Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, The Electric Co., The Ocean, Beautiful Day, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - (opera), Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One
Encore(s): The Fly, With or Without You, All Because of You, Fast Cars, Happy Birthday, Yahweh, Out of Control, 40
The 3rd night of U2, and what an incredible night it was! I'd say this one is as good, if not even better, than Monday's show. I'm still pumped! Our seats behind the stage were fantastic. I was super excited when I saw where they were, because I had no idea they'd be that close. The only drawback, I'd say, is that the sound is a little muffled back there because the speakers are forward-facing. But we had 7th row, and we could see everything. Bono turned around a lot too, so we didn't feel left out (at one point during Pride I swear he looked at me. Call me nuts, but I think he did!).
As for the set, the band opened tonight with City of Blinding lights, this in contrast to Monday and Wednesday when Vertigo was the opener. However, one of the biggest surprises tonight was The Ocean, which appeared just after The Electric Co. It was an absolute privilege to hear. I couldn't believe it! Other than that, the main set was more or less the same as Wednesday, minus I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. However, the band was a little tighter and the boys definitely had more energy. Daniel Lanois was in the house again tonight, and joined U2 on stage for an extended version of One. It was once again great to see U2's unofficial 5th member joining the band on stage!
All that was fantastic, but the best was yet to come. Things got really interesting during the 2nd encore. The band once again played Fast Cars (with me dancing in the seat, and Bono doing a Spanish dance on stage). This song is just so much fun live, and in my opinion one of the best on How To Dismantle and Atomic Bomb. Is it becoming a set staple? I guess we'll just have to wait and see! After Fast Cars, Bono really shook things up by announing that it was BB King's birthday, and then proceding to call him on the phone! He asked the crowd to sing Happy Birthday, which of course we did, and it was brilliant.
But just when we thought things couldn't get any better, Bono invited a band (somebody correct me but I believe they are called Menew) on the stage to jam with them. These 4 guys had a sign they were holding up for the entire show, which read: Our Band + Out of Control = Happy Audience. Bono chatted with them, asked how many members there were, then invited them up to play after Yahweh (oh, and once again, Bono screwed up the words to Yahweh. That's 3 nights in a row mister!). Anyway, Bono said, "we've only done this once before and we swore we'd never do it again." He then warned the guitarist that they "better be good, because I don't like hanging around with tall people." (this guy dwarfed Bono noticably). The singer then asked Bono if he could have a sip of water, and Bono said quite emphatically, that "the water is for everyone." He then handed the guy his own guitar, and told him to play. Once everyone was settled in, the band launched into a great version of Out of Control, with Edge joining them in support. They played the first verse with Bono sitting behind the drum kit watching. During the second verse, he joined the singer at the mike. Eventually, Larry took over again on drums and Adam reclaimed the bass. The guest band stayed on stage until the song was through, then exited to a huge applause. Even though I could see that 40 was listed on the teleprompter, it almost appeared at that point U2 was going to wrap up, but Bono looked at Larry, held up one finger and said, "One more?" It seemed they boys were more than happy to stay up there, and they went straight into a beautiful version of 40, complete with Bono shining the spotlight on the crowd, Edge and Adam swapping bass and guitar, and Larry smashing the drums.
Highlights for me tonight... well, there are just too many to list! I'd say it would be shaking Bono and Edge's hands earlier in the day, but that's another story entirely :) This entire show was great; definitely U2 at their best. Oh, and I can't say enough what a wonderful addition Miss Sarajevo is to the set. It's absolutely beautiful.
Anyway, it was a fantastic night. Just a great show. I'm a little sad that tomorrow is already the last day... where did the week go?