2023-04-29

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:

Tonight is the seventh show of Bono’s run of 11 shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. He will also return for an invite only final performance where filming of the performance will take place. The theatre, capacity 2894, was also where the first leg of the tour started in November. Bono is performing these shows with Kate Ellis on cello and backing vocal, Jacknife Lee on keyboard and percussion and Gemma Doherty on backing vocals, harp and keyboard. During the show tonight Bono refered to them as the Jacknife Lee Ensemble.

The show tonight started around 8:30 and ran for approximately two hours. Although advertised as a sell out on the marquee for the Beacon Theatre, there was tickets dropped yesterday and today and some were available right up until showtime in the orchestra area.

The show continues to be tweaked and changed, as they get ready to film these shows. Additional lighting elements are being added, ahead of plans to film the show. Bono is also working on a new addition during the show where he talks about meeting with various presidents during his activism work, including working with “42, 43, 44 and 46…” The new piece is based around the “America is a song that is still being written” segment that was part of the “City of Blinding Lights” encore on the first leg. That encore has been dropped from the show, and the song is only performed once but some of the ideas are being incorporated into the show again. Tonight during the impression of President Bill Clinton, Bono works in a reference to Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is at the show this evening for the impression of her husband.

Also during the show, Bono talks briefly about working with the Gates Foundation, and how they didn’t need him, but he got involved anyway. He mentions that Bill Gates is in the house as well tonight. Others spotted at the show include Marcus Mumford, Ashley Judd, and Bill Flanagan (author of U2 At The End of the World).

A few other little touches noted tonight include a very Spanish intro to “Vertigo”, including Bono welcoming (“bienvenida!”) people to his “west side story”, and rolling his R’s in 74th and Broadway. During his discussion of his new stage props, Bono once again mentions the Sphere, tonight calling it a “Sci-Fi Sphere”. And during “City of Blinding Lights” he mentions that it is “Saturday night, here in the city of blinding lights”. Throughout the show Bono is looser than in earlier shows, enjoying a few laughs with the audience at times, and seems to be enjoying these performances. His voice also seems very strong.

References to other songs are dotted throughout the performance. As he talks about his heart surgery, he includes a snippet of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart”. Bono 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, which Bono drops his voice in an imitation of Cohen’s gravelly voice. 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. “Gloria” can be heard in the backing with vocals by Gemma Doherty. “October” can also be heard as an instrumental. But Bono isn’t performing on these.

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.

A big thank you to Kelly, Jenny, Jason and Harry for assistance with the above.

Officially Released Tracks