by Collin Souter

I want to thank U2 for throwing a wrench into things by altering their set list. Tonight, the men treated us to the alternate version of the Elevation Tour. As expected, their long stay in Chicago has relaxed them a bit. They brought back “Sweetest Thing” and “Discotheque/Staring At The sun,” which I had never heard until now. “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” also made a nice comeback, though I would love to have seen the intense interplay between Bono and The Edge during “Until The End Of The World,” which they omitted from the set.

I’ve noticed on these past two nights—my first two nights in the stands instead of the floor—that the Charlton Heston footage/montage has a more chilling effect when watched from afar. The irony of the girl holding the gun as “Bullet” kicks in comes through even though I’ve seen it a few times before.

The show had a couple screw-ups, one of which being “New York,” where Bono normally dons a cowboy hat while doing his best “Midnight Cowboy” imitation. First: No hat. Secondly: The sheets didn’t fall, so the illustrated city images didn’t reflect anything. Third: The song didn’t quite work as well as a result.

After “Beautiful Day,” the men ripped into “Pride,” which threw off all the die-hards and multiple attendees early on. As I reported on Saturday night’s show, U2 seems hell-bent on keeping this tour spontaneous. With their first two Chicago shows down and differing from most of the other shows, it will be interesting to see what madness will ensue for their last two Chicago shows.

Even Bono joked to the crowd, “We’re having so much fun here in Chicago, I would advise skipping the later shows.”

Bring your cameras.

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