Elevation 2001, July 6th, Copenhagen, Denmark
After a two week break U2 open up the European leg of their eighty-date Elevation 2001 tour in a a very hot Copenhagen, Denmark.
It's big news in Denmark with one item on the national news before the show and then another later, with live footage.
'That feels like a welcome thank you,' says Bono, preparing to introduce Kite. 'It's great to be back in Europe on the first date of our tour, hope we donπt blow it.'
Everybody is surprised by the heat. 'Vikings donπt have weather like this, come on, whatπs going down ?' asks Bono before offering a novel historical explanation. 'So thatπs why you came over to Ireland and robbed all our bitches, you wanted to get out of the heat, is that it?
'This is a beautiful, beautiful song and like a lot of things it comes from a hard and ugly place where you have to let go of someone you donπt want to let go of - this is Kite.'
Edge is wearing his red No. 7 t-shirt to open the European leg and scorching temperature or not, you can feel the floor vibrating during Elevation and the entire audience rising and falling during Streets. No-one was working harder than the singer who understandably stripped to the waist for Streets and Pride, much to the dismay of local fans.
Getting into the groove again after a two-week break following the North America tour, Bono talks less tonight than at earlier shows, in fact for the first four songs there is barely a word of introduction - that said the Danes sing every word of every song note perfect, not least as Bono leans into them with the microphone.
'Ring those bells Edge, make those bells ring Edge,' he commands, as U2 break open I Will Follow. 'Wrote a love song on two strings, ring those bells silver and gold, ring those bellsä'
Sunday Bloody Sunday, again featuring a Marley moment of Get Up Stand Up, closes with a prayer 'for better times please, for better times pleaseä'
while Stuck In A Moment, opening with In My Life, is offered to Helena Christiansen, in the audience tonight, with Bono's wife Ali and Scandinavian popster Aqua: 'Helena! Itπs for you baby.'
'This is a song that was a favourite of Joey Ramone from the punk rock group the Ramones,' explains the singer, introducing In A Little While. ' Without the Ramones we would have probably never have started our band or at least we would have never believed that our band could get off the ground so the Ramones means a lot to us and Joey Ramone listened to this in his hospital bed, this is the last song he heard before he went to play with the angels so I want to play it with him in mind seeing as this is a theme we have going on here..'
Bono introduces the other members of U2, in the now established Elevation Tour tradition, before the four, now at the tip of the heart stage, perform a blistering rendition of Desire. Edge accompanies Bono for Staring At The Sun.
The Stereo MC's are thanked, which they will be pleased about as they were on another tour in another century with U2. The Stereophonics were pleased too.
'I want to thank the Stereo MCs for coming on board this night, what an extraordinary group they are, thank you to the Stereophonics, our new MC's.
'I also what to thank you all for coming out on PopMart when we played here it was an extraordinary night, I donπt know why but that big mirror ball lemon made a lot of sense here, space ships landingä 'I also want to thank you for giving us a great life really and following us down the Jubilee road, Jubilee 2000 when we started making some noise it was big moment for us.'
U2 play Walk On and Copenhagen joins in and the European leg of Elevation
2001 is off to a great start.
