Two years ago, U2 announced dates for the U2360 tour. The closest city in the itinerary was Chicago and that was out. I'd seen U2 twice before, once on the
Elevation Tour and again on the
Vertigo Tour. The Elevation show in KC was hands down the best concert I've ever seen or expect to see. In the wake of September 11, the show was orchestrated from beginning to end to heal, inspire and uplift. It worked. The Vertigo show was in 2005, in the midst of global and domestic problems and the show reflected that with lots political statements that felt like overreaching. Kanye West as opening act didn't help. It was kind of a let down. Still, it was a bummer that U2 would avoid Missouri completely for this tour.
Then Bono broke his back and they canceled a chunk of the tour. When the dates were rescheduled, St. Louis appeared in its typical spot as one of the final stops on the tour. Early in the tour, they were playing loads of songs from the "new" (in 2009) album. By the time they got to us, it was a greatest hits set. It helps that U2 generally visit Missouri toward the end of a tour, a point at which the entire enterprise is a machine. One major difference between this show and previous two is that this would be outside, on the sacred, hallowed grounds of Busch Stadium. Here's what the spaceship/claw looked like from the street.
The Arch, the Old Courthouse, and the 100 or so trucks required to transport the claw from town to town. Capitalists will marvel. Environmentalists will look away.
Here's what it looked like from our seats. It's a helluva thing. All the lighting and sound equipment are suspended from that thing. By the time U2 hit the stage, there were guys with cameras and spotlights hanging in the legs.
We bought these tickets in November. This is me realizing that the show was finally here.
This is Breanna realizing the same thing.
One of the more heartbreaking facets of the show is evident here. The Cardinals' playing surface ... gone.
The support band was Interpol, a band I genuinely like. But they're dark and mysterious, probably better suited for the dank environs of some seedy nightclub. The performance was good, but the sound was terrible. Plus, it was weird to see them in broad daylight. At least they played
Obstacle 1.
After Interpol, U2 provided information. Like the time in various parts of the world. Also, this is the time at which the
gigapixel fan cam was apparently filming the stadium. If you know where Big Mac Land is, we're in the section immediately to the left, near the middle, second row from the top. Zoom in. We're there.
Apparently there are 3 claws but only one screen. So they can set up the claw in one city, play a show under a claw in a second city, and be tearing down a claw in the third. Anyway, for 45 minutes, this is what we watched.
I'm not sure what the final attendance was, but this was the last report on the screen. Busch holds almost 44000 for a Cardinals game.
U2 finally emerged at about 9:12.
A lot of people have told me that they don't like U2. I guess I can understand that. They're over the top and tend toward bombast. Bono proselytizes incessantly and is a bit of a hypocrite. But here's the simple truth: they're the best band in the world. Still. How do you make a connection between 53000 people scattered throughout a baseball stadium? Like this.
Achtung Baby was released during my senior year of high school. That was 20 years ago and that math makes me old. U2 opened the show with 4 songs from Achtung Baby. Having seen them in enclosed arenas, I worried about the sound. The sound was incredible.
I took this photo for 2 reasons. One, I wanted to get a good shot of the screen. That thing was amazing. Second, I don't think I've ever seen Bono's arms. It was 92 degrees at showtime and Bono hit the stage in a t-shirt. It was just weird.
The screen could be raised, lowered and stretched. During Zooropa, they lowered it completely to the stage and the band played inside it. Honestly, I'm not sure if they were playing in it or not. You couldn't really see them in there.
Bono mentioned that 30 years ago, U2 played their first STL show at a Washington University chapel. He pulled the
setlist out of his pocket and read it, noting that they opened and closed with the same 3 songs.
Before it was over,
U2 had played a good chunk of my favorite songs. As always,
Streets was the highlight. It was a fantastic spectacle, but, all in all, still only the second best time I'd seen them. Well, close second.
