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As of April 2011 at $700million, it is the top grossing tour.  EVER. And as of June, highest attended tour of all time. This review is for fans of U2, and for people who need to be converted. Deal with it =)

It’s about 6:30pm on Thursday, and I’m just now processing this concert almost 24 hours after the fact.

A few weeks ago I got a text, “Hey, hope you’re not working July 20th, we’re going to see U2!” At that moment until the second Bono, The Edge, and the rest of U2 walked on stage, I was beyond excited.  Irish superband insanity!

We skipped the opener, Interpol, because well, I didn’t really care about anything else. So we explored the New Meadowlands Stadium, found our seats, and waited for the show to start. The stage was set, all four legs towering over the crowd, the round jumbo-tron-esque screen, and the walkway surrounding the center. U2 calls the stage “The Claw,
 and I’ve also heard it referred to as a crab, spider, and space ship. Before the band came out and the house music was playing, the round screen was displaying facts like statistics on poverty, illness, other world issues, as well as the time in countries around the world.  Bono sure knows how to preach it, even before he’s on stage! But more about that later.

The stats slowed and then only the countries’ times remained, and at about 9:15 pm EST, Space Oddity began to play. Space Oddity?!?! On comes the big round screen, and there they were.  Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayotn, and Larry Mullen. Walking on to the stage that was almost as big as Bono’s ego. The lights in the stadium went out, the green lights on stage came on, and so began the almost 3 hour show. Even Better Than The Real Thing was their opening song, leading right into more Achtung Baby tracks. At this point I was still trying to catch my breath. If I haven’t mentioned, I kind of lose it when I see mega-famous people.

By the time they got to I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, I was able to move and sing along a little bit, but mostly I was still in awe. Ok guys, I really effin love U2. In Bono’s preaching on his soap box manner, he turned Beautiful Day into a greeting from the International Space Station, which also went along with the whole “space theme” of the tour. After that, most songs also became messages with footage of countries and events that most people have little knowledge of.  It’s part of the reason why I respect Bono so much–he just puts it out there, and when it’s just him and 90,000, you better listen. Members of Amnesty International and the One Campaign even got to spend some time on stage. 

Beautiful Day

The stage itself was a show. During City Of Blinding Lights, and during a few songs afterwards,  not only did the lights on the legs flash around the stadium, but there were beams of light shooting up towards the sky, much like the lights we have in NYC at Ground Zero. I’m sure everyone felt something when they first came on. This video has a great view and captures the reaction of the crowd quite nicely. Oh yeah.. did I mention the stage had moving bridges?

City Of Blinding Lights

The last song of the initial set was Walk On, and by then I was predicting multiple encores, and boy was I right! 11pm quitting time means nothing to the world’s biggest rock group, let the union get paid their overtime, we’ve got a show to do!

Ready for the 90,000 people singalong? Hallelujah. Not the first time I’ve seen this song covered live (Bon Jovi did it on his last tour), but still awesome. Now what song have we all been waiting for? Where The Streets Have No Name! FINALLY the entire audience was on their feet, singing and dancing along. I love/hate the end of concerts, especially big ones like this. The energy is so intense, and sometimes you just want the band to stay forever. Well alright, they heard my prayer, and stayed for two, no, FOUR more songs. 

Here’s the second song of their second encore. My favorite of the entire night; it was so surreal.

With Or Without You

Then… Bono started thanking the audience, saying goodnight, and before he walked off… he asked to see a poster that someone in the crowd was holding. “For Clarence.” Ready for the waterworks, Jersey? The band has mentioned on several occasions their love of the E-Street Band and New Jersey, so it was much appreciated here that the band did a tribute to Clarence Clemons. It started with the lights going out, cell phones being waved in the air, and then Moment Of Surrender was played. Earlier in the evening, they had incorporated The Promised Land into “Still Haven’t Found…” I say it was a very fitting tribute, and it reminded me how lucky I was so have seen Bruce and the gang at the old Giants Stadium before they tour it down.

Moment Of Surrender

The final song of the evening was Out Of Control. And with that, the concert was over at 11:50. 

I’ve been to a LOT of shows in my 23 years of existence, and I’ve seen some pretty big names, but this one now has a place at the top of my list of “most mindblowing concerts.” After I got home, I noticed that U2, New Jersey, and the Meadowlands was trending on Twitter and Yahoo. I haven’t seen any mention of the tour on Twitter until last night, which obviously means that Jersey goes big when we have a band in town. I am beyond thankful that I got the chance to see one of my favorite bands, favorite celebrities, that this was a postponed show I would have missed otherwise, and that I didn’t wet my pants as expected. Thanks to my good friend who got me the ticket =)
 
And here is the setlist, which over the duration of the tour has evolved several times. I was happy with the song selection we had, only thing missing was New Years Day.

 Even Better Than The Real Thing, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Until The End Of The World, I Will Follow, Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / The Promised Land (snippet), Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of (snippet) / , Stay (Faraway, So Close!) / In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning (snippet), Beautiful Day / Space Oddity (snippet), Elevation, 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 / Discothèque (snippet) / Psycho Killer (snippet) / Life During Wartime (snippet), Sunday Bloody Sunday, Scarlet, Walk On
encores: One, Hallelujah (snippet) / , Where The Streets Have No Name, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, With Or Without You, Moment of Surrender, Out Of Control

Setlists from the whole tour can be seen at <a href=”http://www.u2setlists.com/360-northamerica-2011.shtml”></a>

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