Vertigo Tour
Encyclopedia : V : VE : VER : Vertigo Tour
| Vertigo Tour | |
| Artist | U2 |
| Dates | March 28, 2005 - March 2, 2006 (pending resumption) |
| No. of legs | 4 (pending resumption) |
| No. of shows | 120 (pending resumption) |
The rock band U2's Vertigo Tour began in 2005 in support of their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
The tour grossed $260 million in 90 sold-out concerts in 2005, making it the top-grossing tour of the year.[link] In North America alone, the tour grossed $138.9 million [link] The Vertigo Tour won the 2005 Billboard Roadwork Touring Awards for Top Tour, Top Draw, and Top Single Event. [link]
Contents
Tour outline
The tour's opening night was March 28, 2005 at the iPayOne Center in San Diego, California in the United States. The first leg took place in North American indoor arenas, the second leg in European outdoor stadiums during the summer, and the third leg back in North American arenas in the autumn. A fourth leg of outdoor stadium shows began in February 2006 in Mexico, and ran through March, visiting Brazil, Argentina, Chile; many of these locales had not seen a live U2 performance in nearly a decade. The last 10 planned dates from this leg, however, were cancelled as a result of a serious illness affecting an immediate family member of the band, and will reportedly be rescheduled.The stage
The Vertigo Tour's stage design was done by Willie Williams, designer of almost all of U2's previous tours. Key elements are an ellipse-shaped ramp on the floor connected to the stage, with some fans inside it and some outside it (similar to the heart-shaped ramp used on the previous Elevation Tour), and, in the North American shows, a set of seven retractable, see-through LED-based lighted bead curtains behind and to the side of the stage, that are used to show abstract patterns, maps, moving figures, and occasionally text. Dynamic, "moving" lights are also embedded in the stage and the ramp as well as four screens showing close-ups of each member of the band similar to the Elevation tour. For the European stadium shows, the bead curtains were replaced by a giant LED screen, similar to the one used for Popmart, behind the band. The ellipse was also replaced with two catwalks leading to two B-stages in the style of the 'vertigo target'.Set list
The show's set list has varied, with notable differences between each leg of the tour.Main set
The arena shows of the first and third legs usually began with the same trio of songs: "City of Blinding Lights" (seen here in the info box, from Wachovia Center, May 22, 2005), "Vertigo", "Elevation". On the first leg, "City Of Blinding Lights" would alternate with "Love And Peace Or Else", and sometimes "Beautiful Day" appeared in the opening trio. In contrast, the stadium concerts of the second leg opened with "Vertigo", "I Will Follow", and "The Electric Co.", though "I will Follow's" position was occasionally occupied by other songs. After the opening trio, songs from U2's early days were played at the arena shows, while the stadium shows featured more anthemic rock songs. Beyond this point in the setlist, the stadium and indoor sets became roughly similar, featuring recent more personal songs. There is then a long sequence of politically-based songs, based around the theme of "Coexist" (written to show a Muslim Crescent, Jewish Star of David, and Christian Cross), with flags of African nations displayed during "Where the Streets Have No Name", all culminating in a plea from Bono to participate in the ONE Campaign, while the opening of "One" plays.The encores
The encores vary from leg to leg, and night to night. The first encore is frequently a musical and visual look back to U2's famed Zoo TV Tour, though at many shows on the third leg, this was discarded in favour of an acoustic encore. The second encore has often showcased recent material, and almost all second leg shows as well as rare first and third leg shows ended with a repeat of "Vertigo", in homage to U2's early concert days when they would run out of songs to play. The usual concert finisher in the first leg was "40" where Adam and Edge would switch instruments, but over the course of the sojourn many other closing songs have been used as well.
Diversity of material played
The Vertigo Tour has been notable not only for its diversity of material — it is the only recent tour to have played at least one song from each of their albums — but for the rarity of some songs played. Most notably, "The Ocean", which debuted on tour on 6 April 2005, previously had not been performed since December 1982. Tracks from their debut album Boy have been chosen ahead of tracks from their biggest-selling album The Joshua Tree. A number of other songs have returned to the setlist after absences of more than fifteen years, including material from October, while "The First Time", from 1993's Zooropa album, was played in full live for the first time on this tour. "Miss Sarajevo", a song from U2's side project Original Soundtracks No. 1, has become a concert regular despite previously only being played live twice since its release in 1995. Although Luciano Pavarotti sung the operatic vocals on the original, "Miss Sarajevo" has featured Bono competently singing the operatic vocals. The Vertigo Tour has also featured Larry Mullen Jr. on vocals on "Elevation", "Miracle Drug" and "Love and Peace or Else". All but two songs ("A Man and a Woman" and "One Step Closer") from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb have been performed the tour. "Fast Cars", a bonus track on some countries' editions of the album, has also been performed. "Walk On", the Grammy Award-winning song which many critics and fans considered the best track from the group's previous album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, was played only sparingly on the tour.Concert filming
Two nights of the band's four-night engagement in Chicago, Illinois in June 2005 were filmed for the live DVD [[Vertigo: Live From Chicago|U2 - Vertigo 2005 - Live From Chicago]]. During the European stadium leg of the Vertigo Tour in the summer of 2005, four more concerts were filmed: two in Dublin and two in Milan. Later that summer, u2.com fan club members who read Willie Williams' online tour diary read of a video shoot in Milan. During "Original of the Species", the band was accompanied by a live orchestra. It is rumoured that a DVD of one of these stadium shows will be released, most likely of the Milan shows, although another homecoming DVD (à la [[U2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle]]) is still a possiblilty. The Brazilian February 20 2006 show was broadcasted live for 300 million people by Rede Globo. The Buenos Aires concerts were filmed in 3D HD for possible release in IMAX theatres, per strong hints have been dropped by Willie Williams in his [U2.com] tour diary.Tour postponment
On March 9, 2006, it was announced the final 10 shows in New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Hawaii would be postponed due to the illness of a close relative of one of the band members. (The initial start of the tour had been postponed slightly for the same reason, although this time prior to any tickets being sold.) The postponed dates are expected to be rescheduled for November or December 2006, as stated by Bono on Australian TV in an interview on Andrew Denton's Enough Rope .
External links
- [u2tours.com]
- [U2 Tour site on Vertigo Tour]
- [U2.com]
- [Pro Lights and Staging News article on design]
- [U2 "Vertigo" tour photo gallery] at [LiveDaily]
- [u2-vertigo-tour.com]
| U2 |
|---|
| Bono - The Edge - Adam Clayton - Larry Mullen Jr. |
| Paul McGuinness - Brian Eno - Daniel Lanois - Steve Lillywhite - Jimmy Iovine - Flood - Howie B |
| U2 discography |
| Albums: Boy - October - War - Under a Blood Red Sky - The Unforgettable Fire - The Joshua Tree - Rattle and Hum - Achtung Baby - Zooropa - Pop - All That You Can't Leave Behind - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb |
| Compilations: The Best of 1980-1990 - The Best of 1990-2000 - The Complete U2 |
| Video Releases: [[Zoo TV: Live From Sydney]] - [[Popmart: Live From Mexico City]] - [[Elevation: Live From Boston]] - [[U2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle]] - [[Vertigo: Live From Chicago]] |
| Live and other projects: Wide Awake in America - Original Soundtracks 1 - Melon - Hasta La Vista Baby! - The Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack - U2.Communication |
| Tours |
| War Tour - Unforgettable Fire Tour - Joshua Tree Tour - Lovetown Tour - Zoo TV Tour - Popmart Tour - Elevation Tour - Vertigo Tour |
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