U2360 Wrap-Up from The Examiner

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Taken from The Examiner

August 23, 8:15 PMU2 ExaminerJill Marino

It’s official. The European leg of U2’s massive world tour, “U2 360”, has finished its galactic run. And what a run it was!

From Barcelona to Berlin, Dublin to London, and completing it in Cardiff, the band entertained their enchanted audiences with classics, new tracks, surprise tunes, and tributes to family, friends, as well as cities that played an important role in shaping their history as one of the biggest rock acts in music today.

Thursday night’s show in Sheffield saw “Stuck in a Moment” in the setlist, as well as “Walk On” and “Elevation”. Sheffield is also the birthplace of the man behind “The Claw”, show designer Willie Williams. Williams was serenaded by the crowd with “Happy Birthday” as his was that night.

Saturday night was the final show of the European leg and Cardiff was indeed a special place for this show. The Edge paid tribute to his Welsh parents with a Welsh dragon t-shirt and Bono acknowledged them for helping the band out in their early days. On my favorite song from the Slane Castle CD, “Out of Control”, Bono also did this, giving thanks to all of their parents.

“Bad” made its way onto the setlist, which is really great because it’s been absent for a while. “Mysterious Ways” creeped its way back in and also a personal favorite, “Stay (Faraway So Close)”, was performed as well.

Now that Europe is done and the band is resting up for their trip to Chicago on September 12th, I think we’ve all come up with opinions and suggestions about the tour, which is awesome because it’ll give us all something to ponder about before U2 hits North America.

After going through all of the setlists U2 came up with on this leg, I’m really curious if they are going to come up with something totally different for North America, or use this same template and add in different songs occasionally for each city. Here are my hopes for not just the New York/Raleigh shows I’m going to, but for this upcoming leg.

Keep “Breathe” as the opener, no doubt about that. Larry’s drum opening practically screams anticipation for the crowd to burst with excitement. Keep “Ultraviolet” as a part of the encore because after watching clips of it on YouTube, it’s perfect for a closing set because it’s gentle yet still leaves the crowd wanting more.

As far as new songs go, inject “Fez: Being Born” somewhere or another favorite of mine, “White As Snow”. Maybe even “Cedars of Lebanon” as part of the encore? And as for classic U2, “City of Blinding Lights”- I definitely would love to hear that live again. Hell, even “Love and Peace or Else” or “Miracle Drug” would be a pleasant surprise! “Electrical Storm”, “Stay”, and I’m HOPING, they pull “A Sort of Homecoming” out of the archives. Everyone- what’s your ultimate setlist?

Now that Europe is done, let the countdown begin. 20 days until North America!

Here’s “Bad” from the final show in Cardiff: