2011-03-30

Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

Set List of Show:

Main Set:

  • "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
  • "Get On Your Boots"
  • "I Will Follow"
  • "Magnificent"
  • "Mysterious Ways"
  • "Elevation"
  • "Until the End of the World"
  • "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
  • "Happy Birthday"
  • "North Star"
  • "Beautiful Day"
  • "In a Little While"
  • "Miss Sarajevo"
  • "City Of Blinding Lights"
  • "Vertigo"
  • "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
  • "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
  • "Scarlet"
  • "Walk On"
Encore One:

  • "One"
  • "Where the Streets Have No Name"
Encore Two:

  • "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"
  • "With or Without You"
  • "Moment of Surrender"

Additional Music

Pre-Recorded Intro Song: "Space Oddity" - David Bowie
Pre-Recorded Exit Song: "Rocket Man" - Elton John
Pre-Recorded Intermission Song(s): "Fez - Being Born" (Medley) - U2
Pre-Recorded Intermission Song(s): "Zooropa" (Medley) - U2

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

    "My Sweet Lord" (George Harrison) / "Norwegian Wood" (The Beatles) / "Three Little Birds" (Bob Marley) / "Blackbird" (The Beatles) / "Teenage Kicks" (The Undertones) / "You'll Never Walk Alone" (from Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein) / "Mothers of the Disappeared" (U2) / "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" (Andrew Lloyd Webber) /

Show Details:

After a single show in Chile, the band move on to do three shows in La Plata, Argentina. (Not far from Buenos Aires) This is the first of the three shows. Muse is the opening act for this leg of the tour. The venue has a roof structure, which results in the top of the claw having to be left off of the structure, meaning the higher mirror ball is not present for the shows. There’s also a large score board in the middle of the building which blocks views of the top of the stage from the back as well.

The “Get On Your Boots” remix that has been used for the last three shows to enter the stage has been replaced for tonight. In its place is Bowie’s “Space Oddity” back in the position as the song U2 take the stage. There’s a new addition to the set tonight. And it kicks off the show with a bang. Coming out of “Space Oddity” the band go into a brand new version of “Even Better Than the Real Thing”. The new version is based around the Fish Out of Water Remix, remixed by Declan Gaffney. To fit “Even Better than the Real Thing” into the set list “Beautiful Day” has been moved back to the middle of the set, being played after “North Star” tonight. It is the first time that “Even Better than the Real Thing” has appeared in concert since the first leg of the Elevation tour in 2001.

In his diary for U2.Com, Willie Williams shares the process by which the new remix is introduced to the show, “There are several new show ideas in the works, six of which were on the agenda for the afternoon’s discussion. The most precious to me are the remixes of Magnificent and Even Better Than the Real Thing, and I was a little concerned to realise that I’ve actually fallen in love with these mixes, especially Real Thing which is just mega. This is always a dangerous position to put yourself in, as heartbreak awaits if things don’t go well at the meeting. Bono has a gang of friends over from Dublin so is staying in a house out by the water. It’s a bit of a trek to get there (the best part of an hour) but it’s a beautiful place so not too much of a hardship. All four band members came along and we got into the discussion. I almost felt a little nervous playing back Dec’s mix of Real Thing and a reworking of Magnificent. Happily, both were received extremely well, so much so that Larry suggested opening the show with Real Thing, which is a brave and exciting move. We’ll try it at sound check on Wednesday and see how it goes.”

After “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” Bono and the Edge take a moment to share that they have friends in the audience tonight and one of them is having a birthday. They then lead the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to Chantal O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan, an art dealer from Dublin, and close friend of the Edge, acted as best man for The Edge when he was married in 2002.

“North Star” follows, and is one of the previously unreleased songs that U2 have been playing since the 2010 tour dates started. It is rumoured to be an upcoming single for the album Songs of Ascent which Paul McGuinness claims is coming later in the year. The song will also appear in the film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon later this year. It is the first of the unreleased songs to appear on this leg of the tour.

Once again tonight, U2 plays an instrumental version of “Mothers of the Disappeared” in the introduction to “Where the Streets Have No Name”. During the instrumental, the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo who are present at the show join U2 on stage. Bono dedicates this to Gustavo Cerati, an Argentinian singer who is recovering from a stroke he suffered last year.

Snippets tonight include “My Sweet Lord” and “Norwegian Wood” during “Mysterious Ways”, “Three Little Birds” at the end of “I Still Haven’t Found”, “Blackbird” during “Beautiful Day”, “Teenage Kicks” as part of “Vertigo” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as part of “Walk On”. A snippet of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” also makes its way into “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”.

In the afternoon the band sound checked “Even Better Than the Real Thing” extensively to get it right for the new opening of the show. They also worked on “Return of the Stingray Guitar” and a number of other songs from the main set. A big thank you to U2gigs.com for the rehearsal information.

American actor John Cusack is at the show in Argentina.

The show goes on sale on December 7, 2010, with a pre-sale that starts via U2.com on December 1.

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