by Michael Chang

Hi all, hope you all had as much fun as I did! I enjoyed the band's entrance, different from Elevation's house-lights-on style and reminiscent of older tours where they come on one at a time. The confetti was also a nice touch, but one that I almost missed because I was so focused on watching the band members!

I agree with some reviews I've read here and on Zootopia that the band's attitude seemed off - not bad, just off. In general, the show was just less intimate than Elevation shows and other shows and for a couple of reasons: Bono talking less to the crowd, Bono wandering around the "ellipse" much less than he did around the heart, lack of an acoustic/unplugged mini-set in the middle of the show.

The setlist was also awkward, not in terms of songs chosen but order chosen. Aside from the war songs segueing into Running to Stand Still, I really didn't get most of the song transitions they chose. Following Pride with Streets just seems strange, as I think I'm used to Streets being more of a recharger following more downbeat or tougher songs. Also, going from All Because of You to Yahweh just doesn't work. All Because of You is needed earlier in the setlist for its energy and its hard sound going with the harder sounds of Vertigo, Achtung songs and war songs. That being said, Yahweh is a GREAT lead-in to 40!

In the end, though, this is U2 performing a lot of their best, and their crew and design team again showed why they are the best in the business. All in all, a great opening night.

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