U2….. Something Special – Bullet Proof
Sunday always seems a little weird for attending a major show event and as we queued at the back of the 02 in a cold and sterile waiting area with no music and little to stimulate interest in passing the hours, you begin to have doubts about why are you doing this……. but once inside you know when you are on a winner - standing just a few heads back from main stage ensures a perfect view of the action and the atmosphere as it begins to build.
When the magic begins Bono struts on from the opposite end of the auditorium onto a small dais before milking the applause and joining his band mates on the main stage and kicking of with The Miracle (of Joey Ramone). It was if Bono was in our living room for the evening and we could fill our senses and feel the white heat of the performance and see the effort and charisma that he imparts - all very special.
Over the centre catwalk hangs a huge double sided video wall which the band performed under and in - a strange shaped aquarium which allows for multiple effects & vignettes and provides amusing opportunities for Bono to gurgle water over the Edge while he nurses his guitar on a solo. Great fun.
Yes there was some serious messaging with images of war (Syria) and suffering but the emphasis is tempered as always with wonderful sound and amazing graphics.
The highpoint is a masterful rendition of Bullet in Blue Sky complete with Bono wheeling around a Stalinist megaphone. Bono’s act was breathtaking in terms of his energy, amazing considering he is no young dog, but an old dog certainly with with new tricks and he is the glue and the catalyst that binds the band together and given the length and vibrancy of the set, it is an amazing feat.
No guitar playing from Bono as his has still problems with feeling in his fingers after a motorcycle accident this summer in New York, instead we are entertained with an acoustic duet the Sweetest Thing and a piano driven piece with the Edge - working wonders with Every Breaking Wave, Breathtaking in its simplicity.
The ending (after a performance of 2 1/2 hours) is a zoo of favourites - Pride, With or Without You, Beautiful Day ticking down to the finale of One... a crowd killer. A tour de force.
Setlist 25th October 2015 London 02 Arena
People Have the Power (Patti Smith song)
The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
The Electric Co
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Iris (Hold Me Close)
Cedarwood Road
Song for Someone
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Raised by Wolves
Until the End of the World
Inside Screen
The Fly,(Remix)
Invisible
Even Better Than the Real Thing
(Fish Out of Water Remix)
"E" Stage
Mysterious Ways
((Burning Down the House snippet))
Elevation
Sweetest Thing (acoustic)
Every Breaking Wave
October
Bullet the Blue Sky
Zooropa
Where the Streets Have No Name
Pride (In the Name of Love)
With or Without You
Encore
City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day (with I Remember You snippet at end)
Mother and Child Reunion (Paul Simon cover)
One
