by Thijs

Overall, the show was impressive, but it was slightly disappointing that Bono didn't actually know where he was. He repeatedly stated he was in Amsterdam, some 150 km away from Arnhem, where the show was! Rundown of setlist:

* Elevation: solid, but the sound needed some adjustment.
* Beautiful day: solid, but the sound still needed some adjustment.
* Until the end of the world: very good, even though the sound still needed some adjustment. Bono crawled along the heart, sucked on some girl's fingers etc.
* New Year's Day: got the crowd going, and the sound was finally adjusted.
* Kite: dedicated to Bono's dad, introduced with a lengthy speech.
* Gone: dedicated to Michael Hutchence ("Hutch!") - I love this song.
* New York: Bono added some lines of Frank Sinatra's "New York New York" at the end ("if I can make it there, I can make it anywhere..." etc).
* I will follow: along with the "rings those bells" bit, Bono again referred to Amsterdam - "20 years ago, Paradiso" (Paradiso is the name of a club in Amsterdam where U2 played in 1981).
* Sunday bloody sunday: Bono took an Irish flag from someone in the audience but just laid it on the ground and decided to ignore it, instead he furiated over the G8 summit meeting in Genoa last week.
* When I get home / Stuck in a moment: "when I get home" is a song by Dutch artist Herman Brood, who committed suicide a couple of weeks ago. Bono and Brood knew each other, and Bono's has been dedicating songs ever since his death, but as far as I know this is the first time he actually sang one of his songs.
* In a little while: beautiful.
* Desire: played at the tip of the heart, after the band introductions. Full band version, Larry's drums rocked the house... very impressive.
* Stay: introduced by Bono as "the best we were ever given - the best songs you are given... good songs you write yourself... crap songs we write together!".
* Bad / '40': During "Bad" Bono got a little girl on stage and put her on his shoulders. The lyrics were subsequently changed to "SHE's wide awake". After locating the girl's dad, he was pulled on stage as well, and Bono ran around the heart with the little girl.
* Where the streets have no name: highlight of the show, so much energy. Incredible, the red wall and bright lights always do the trick.
* Mysterious ways: "in the beginning, rock 'n roll used to be dance music", Bono explained. Great song, excellent.
* The fly: very noisy, Edge's finest hour.
* Bullet the blue sky: I really don't they should use that American guy in Europe. The message is lost on the people here. Besides that, Bono mumbled an awful lot about America waging war on itself but most it was unclear. Still impressive though.
* With or without you: not the best version I have heard - there was no "we'll shine like stars..." but still moving enough.
* One: Bono joked around a bit introducing the song about why they were late - apparently they were working all night (video-shoot?) and about himself talking too much - "but that's part of the singer's job!".
* Wake up dead man - very moving.
* Walk on - dedicated to Anton Corbijn. Good finisher.

The stadium was maybe a tad too big for the desired intimacy, but nevertheless the band pulled off a good show which I think connected pretty well with the audience. But Amsterdam...?

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