was actually pretty awkward, and Bono didn't acknowledge it except by saying "you guys can sing this one".

It was so great to see them actually play Joshua Tree straight through, track by track. I wasn't sure that's how it would really play out. As an album about the greatness, and hardships, of America, with inspiration from American music, landscapes, and especially politics, there was no way to get through the set without nods (mostly subtle - for U2) to the current leadership in America. The opening 8-9 songs before actually launching into Joshua Tree were pretty telling about the bands politics and values of freedom, truth, and fulfilling the American dream. The fact that opening night coincidentally fell on the 60th anniversary of the Martin Luther King "Give Us the Vote" speech gave more weight to lyrics referencing King's assassination in "Pride (In the Name of Love)".

Finally, totally unrelated to Songkick or U2, but I have to say how HORRIBLE Levi's Stadium is and the whole process of getting there (unmanaged traffic), getting into the venue (no purses bigger than a cell phone allowed and no mention of that fact anywhere), getting food (seemed like only 25 people trying to sell hot dogs to 50,000!). Will never see another show there again no matter who the act is.

This show needed to start and finish in darkness to concentrate the mind on the amazing imagery and truly iconic music.

The lead in through tracks from Unforgettable Fire set the pace and raised the pulse rate to a crescendo at the onset of Where The Streets Have No Name where it remained at rates which would have set off many a hospital vital signs alarm until the end of the a play through of the entire Joshua Tree album.

Had this concert finished there it would have sad to depart - and U2 knew this so included a further array of some of their finest tracks from the last 30 years.

This was the trickiest period of the gig however, as not all of the next 35 - 40 minutes could match the standard set down by some of the best music of the 20th century. Moments of oddness crept in, as is Bono's way, and momentum was lost - not gained - towards the end.

Ultimately, an incredible visionary onslaught and a truly mammoth rendition of One lifted the gig back to the heights of its earlier euphoria.

This could easily have been the best concert I have ever seen, but on balance it dropped short. I would not have missed this for the world and I am sure I will look back in years to come and feel so pleased that I was there and saw what was a true moment in musical history. As it stands right now I have a mixed emotion... but there is no denying that of the many hundreds of concerts I have been to in the last 40 years this was right up there at the very pinnacle - a top ten bucket list moment.

U2 at Arrowhead Stadium in KC was a musical memory I'll put in my Top 10...so far. We got parking lot passes from Ticketmaster beforehand to save $$ & make navigating the throngs of traffic manageble. We got to the lot about 5:30 p.m. People had been there tailgating & the lot attendants were very organized, flagging us in to our spot. We immediately headed in to the Stadium so we could check out the U2 merchandise. Entering was a breeze, even with security, because we had checked online to see what could or couldn't be taken into the Stadium. The restrictions make lines move much quicker, even with entering through metal detectors. Walking up the ramp to our seat level was easy. U2 had merchandise areas set up at more locations, so lines there were less. The concession places had very friendly attendants. The stadium seats were very comfortable. Security was there in abundance & were also helpful & friendly. Concert acoustics for an open stadium were amazing. The only downside was the placement of the
audio towers or whatever they were, but they were necessary to provide the incredible U2 audio & visual experience. After the concert, we waited for an hour on purpose before exiting to avoid sitting in traffic, idling. Again, smooth exit. So I highly recommend seeing U2 for their musical talent, their political message & celebrating the 4th anniversary of the Joshua Tree album. ENJOY!

U2 are a band who have conquered the globe and are considered iconic by fans of most genres. With such staggering reputation it is obviously quite difficult to form a live show of equal stature. Luckily, Bono and co obtain a form of bravado that is required of any iconic band.

The key component of their gigs is that they understand how important and dear the audience hold tracks such as 'With Or Without You' and the intense sincerity in which they perform could not be more appropriate. There is an ethereal state when thousands upon thousands are singing along to 'The Streets Have No Name' whilst four musicians command the entire crowd.

There is no denying Bono performs with the same level of self-assuredness that he conducts himself in daily life yet when the opening bars of 'Pride' begin, this level of bombast is required to tackle these gargantuan anthems. They have an impossible amount of hits to choose from, yet the setlist feels well calculated and not simply a 'greatest hits' compilation. The use of snippets of their own music and classics by the likes of Bowie turned their gig from a concert into a musical celebration.

The concert was awesome but the venue was absolute crap!!!!! Paid $264.00 x 2 & a tower was blocking the view depending where the band was standing on the stage. So view blocked. Support act Noel Gallagher couldn’t hear him speak, don’t know what he was saying & sound not too good at all.
U2 came on & could hardly see them. GA would have been better & cheaper & from what Ive heard, they had the best place to hear.
SCG is not a good venue for a concert & we were so totally disappointed with what we paid, seating & going to ground & trying so squeeze through the line ups for toilets & good to get to the Merchandise shop. Then trying to get back up to level 5.
Please never put a concert there again, unless you our stage in centre, so everyone can see. You shouldn’t charge extreme prices for crap seating.
U2 was awesome as always but couldn’t always see them & at times hear them, the sound got better as the night went on.
Definitely very disappointed with SCG

Amazing concert as always. Lot of security at the entrances so it was a little bit slow everything and I was afraid because maybe I couldn't watch Noel Gallagher but organization was clever and started one hour later more or less. Really it was very difficult to be there at 19 with that security level. But everything was perfect. Noel played lot of Oasis songs with classics like Wonderwall, Little by Little or Don't Look Back in Anger. Then with less than 20 minutes delay, U2 came on stage. Larry Mullen started alone in the middle of the scenario situated at the center of the stadium and it all began... Thanks for allow us to remember a great album like Joshua Tree! All the songs in order, side A and side B if you like more the vinyl. And the last part... Amazing with songs like Elevation or Vertigo. And one last surprise... We could listen a new song from the upcoming album, Songs of Experience. No more to say: GREAT AS ALWAYS U2. We love you!

U2 are a mega band and with that they have quite a few critics
But these shows were the perfect reply to their critics this was a masterpiece of stadium gigging

The focus was a celebration of their monster album The Joshua Tree... the album that broke America.
Tonight was a celebration and nostalgia trip.

The sound was crystal clear and brilliantly stage set
Behind a simple stage set was an immense TV screen which beamed out superb videos

The crowd were on top form
The irony was ending with Noel Gallagher playing together Don't Look Back in Anger which the crowd gladly sang as we left Twickenham

I nearly missed this and so glad I didn't

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