Vertigo

Just one of the exclusive details  we learned tonight in a blistering second show  in Toronto, which climaxed with Daniel Lanois joining the band on stage.

'We were saying on Monday that The Edge is from the future,' explained Bono, as the one from the future picked out the opening lines of Miracle Drug. 'But he's not  from the future  on earth but from a completely different planet.

'Myself, Adam and Larry were at school on the northside of Dublin and we saw this spaceship and it was playing this sound, even back then, and the spaceship landed and The Edge got out.

And we said, 'Where are you from ?'

And The Edge said, 'I'm from the future.'

And Larry said, 'What's it like ?'

And Edge said, 'It's better!'

And so we discovered the supernatural origins of U2 and, for good measure, we also got a show which was up a gear from Monday, itself pretty hot for an opening night.

'Monday was only a warm-up for Wednesday,' confirmed Bono, after Vertigo and Electric Co ignited proceedings. And with the familiar opening groove of Elevation, came another revelation. 'We're a band from Jamaica called U2.'  

There is no time to discuss this bombshell here, that will need to be left to future pop-culture theorists, everyone was far too busy getting 'High, higher than the sun'.

Beautiful Day segued into Old Man River, before City of Blinding Lights found this audience looking  so beautiful tonight. The Irish flags peppering the arena prompted Bono to 'sing this song for someone who couldn't be more Irish, more Dublin, this is for my father Bob.' And Bob Hewson's Dublin became  the Black Hills of Dakota as Larry, to a huge reception, wandered down the catwalk to lead Love and Peace from the tip of the ellipse. If this is one song that never requires an energy boost, tonight it too seemed even more pumped up,  with Adam in particular throwing some great shapes in front of the drum kit.

No surprise that Sunday Bloody Sunday shook the city foundations but it is the arrival  of Miss Sarajevo into the set which illustrates how a wonderful song can become a nightly spine-tingler of the order of 'Bad' or even 'Streets'. Strange to think that the band wrote it with Luciano Pavarotti in mind - tonight it seemed written for them and them alone.  And the way it introduces the text of the Declaration of Human Rights also seems tailor-made. 'Is there a time for human rights?' sang Bono. 'Hope so!' he added, before the  the archetypal song of human rights Pride In The Name of Love.

'On Monday we turned this place into a Christmas tree, tonight we're going to be the Milky Way!' And sure enough, the 'cellphone moment' was borderline daylight. To top off a great evening, not only did we get a performance of Bad, but towards its end Daniel Lanois walked on stage to a great ovation and strapped on a guitar on.

'I'm not a stranger, in the eyes of the Maker,' extemporised Bono, referencing a Lanois staple, before a snatch of 40 brought a great night to a great close.