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U2 : INNOCENCE + EXPERIENCE - LIVE FROM PARIS |
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Label : HBO Release Year : 2015 Run Time : 147 minutes Venue : AccorHotels Arena, Paris, France Recording Date : December 7th, 2015 Review : Original HBO broadcast converted to DVD. Excellent ! Concert Review : U2 was set to perform for the people of Paris for two dates. Prior to their second show that was to be aired on HBO on Nov. 14, tragedy struck Paris with terrorists attacks that took 130 lives and injured hundreds more. All shows were cancelled in the city and U2 promised to return. The show did go on when the rescheduled date happened on Dec. 7. "U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Live in Paris" was littered with passion, energy and a uniting force. Bono, followed by the band, walked out with no grand entrance but a powerful uniting amongst each other with fists in the air. There was no need for anything but the energy already brewing. The band immediately went into "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)" then "Vertigo" rocking the house from the start. "This is a rock'n'roll show," he repeats. After singing "I Will Follow," Bono spoke a few phrases in French and briefly talked about the attacks. Moving into the set, he talked of Dublin and losing his mother at age 14, singing "Iris (Hold Me Close)". Spanning the center of the venue in the three stage setup is a widescreen with stunning visuals. Walking up stairs to tell the story of "Cedarwood Road," Bono treads through his "neighborhood" for both sides of the venue to see. U2 lived up to their word that the show would feature new innovations for their large scale sets. The tone begins to change when Bono introduces ballad "Song for Someone," single from Songs of Innocence. Writing it for "this perfect girl" at age 18, she's not interested in perfect so there's "a chance." A tender moment gone by moves back into the intense "Sunday Bloody Sunday" with the crowd singing along. Covering a large portion of Songs of Innocence, U2 of course includes favorites like "Until the End of the World" where the Edge takes the widescreen stage, Bono "spitting" water on him like he's on fire. The show keeps up with the energy of the house with a colorful spectacle during the remixed version of "Even Better Than the Real Thing." Pink, yellow, blue and green effects individually distort each of the four members of the band. Having a fan on stage (again), after "Mysterious Ways" they bring out more stage divers who follow the band while the show gets a fan aspect through video recording during "Elevation." Jumping around on one of the stages, the fans bring rise to the party happening in Paris. "This is a song I never could never quite figure out what happened in the end. This is 'Every Breaking Wave'," Bono introduced before piano version as part of a four-song set for "lovers lost." "October" featured the mega screen with heartbreaking photos of the conflict in Syria, Kobani in ruins. The four songs for "lovers lost" was the peaking point as the somber song roared into "Bullet the Blue Sky" from their most successful The Joshua Tree. Visuals continued with more photos in a powerful rock performance. "What do you want? You want us to be afraid? To look upon our fellow citizen with suspicion? To turn away our neighbors? You will not have our hatred. We choose love over fear," Bono says as they go into one of their big hits "Where the Streets Have No Name," summing up how Parisians feel moving forward. Notably, they also performed "Pride (In the Name of Love)" in a set themed on war. Setting up the night for the encore, Stephen Hawking is played, speaking of living as one on this planet and having a future. "City of Blinding Lights" illuminated the AccorHotels Arena with a snippet of "Ne Me Quitte Pas" before the massive audience took over most of the song about love and peace, "One." U2 brought on Eagles of Death Metal to perform alongside each other for one song before U2 exited the stage to allow the band to have the final song. U2 said they would put on their best performance for the people of Paris and they brought the house down with such energy, intensity and spreading a message of love and peace in a world full of complications. |