For the first time since 2005, Irish mega-band U2 performed a concert in the Dallas area on Monday, Oct. 12. They ‘touched down’ at the new Cowboys Stadium with their colossal stage, aptly nicknamed their ‘Spaceship.’
Inside a packed stadium, the Irish quartet came out separately, beginning with drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. playing the opening part of the song “Breathe” off of U2’s newest album “No Line On the Horizon”, released in March of this year.
After Adam Clayton’s resounding bass and The Edge’s cutting guitar, the loudest scream came when front man Bono walked out. After playing the first single released from their newest album, “Get On Your Boots”, and another song from the ‘No Line’ album, “Magnificent”, U2 played a few fan favorites.
Bono got everyone dancing with “Mysterious Ways”, and let the audience do his job when playing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” After singing the first few lines of the song, Bono motioned for the band to stop playing as the entire crowd yelled out the remaining first verse and chorus.
It was obvious this classic from “The Joshua Tree” album was something everyone anticipated and enjoyed. After an acoustic version of “Stuck In a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”, album title track “No Line On the Horizon”, “Elevation”, and “Until the End of the World”, U2 really showed the audience what their ‘Spaceship’ could do.
If there were members of the audience still confused about why this tour was called 360 degrees, the reason became apparent immediately. Not only did the stage give an almost completely unhindered view of the platform where the band stood, but there was also a huge circular HD screen hanging down from the stage’s canopy. At first glance, it appeared to be a normal, crystal clear recreation of what was happening a few hundred feet below. However, another aspect of this screen made Jerry Jones’ large HD monitor hanging from the top of the stadium (which remained off for the entire night) look a bit lackluster in comparison.
During “The Unforgettable Fire”, the circular screen extended downward and transformed into dozens of hexagonal shaped discs. While this did completely eliminate the 360-degree feel (the center of the stage where Mullen, Jr. sat was blocked and Bono was on the other side of the stage, out of view for some of the audience), it proved its worth during the next song, “City of Blinding Lights”.
The discs became alight with red, gold and white to give the audience the illusion of actually being surrounded by city lights. All the while, Bono continued his tradition of bringing an audience member on stage by pulling a 14-year-old boy to run around the stage with him, and even gave the boy his iconic sunglasses.
Next was “Vertigo” from the 2004 album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”. The hexagonal discs then returned to their original places to form the cylindrical screen, which subsequently dropped down, surrounding center stage, during a dance remix version of “I Know I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”.
The screen then ascended once again, and U2 played one of their most well known songs “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. All audience members, young and old, appreciated this classic as scenes depicting an Iranian protester in front of a green background appeared on the screen. This was the beginning of Bono getting into what some would refer to as his ‘politics’.
The short but sweet tune “MLK” was used as an intro for the song “Walk On.” Bono used these songs to promote support for Aung San Suu Kyi, a proponent of democracy in the Asian country of Burma who is currently being jailed by the military government. As he explains, Aung San is only being held because “if she were to run in a freely held election, she would win.” At this point, he asked that audience members put on masks of the democracy leader which could be downloaded from the U2 website.
The ‘politics’ continued when a video of archbishop Desmond Tutu was played.
Tutu talked about the One campaign, which concentrates on getting AIDS and malaria drugs to the people in Africa. Following the video, U2 played the song, “One”, and wrapped up the main set with another well-known favorite, “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
The band have answered many critics during this tour, proving that, despite being around for just over 30 years, they can still rock. During every single song, including the encores “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”, “With Or Without You”, and “Moment of Surrender”, Bono’s voice never showed signs of wear.
If there were any complaints about this particular concert, it would have to be the acoustics of the stadium. Apparently, is some areas, audience members could barely hear audible sound because of an echo.
Still this is a concert experience like no other, and it could only come from a band that has used concert tours to ‘think big’ numerous times in the past.