U2 Expand, Delight During Two-Night Stand In Paris

With the alien ant farm landscapes of vast, open-air stadium venues, the (mostly) unhindered sightlines peeking out from behind the claw arms of a mothership-like stage, and the glowing starfield of thousands of cell phones lighting up during tunes like “One” and “With Or Without You”, U2 appears to have done a fine job making “space” the dominant aesthetic theme of both its latest album and the evolving 360 Degrees tour.

That theme was further augmented during the band’s latest stop at Paris’s enormous, 90,000- capacity Stade de France, returning almost four years to the day of their last visits here – on July 9th and 10th, 2005 – for the Vertigo tour.

‘Thank you for coming out and thank you for giving us a great life,’ Bono crowed to the packed audience. ‘Thank you for giving us the chance to build this madness, this space station.’

The statement probably referred to more than just the band’s extravagant theatrics; if anything, U2 probably wanted to be in orbit more than ever following a recent volley of complaints fired by environmentalists at the fledgling tour’s carbon footprint.  The complaints are similar to those directed at other big bands perceived to be environmentally conscious, such as Radiohead, and seem more designed to expose a perceived hypocrisy in easy targets than to raise any sort of valid point about real environmental risk posed by truly dangerous entities.  Nevertheless, the band has purchased carbon offsets for any environmental damage the tour might cause.

On Saturday night, the inhabitants of the International Space Station made a repeat appearance on The Claw’s circular screens, engaging in prerecorded banter with the band.  Guy Laliberte – billionaire founder of Cirque de Soleil, and soon-to-be resident of the Station – also received a shout-out during “In A Little While”.

“We have somebody with us tonight who is about to be the first clown in space,” Bono joked, referring to former stilt-walker and fire-eater Laliberte.

While the much-maligned “masks” made an appearance once again, those looking for a bit of levity from Bono’s politics received it during the Sunday night encore, when the singer engaged in a brief E.T. impersonation before show finale “Moment of Surrender”.

He was also in a joking mood during a brief interview for French television the day before; after Larry Mullen, Jr. cordially complimented the Stade de France as “an incredible place,” Bono quickly added, “Of all stadiums to get to trash, this is the most beautiful.”

The direction of the Paris gigs indicated that the nightly setlist is solidifying into something fairly consistent, at least for this leg of the tour; the opening four songs of new material have not changed, and neither has the three-song encore, expanded only once so far to include “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” during the second night in Barcelona.  “In A Little While” and “Stuck in a Moment” – from All That You Can’t Leave Behind – continue to be interchanged, with the former being performed Saturday, and the latter making an appearance on Sunday.

Sunday night’s show also featured some surprises, with the tour debut of a solo-free “Mysterious Ways”, and an electric version of “Angel of Harlem”.  The ever-expanding “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” was preceded by brief renditions of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” – the first time the band has performed it in any form – and K.C. and the Sunshine Band’s “That’s the Way (I Like It), making its first appearance since 1997′s Popmart Tour.

Crowds were energetic and enthusiastic both nights, the floor a rolling wave of activity during songs both new (“Get On Your Boots”) and old (“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”).  The crowd briefly took over singing duties on the latter from Bono during Sunday night’s show, with both band and singer dropping out during the first verse to let the audience build the song’s momentum. (Video below.)

Night One – Stade de France, 2009/07/11

Setlist:

1. Breathe
2. No Line On the Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day/Blackbird (snippet)
6. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For/Movin’ On Up (snippet)
7. Desire/Billie Jean (snippet)/Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (snippet)
8. In A Little While
9. Unknown Caller
10. The Unforgettable Fire
11. City Of Blinding Lights
12. Vertigo
13. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
14. Sunday Bloody Sunday
15. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
16. MLK
17. Walk On/You’ll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
18. Where the Streets Have No Name/All You Need Is Love (snippet)
19. One
20. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
21. With Or Without You/Rain (snippet)
22. Moment of Surrender

Night 2 – Stade de France, 2009/07/12

Setlist:

1. Breathe
2. No Line On the Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day/Here Comes The Sun (snippet)
6. Mysterious Ways*
7. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
8. Angel Of Harlem/Man In The Mirror (snippet)/Don’t Stop “Til You Get Enough (snippet)
9. Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
10. Unknown Caller
11. The Unforgettable Fire
12. City Of Blinding Lights
13. Vertigo
14. Let’s Dance (snippet)/That’s The Way (I Like It) (snippet)/I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday
16. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
17. MLK
18. Walk On/You’ll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
19. Where The Streets Have No Name/All You Need Is Love (snippet)
20. One
21. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
22. With Or Without You
23. Moment Of Surrender

*tour debut

There is a brief video of “Breathe” from the show on 7/11 available at the official U2 site.

Claw photo courtesy Laurent at u2gigs.com.  Band photo courtesy BonoFox1 on the Interference boards.