U2 360 Tour in Toronto

Wednesday 16 September 2009 is my 2nd U2 concert since 2005. This time, the venue took place at the Rogers Centre aka Skydome. The specially built stage is a beast in itself, it looks like a space shuttle about to take off and apparently it has taken 3 days to build as well as 150+ trucks to transport the pieces. Our seats were fairly high in the stadium that I could feel vertigo while looking down and the lighted CN tower at night provided a magnificent backdrop to the Skydome. Later on, the spectacular lightning display of the show, the half opened dome and the tower meshed so well together that it looked like the infrastructure was waiting here all these years for the arrival of U2's 360 Tour in Toronto.

Snow Patrol was opening to U2, I was quite excited on hearing that since I had been following their music for the last few years since Final Straw. The band started a bit after 7 pm and played some of their most popular tunes, some of them in no specific order:

1. You're All I Have
2. Hands Open
   
3. Chasing Cars
4. Run
5. Crack The Shutters
   

I also learn that they are Irish too like U2, which might explain why they are opening for them. I am glad to see Snow Patrol live, an unexpected and pleasant surprise for me.

On to the piece de resistance, U2 kicks off the night with Breathe from their latest album. Bono's voice wasn't perfect on this one, I didn't quite feel the vibe of the song like the studio version. However, things did start to pick up afterward, the night moved along quite well with more songs peppered across their various albums. The stage looks huge with the outer ring, rotating bridges, 360 screen, lightning and the middle which can go up and down. An engineering masterpiece, the people who worked on it should be proud of this technical prowess.

Edge will rock the crowd with his solos and riffs. I am amazed at the number of guitars he has played during the entire show. I believe I have spotted a Stratocaster, Telecaster, one of those semi-hollow guitar, a Gibson SG cherry red, an acoustic and much more. I am glad of the acoustic version of Stay, it changes the overall pacing a bit.

Bono also switched some of the songs with the word Toronto and he mentioned the TTC, Union station and Yonge Street, the crowd went nuts when those words were uttered.

Here's the setlist:

1. Breathe
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day
6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
7. Elevation
8. Your Blue Room
9. Unknown Caller
10. Until The End Of The World
11. Stay
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City Of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo
15. I'll Go Crazy If Don't Go Crazy Tonight
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday
17. MLK
18. Walk On
19. One
20. Where The Streets Have No Name
21. Ultra Violet
22. With Or Without You
23. Moment Of Surrender
    

The final song of the night is my favourite and the tune that I have been most looking forward to hear live on this magnificent night.