2023-05-03
Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
Set List of Show:
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"
- "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:
-
"Piece of My Heart" (Janis Joplin) /
"Miracle Drug" (U2) /
"Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) /
"Glad to See You Go" (The Ramones) /
"Crumbs from Your Table" (U2) /
"Money Money" (from Cabaret) /
Show Details:
Tonight is the eighth 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.
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 at the time, there was tickets available in the afternoon on the day of the show.
Bono continues to work out a new piece toward the end of the show, where he talks about meeting with various presidents over the years. The piece is based around the segment that was included in the encore on the first leg in the USA, where the “America is a song that is still being written” ideas were written into the song. Now they are a story in the show. The changes tonight seem minor, and the piece seems to be mostly finished.
Gavin Friday is back in town with this show, presumably to work on the prepartion for the film shoot later in the month. On that front there was filming in evidence today as well, as a camera crew is present to film Bono arriving at the theatre, and also in the car that Bono arrives in. Also during the performance there are additional cameras not present at other nights of the performance. Some block views from tickets which were not marked as obstructed views, but ushers work to move people in these situations to other seats.
Also spotted at the show tonight is actor Javier Bardem.
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 “Stories of Surrender” shows were intially announced on December 12, 2022. Initially, this May 3 date was announced as the final date, but additional dates were later added. A pre-sale for U2.com subscribers was held on December 13, 2022, starting at 10am, but tickets for these shows 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 Jenna and Pete for assistance with the above.
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