J'y etais! U2 at the Hippodrome

An evening 10 years in the making... Best. Ever. This all started back in January when I saw something on YouTube that said U2 was coming to Montreal. I wasn't going to let this one go by, so I got tickets. Section 114, 21 rows up - looking at the stage, straight on. Fast forward to last Thursday. Amy and I left at around 4, arrived in Canada around...what, 7? And straight up, we encounter weird people. ("Circus peasant!!") The Circuit du paysan is right across the border - I thought Amy said "Cirque Paysan," which literally means circus peasant, but no - "Circuit du Paysan" is a bike path, literally meaning "Circuit of the peasants." Anyway. There was this guy trying to hitchhike into Montreal, and he was kinda sketch - we call him the "circus peasant."

We stayed at the Days Inn on the boulevard Rene Levesque Est near Chinatown. Hotel staff was wonderful, food not so much. Except for the pasta. Hot chocolate was amazing, though. We just brought breakfast with us and ate it in the room (Pop Tarts!) 

Friday. We left for the Hippodrome at around 11-ish. So hot, but we found an air conditioned tent. By the way - dear Canadians: Don't talk to me rudely and assume that I have no idea what you just said to me, because I DO speak French, and I WILL call you on your rudeness. This "stupid American" has a BA in French, thankyouverymuch. Anyway. They let us into the venue at 4:30. We get our first look at the stage, and I'm like the alien toys from Toy Story: "The Claaaaaaaaaw." Yeah. The show was due to start at 7, but it didn't - it was nearly two hours late, and the crowd was getting restless. We started a wave around the venue, and it kept getting dropped on the other side, so we'd boo the other side. We should have booed Interpol, the opening act. They were so bad. 

U2 comes on as David Bowie's Space Oddity is playing. Everyone happy now, yay. Absolutely amazing show, although I wish they had played more from No Line on the Horizon - specifically the title track, "Magnificent," "Unknown Caller," and "Breathe." But no. They did play "Get On Your Boots," "Moment of Surrender," and "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." They played a lot of stuff from Achtung Baby - I think it was because it's been 20 years since that album came out. Not quite 20 years (It came out on November 19th, 1991), but close enough. They played "Zooropa" for the first time, "Miss Sarajevo," "Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me," and "Scarlet," from October, which I was told they had been playing on this tour. It was interesting to hear things that aren't staples during their shows. It was also really cool to hear something from every album they've released. I will definitely go again if I ever get the opportunity - especially if I move into an urban area where they play, like Pittsburgh (which is where they will be on July 26th). Love this band so much, they're amazing. And totally worth everything we went through afterwards. 

At the end of "Moment of Surrender," the sky exploded. The band was waving good-bye, as everyone was running for the exits like Godzilla was after them. I would have been fine if it weren't raining, but everyone was in such a hurry that I was terrified I was going to get trampled or something. As it was, some guy told me to "move [my] fat ass" and jabbed me with his fingers at the base of my neck. My whole right side started shaking, and I was having trouble walking. Everyone had to take the metro - all 80,000 of us - because there was no parking at the Hippodrome. Which is just as well, because there was so much booze it wasn't even funny. So - thinking that the prohibiting of cars there was a good idea, definitely. We actually made good time getting back to the hotel. The show ended around between 11 and midnight (I think?) and we were back at the hotel between 1 and 2 AM. The concert was so amazing...I'd love to see them again. 

Setlist:

-"Even Better than the Real Thing" (Achtung Baby)

-"The Fly" (Achtung Baby)

-"Mysterious Ways" (Achtung Baby)

-"I Will Follow" (Boy)

-"Until the End of the World" (Achtung Baby)

-"Get On Your Boots" (No Line on the Horizon)

-"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (Joshua Tree)

-"Stay (Faraway So Close)" (Zooropa)

-"Beautiful Day" (All That You Can't Leave Behind)

-"Elevation" (All That You Can't Leave Behind)

-"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (The Unforgettable Fire)

-"Miss Sarajevo"

-"Zooropa" (Zooropa)

-"City of Blinding Lights" (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb)

-"Vertigo" (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb)

-"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" (No Line on the Horizon)

-"Discotheque" [snippet] (Pop)

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" (War)

-"Scarlet" (October)

-"Walk On" (All That You Can't Leave Behind)

Encore:


-"One" (Achtung Baby)

-"Where the Streets Have No Name" (Joshua Tree)

:-"Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me"

-"With or Without You" (Joshua Tree)

-"Moment of Surrender" (No Line on the Horizon)