2011-07-09

Hippodrome, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Set List of Show:

Main Set:

  • "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
  • "The Fly"
  • "Mysterious Ways"
  • "Until the End of the World"
  • "Out of Control"
  • "Get On Your Boots"
  • "All I Want is You"
  • "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
  • "Beautiful Day"
  • "Elevation"
  • "New Year's Day"
  • "Miss Sarajevo"
  • "Zooropa"
  • "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:

  • "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)"
  • "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

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

    "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" (Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson) / "Space Oddity" (David Bowie) / "Teenage Kicks" (The Undertones) / "Miss You" (Rolling Stones) / "Lady Marmalade" (Labelle) / "Discothèque" (U2) / "Please" (U2) / "Life During Wartime" (Talking Heads) / "Psycho Killer" (Talking Heads) / "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) / "Gens Du Pays" (Gilles Vigneault) /

Show Details:

This is the second of two shows in Montreal, Quebec. It is the last time that the U2360 will do two shows in the same city, and after Montreal all of the shows are single nights in the remaining cities. Opening both of the shows in Montreal is Interpol.

The venue for the show is an old horse racing track that is being redeveloped, Hippodrome de Blue Bonnets, as the Olympic Stadium was not available. The track has not held any horse races since mid-2009. Originally scheduled for 2010, this show was postponed when Bono hurt his back and required surgery, and that delay has also delayed the building of condos at the site. This show had originally been planned for July 17, 2010 with Interpol. The bleachers in use for the show on the sides and front and back are metal, and some fans mention that they felt less than secure as the crowd started to dance and things started to sway.

Tonight is a special one for fans at home. The show is being broadcast live via the internet on U2.Com and fans are able to listen in as the show happens. Three songs are streamed for non-subscribers, but subscribers to the site can listen to the entire show. Bono jokes about the stream during the show, “This has one extra benefit, you don’t have to listen to me mangle your beautiful language.” There are some changes from the first night in Montreal, with the return of “Out of Control” for the fourth time time on the tour, and “All I Want is You”, “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” and “New Year’s Day”, “Ultra Violet (Light My Way)” all making appearances.

During “Get On Your Boots” Bono brings a fan onto stage. Amp has been on stage a number of times throughout the years. Later he brings a young boy on stage to walk the stage with him, even picking the child up during “Elevation” and walking with him in his arms.

Tonight the band introductions take on a circus theme. Bono is inspired by the Cirque du Soleil, which has roots in Montreal. Bono shares, “When we were kids joining U2 was like running away with the circus, maybe we need to find another circus” and says maybe they can petition Cirque du Soleil for jobs. Larry would be a “fire-eater, sword-swallower, and the world’s strongest man.” He hesitates, thinking up a job for Adam, when a fan in the crowd shouts out bearded lady. Bono goes with the suggestion, but then changes it to be the one that works on the white horses. The Edge will be the trapeze artist, U2’s own high-wire act, but The Edge suggests knife-thrower. And Bono will be the clown, “with some tears”.

During “With or Without You” tonight, Bono breaks out the “Shine Like Stars” piece that he sometimes adds to the song. It hasn’t been heard much on this tour and is a welcome addition to the song. So welcome, that in moments, the phrase “Shine Like Stars” is a trending topic on Twitter worldwide, where fans are conversing while they listen at home. Bono has a big grin on his face watching the reaction in the crowd to the snippet.

Snippets throughout the show include “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” during “Until the End of the World”, “Space Oddity” during “Beautiful Day”, and “Teenage Kicks” during “Vertigo”. Bono is enjoying “I’ll Go Crazy” and includes “Lady Marmalade”, “Discotheque”, “Life During Wartime” and “Psycho Killer” while The Edge works in an instrumental snippet of “Please”. Ahead of “Where the Streets Have No Name” Bono opens with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, Cohen was born on the island of Montreal and called the city home. Bono also worked in a few lines from Gilles Vigneualt’s song, “Gens du Pays”, sharing “Dear Montreal, it’s your turn to let you talk about love” in French after “Where the Streets Have No Name”. (“Cher Montréal, c’est votre tour de vous laisser parler d’amour”).

In The Journal / Metro Marc-Andre Lemieux shared, “From the outset, the charismatic singer got the crowd in his pocket thanks to a few well-targeted bursts of energy. During ‘Mysterious Ways’, he even tested his fans obedience by swinging his arms left and right in the air. Result: Birth of a real tidal wave on the floor.”

The show was announced when tickets for the first show quickly sold out on November 21, 2009. Tickets were put on sale for this show on November 30, 2009 with a U2.com presale starting November 24, 2009. Tickets for the original 2010 date were valid for the rescheduled show in 2011.

Setup of the temporary staging and stands for this venue started on May 6, 2009, and involved 18 Quebec companies, with U2’s team arriving on July 2 to inspect the site and prepare for setup of the claw stage. In a report from Journal de Montreal it was shared, “U2 requested that the venue offer the same comfort as the conventional stadiums that hosted the band’s world tour” which includes restaurants, toilets, ATMs, ticket offices and first aid station. U2 paid the construction costs for the temporary stadium. The bleachers could accommodate 40,000 people, and the other 41,000 available tickets were floor tickets.

Julia Roberts and Colin Farrell were both at the show tonight. Bono mentions Roberts from the stage, talking about her work as part of a campaign for ONE.

Related News

Officially Released Tracks

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