Time will only tell how the boys switch things up over the course of the tour, but for a U2 fan that has been to all three shows so far, It was a breath of fresh air (and a genius move) to completely rearrange the show. From the first moment to the last, this was by far the best show of the three.
The boys opened up by walking around the catwalk in a darkened arena, all carrying the traditional spot-lights. The "war protest" part of the show will be right off the bat?!?! Sweet, since that's the highlight of the show. They open with "Love and Peace" the best live song so far this tour. They move directly into "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" and I'm just floored that these two songs are being played early. Followed as on the first two nights by a beautiful Running to Stand Still.
The Boy segment has been abandoned for the better on this night. Nothing wrong with the songs or the performance, it just brought the entire show to a stand still in San Diego. Instead, they skip past is and move into .... I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For! 60% of the show has been Joshua Tree!!! Great performance of a great song. They've gone back, but not as far back, and that's ok. Next up is New Years Day, followed by the Miracle Drug/Sometimes combo. Then Beautiful Day. Everything is just fitting into place in perfect fashion.
Now it's time for the next major change to the set list. The standard encore opening combo of Pride/Streets and One will close the regular set on this night. It works well. Bono has a much better introduction to the One campaign. New media elements are included (Where they saving them or had they not been fine tuned yet?). The band is now projected on the backdrop during Pride.
The best new element was during One. The front screens and divided into three, with each focused on Bono. The middle one turns into a pixellation and you just say, "wow that looks neat". Then, the camera zooms in to reveal that the pixellations are all make up of crowd shots. It's a moving version of one of those pictures where a million little pictures make up the bigger one. The camera zooms in and out twice, ending with a close up of crowd shots. So cool.
The encore (which, apparently judging by the crowd reaction at the end, most people didn't realize already began) opened with the Zoo TV/Fly combo and moved into Elevation, just as on the first two nights. From here I'm expecting to close the night out with Vertigo, All Because of You, Yahweh and 40. Nope, we get another song not yet played, Mysterious Ways. A very sexy performance, almost too sexy. On the backdrop comes a cartoon similar to the one representing Bono's dad during Sometimes. Only now, it's a nekkid woman. Bikini bottom, but no top. Boobies hangin' out. Not neccesarry! There are kids in the audience for goodness sake. The sexiness countinues as he pulls a woman out of the audience who dances the entire trip around the catwalk with him.
From there they boys play City of Blinding Lights. I didn't like the placement of the song. Same effects with the confetti. I like it better either opening the show or perhaps opening the encore. The show moves from there into the closing set that I mentioned above. Vertigo was great. All Because of You powerful as always, Yahweh and 40, just as good, but not as worshipful as opening night.
Best night of the tour so far. Makes me wish i could "pull a Craig" and go again tonight. I just can't believe I have to miss two straight shows. Maybe there's a small chance we'll be able to hit the just-announced Las Vegas Show (MGM Grand Garden Arena) on November 4th....
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