'Goodnight Los Angeles...'

4 Jun 2015

After six shows - five sold out nights at The Forum and a one-off at The Roxy - U2 left the stage in Los Angeles last night for a final time. There were lots of firsts.

'We met some fans outside who have been to every single show and they wanted a new song... So.... Los Angeles gets a first.' Tonight's first was Volcano, the first time it's been played on this tour and only the second time it's been played live since the album release last September. 

'Here's another one we haven't played on the tour, explained Bono, the band still down on the 'e' stage. 'This is Ordinary Love...' 

'40' wasn't in the set tonight but with these new tracks in the set list, 40 is the number of songs the band have performed in the first month of this tour. And as @u2gigs & @KevinMFeeney noted on twitter, tonight was the first #U2ieTour show to feature 10 new songs: Ordinary Love, Invisible and eight from Songs Of Innocence.

'Ordinary Love is about an extraordinary love...' and it was an extraordinary performance, dedicated to Brian Burton (aka DangerMouse).

There were two Led Zeppelin snippets in the show tonight, 'Good Times, Bad Times' in Out of Control and 'Black Dog' in Bullet The Blue Sky. Anybody notice that Robert Plant was in the house? Another longtime friend of the late Dennis Sheehan, who tour managed Led Zeppelin before joining U2.  And a tribute, that's been with us every night in LA, rang out again during Beautiful Day. 'Goodnight Dennis Sheehan...' 

A technical hitch with the piano, just before Every Breaking Wave, gave Bono the chance to improvise ('Four Irish guys leaving a bar - could happen...'), identifying some 'Lesbians for Bono' (and noting that 'Bono is for Lesbians') and spotting a well known musical figure in the audience ('Stand up Elvis! Always wanted to meet you dude!') and inviting him up on stage ('Love your early work...')  for a quick rendition of 'Can't Help Falling In Love'. Then came Every Breaking Wave, Bono on the 'e' stage, Edge on the piano at the other end of the building. Talk about professional. This band know how to improvise.

'The heart of this show is surrender,' said Bono, both hands raised, after I Will Follow. In LA for the past couple of weeks everyone surrendered to some remarkable shows. Thanks to all at The Forum for an incredible run..

Were you at the show? Add your own review and photos here.

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