2023-04-17

Beacon Theatre, New York, NY

Set List of Show:

"City Of Blinding Lights"
"Vertigo"
"With or Without You"
"Out of Control"
"Stories for Boys"
"I Will Follow"
"Iris (Hold Me Close)"
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Pride (In the Name of Love)"
"Where the Streets Have No Name"
"Desire"
"Beautiful Day"
"Torna a Surriento"

Non-Bono Performances / Instrumentals:

"Into the Heart"
"Gloria"
"October"
"Miss Sarajevo"

Additional Music

Pre-Recorded Intro Song: "Empire State Human" - The Human League

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by Bono:

Cabaret

Show Details:

This was the second night of Bono’s run of 11 shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The theatre, capacity 2894, was also where the first leg of the tour started, and Bono will return at the end the run to film the show in front of an invited audience. Bono performed with Kate Ellis on cello and backing vocal, Jacknife Lee on keyboard and percussion and Gemma Doherty on backing vocals, harp and keyboard.

The show like others on the tour, started at 8:30 and ran for approximately two hours. Bono stopped briefly to greet fans and sign some autographs prior to the show starting. Like the previous night, a number of tickets were still available online through Ticketmaster as the show started, but the show was advertised as sold out on the marquee sign in front of the theatre.

The show is similar to the ones from last fall, however there have been some tweaks and changes throughout. Some songs have been extended. There have been some changes to the stories between songs as well, extending some thoughts in places. The songs performed are the same as were performed on the first night of the leg, and tonight, like the previous night, “City of Blinding Lights” is only played once during the main show. (In the first leg, in American shows, it had been played twice.)

Snippets of other songs are sprinkled throughout the presentation. On opening night, Bono included a reference to “Ultra Violet (Light My Way)” opening “Vertigo”, it’s referenced again tonight but its briefer, “Live from New York City, 74th and Broadway, at the Beacon light our way, your phones locked up on a shelf so I can make a show out of myself…” Bono sings a piece of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” when he speaks about his heart surgery, and recites some of the lyrics from “Miracle Drug” as well. There’s a brief reference to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” ahead as Bono introduces Gemma Doherty on the harp. Bono also sings along to the Ramones’ “Glad to See You Go” ahead of “Out of Control”. Bono quotes the line “Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die” from “Crumbs from Your Table” as the music builds for “Where the Streets Have No Name”. “Money, Money” from Cabaret appears in “Desire” as it had during other shows on the tour. There are other moments of U2 music in the show “Into the Heart” can be heard on harp at one point under Bono’s story, although Bono does not reference the song or sing it at all.

Gavin Friday and Bono’s wife and son, Ali and Eli, are both in attendance tonight, as is The Edge’s wife, Morleigh. Also present are Christie Turlington, Tom Brady, Graham Norton and Questlove. Irving Azoff, who’s team is currently involved in managing U2 was also present tonight.

The event was a phones free event, and phones were collected as people entered the theatre and placed into locked pouches. Your phone is with you during the performance but can only be unlocked in certain areas of the theatre lobby, and is unlocked upon ending.

The theatre, located on the Upper West Side of New York opened in 1929. It was originally built as a movie theatre, and these days is used as an entertainment venue by Madison Square Garden Entertainment. The theatre is a New York City interior landmark and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. The Beacon makes use of a new audio system, Sphere Immersive Sound (yes, the same Sphere as Las Vegas) to provide state-of-the-art sound to each seat in the venue.

These additional shows were announced on December 12, 2022. A pre-sale for U2.com subscribers was held on December 13, 2022 for these added shows, starting at 10am local time. For the pre-sale tickets were limited. Tickets ranged from $105 (upper balcony) including fees, and went to $441 (orchestra). Additional tickets were available at $162 for the loge and lower balcony, and $313 for the loge and orchestra back seats. There was a four ticket limit for the presale. Tickets do not include a copy of Bono’s book. The main ticket sale happened on December 15, at 10am local time. Unlike the pre-sale, platinum priced tickets were available throughout most of the venue, with the exception of some upper balcony seats. These platinum priced tickets were priced well above the prices seen during the pre-sale.

Officially Released Tracks