by The Fly Guy

Chicago 1 (06-24-2015) was my 1st show on i & e tour and 16th show overall.  It was very special, in that, I was sharing it with my son for his first concert ever.  We sat in the 1st row of the 300-Level (section:  332) at the United Center, and had a great view of the show, just to the side of the main stage, and full view of the large screen.  When we arrived, the scene was breathtaking...I have seen the photos and countless reviews from other fans but words cannot describe how impressive it is once you see the production in person.

The show started at 8:15pm with Bono entering from the 'e' stage starting the fans into The Miracle followed by the band joining in on the ‘i’ stage.  The song sounded great live and seemed to be picked up by the fans and accepted very well.  We then moved into "Electric Co." and "Veritgo", which were also well received.  Bono throw in a bit of the Stones "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" at the end of "Vertigo" as a shout out to Mick Jagger who attending the show.  "I Will Follow" was then followed by "Iris".  "Iris" is such a beautiful song and sounds fantastic live....it was too bad the crowd did not pick up on Bono's attempt to get it to repeat the final lyrics "Free yourself, to be yourself...", but great nevertheless.  Continuing with the new songs "Cedarwood Road's” visuals were amazing and sounded even better than on the album.  The iNNOCENCE set ended with "Song For Someone", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Raised By Wolves", and "Until the End of World".  During this stretch, I thought to myself how it feels like I just went back in time to the early '70s with U2 and everything that happened to make them the band (and the men) they are today.  Well done and amazing.

The intermission with the Wanderer Johnny Cash video seemed to cause confusion in the crowd as to what was going on, but it all came together when the 'Berlin Wall' was created and torn down by U2 as they launched into the second set....the eXPERIENCE set with Invisible.  The visuals on the screen were again stunning as the band would appear and disappear during the song while playing in the screen.  They then continued into "Even Better Then the Real Thing" and "Mysterious Ways" on the 'e' stage.  Bono brought a female fan (Joy) on stage to dance with him during Mysterious Ways...and she would stay up on stage for the Meerkat video stream, for which the band performed "Elevation".  "Ordinary Love" then followed which sounded crisp and wonderful...great performance, and a song that should make more appearances in the set than it has.  The Second Set continued with the standard setlist of "Every Breaking Wave", which was when I really began to notice that Bono was not feeling well.  He had trouble hitting certain notes, but overall he sounded great considering.  "Bullet the Blue Sky" was angrier than I have ever seen....but a great lead into "Pride", which was very well received by the crowd as was the set closers "Beautiful Day" and “With or Without You”.  The encore of "City of Blinding Lights", "Streets", and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was strong and a great way to end the night.  I love how the show came full circle, as Bono leaves with his bandmates off the 'e' stage, he begins singing Patti Smith's "People have the Power" as he walks out … which was how the show started before launching into “The Miracle”.  

Overall fantastic show, with no real surprises.  I was very happy to see "Elevation" in the set (my son's favorite) song and loved hearing the new songs for the first time.   Great experience and now looking forward to Chicago #2 (6/25/15) this time in GA!

Other notes from the show:  

- Adam was wearing a shirt with the date 5/12/2001...This was Chicago #1 date during the Elevation Tour...not sure if it had any other significance.  

- Special guest in attendance:  Mick Jagger (who had just played the night before at Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI), Chris Rock, former manager Paul McGuinness (his first i & e show - and first time seeing the band live since retiring), Jimmy Buffett

- "Elevation" is dedicated to the 2015 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks!

- Duration:  Approx. 2 hours and 45 mins.

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