Thanks for coming out, standing in the rain, dancing in the rain, singing in the rain.' (And thanks for the balloons!)
Maybe it's the rain we've had at the last few shows but as the European leg of the tour wends to a close, Munich proved another memorable evening regardless of the moist conditions.
Vertigo seems to recognise this, even more of an explosive show opener through a hammering downpour. If the patient Germans had looked a little downcast earlier, suddenly they were rocking no-one was going to pass up the last chance to celebrate U2 in Germany on Vertigo 05. And as the rain persisted, so Bono kept interjecting lyrical references to the weather, turning the moment to everyone's advantage.
'Thank you,' he said in German. 'Thanks for coming out, standing in the rain, dancing in the rain, singing in the rain .'
Anton Corbijn got a shouted greeting from the stage during Elevation, a nod to the fact that the great Dutch lensman was prowling the stage tonight. (Anton was in town for the launch of his photo-documentary, 'U2&I' covering 20 years of U2 through a lense. Earlier in the afternoon, the photographer got a bit of the pop star treatment himself, as he wandered the stage sussing out vantage points to shoot from for the show.)
There was blanket lighter-coverage for I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, a dazzling sight through the speckled raindrops. 'Let me see them Bruce!' says Bono to Lighting Director Bruce Ramus.
For City of Blinding Lights, the rain seemed to be exhausted and have gone for a short lie down and suddenly the singer was up on the speaker system, writhing and twisting in ways he hasn't yet done on this tour. A special tribute at the opening of Miracle Drug went out to the 'people who will get us to the future ,' tonight with a nod to some of the team who 'keep our band well'.
And walking down the b-stage at the start of Sometimes, Bono did what he does without comment every night but this time making a note of it. He takes off his Fly shades, laughing with some of the fans along the way. 'This next one I must take my glasses off for,' he explains, perhaps a slightly wistful look in his eye. 'Because my dad used to say to me , 'What are you wearing those glasses for? You look stupid in them.'
And now this is a show that has left the ground, as Bono remarks that the simple idea behind the graffiti CoeXisT 'is going to get harder over the next few years.' For Sunday Bloody Sunday the stadium is a massive carpet of red, reflecting beautifully off the stage umbrellas which protect the equipment from the weather. But there's not a cloud in the heavens for Bullet the Blue Sky, Adam moving around the stage, home from home.
Miss Sarajevo was dedicated once more to the victims of terrorism and now the German fans show their creative nous with the dramatic appearance of dancing white balloons, all over the venue.
'For 99,000 white balloons SING!' leads Bono, with a deft reference to some eighties balloon-featuring europop. 'This is our moment, I want to feel white balloons in my face, I want to take shelter from the hurricane...'
The balloons, at one point, appeared to have taken life with plans on taking over the show â� they were everywhere.
'This might be a good good moment to take out your cell phones , ; Be a light in the world , This is the moment,' says Bono in German. 'In a tiny country called Niger hundreds of thousands of people who look like your sister, mother, father, brother are dying because of poverty....'
The German crowd know what to do and they hit the phones, applying their political pressure through the wonder of technology. No surprises that the place goes ballistic with the opening notes of Zoo Station.
'Are you ready for the laughing gas ?'
Yes, we are ready, bring it on! And we are also ready and willing and loud and high for The Fly, With or Without You, and All Because of You. There?'s a cool twist at the end of the show when a young man called Trash makes it clear that he is ready for his moment in rock'n'roll history with a sign reading 'I can play guitar'. Trash gets his walk on part in Party Girl as he is pulled into the lights and onto the stage with just a hint of a grin and a comment from Bono which sounded like, 'You better not be kidding!' He wasn't - another a star is born.
The show closes as it should with another fiercely joyful rendition of Vertigo. And it was finally dry.? 'What a wonderful night !?' remarked the singer and, not for the first time, he was right.
