The Joshua Tree Tour 2017

Sep 10 2017
Indianapolis, IN, US / Lucas Oil Stadium
with Beck
18

When & Where
Sunday, September 10th 2017, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis; the 36th show of the #U2TheJoshuaTree2017

Set List
You're the best thing about me/The best thing that ever happened a boy

Returning to Indianapolis for their first stadium show in Indiana’s capital since the original Joshua Tree tour in 1987, the band celebrated the past and looked toward the future Sunday night in a jubilant show that included the first concert performance of their new single ‘You’re The Best Thing About Me’ from the forthcoming album ‘Songs of Experience.’ Indy is the birthplace of the Dalton Brothers—U2’s country-western alter ego, which made their world debut during their 1987 tour stop—a fond memory the band mentioned several times throughout the evening. The new song, greeted enthusiastically by the Midwestern audience, replaced ‘Mysterious Ways’ in the encore, which ended with ‘One.’

Social Posts
@austinhostetter: ‘There are concerts and there are experiences. Tonight was the latter. #U2TheJoshuaTree2017 #Indy’

@matalanomartin: ‘U2 were fantastic tonight in Indy. It was a genuinely beautiful & unexpectedly emotional show. More than a concert. #U2TheJoshuaTree2017’

If You Had To Pick One Song
‘You’re The Best Thing About Me’ (Listen/Watch the new single now)

‘You're the best thing about me/I'm the kind of trouble that you enjoy…’

‘Tonight we want to do the song that we’ve never played in front of our audience before,’ Bono said introducing YTBTAM to the roaring crowd. ‘It’s a proper rock ‘n’ roll 45, like what they used to do…big melody, write a song, tell the woman next to you that you love her and are terrified of losing her.’

Bono later shared with the audience a story about the inspiration for the new song: ‘It’s a song, I might tell you, written about a dream I had—a nightmare, really—where I woke up in a strange house and my wife and my kids had left me. Or I had left them.’ When he awoke, shaken by the nightmare, he said, ‘I told my darling wife Ali and she just laughed at me. She said, ‘It’s OK. I’m not going anywhere. You’re not going anywhere. And if you wanted to find the door, you wouldn’t even know where it was, wouldja?’

As the song finished, Bono polled the room: ‘Do ya like this’ he asked. ‘Was that alright?’ The crowd in the stadium answered in thunderous applause, while fans took to social media to rave about the new song’s concert debut online:

@theboyonthebike: ‘Never seen a band play with more fire. The live show debut of You’re the Best Thing About Me was pure exhilaration! #U2TheJoshuaTreeTour201’

@srj68: ‘Well, that sounded fantastic. Definitely ready for prime time. You're The Best Thing About Me. #U2

@girlindc said: ‘I’ve been listening to ‘You’re The Best Thing About Me’ nonstop—but hearing it live is something else. Wow. @U2 #U2TheJoshuaTree2017’

What (else) did Bono Say?
‘Shooting off my mouth/That's another great thing about me…’ Bono mentioned The Dalton Brothers a number of times during the show in Indianapolis where, on Nov. 1, 1987, Alton (Bono), Luke (Edge), Duke (Larry,) and Betty (Adam in drag) made their world debut and one of only three live concert appearances. ‘You were there?’ Bono said to an audience member who had, evidently, been present for the ’87 Dalton debut. ‘Were you changed by the experience of the Dalton Brothers? So were we.’ After ‘You’re The Best Thing About Me’ the he quipped, ‘For those of you who haven’t heard The Dalton Brothers, you’re not missing anything, but we looked great! Especially Betty Dalton.’

Early in the show, Bono quoted one of Indianapolis’ most famous sons, the late writer Kurt Vonnegut, to describe his vision for the evening: ‘I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over.’

Hearkening back to another significant moment in Indy’s history, in his introduction to ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ Bono quoted part of a speech the late Robert F. Kennedy delivered in the Indiana city on the night of April 4, 1968, hours after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated: ‘What we need in the United States is love, and wisdom, and compassion—a compassion toward one another.

During his introduction to One, Bono gave a shout out to NASA Astronaut R. Shane Kimbrough, former commander of the International Space Station, who was in the audience.

Other Noteworthy stuff:
Two Indiana Hoosier ‘she-roes’ were featured Sunday among the ‘luminous icons’ of the HERSTORY installation: Madam CJ Walker, the African-American entrepreneur and socio-political activist heralded as the first self-made female millionaire through her empire of women’s hair care products; and Mari Evans, the poet and author perhaps best known for her poetry collection I Am a Black Woman. Evans died March 10 in Indianapolis at the age of 97.

Review from the Indianapolis Star
'U2 vocalist Bono asked Sunday's crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium to support and "hold up" his band as a type of invocation for the show celebrating the 30th anniversary of "The Joshua Tree" album and tour. But the Irish quartet led by example, delivering a two-hour musical pep talk for the United States.

Thinking locally, U2 showcased some of the best things about Indianapolis — things Hoosiers may undervalue or not even know about. Bono mapped out his plan for the evening by referencing a quote by Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut. In his 1952 novel "Player Piano," Vonnegut wrote, "I want to stay as close on the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."

Review on U2.com
mukundsrinivasan: 'Maan the show was mind boggling. Bucket list show - flew down a long long way from Dubai just to do this show and well worth it all. Great to hear the music that a generation grew up around and also to hear the passionate views regarding dreamers, women's empowerment, Trump and his follies. All in al superb venue, great sound, awesome videos.'

Were you at the show at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis? Tell us all about it. Add your own review and photos on our tour pages.

    Sao Paulo - last show of The Joshua Tree Tour 2017. Video by instagram.com/mvsphotography
    Comments
    18
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    bradj
    Incredible show
    This was #14 for me, and it goes into the top 5. Better than the DC show earlier this summer. The crowd energy was amazing and the sound in the stadium was great. Beck was great too, it's been a long time since I've seen him and he just nailed it. I might have to get one more in before this tour ends.
    mukundsrinivasan
    Maan the show was mind boggling
    Bucket list show - flew down a long long way from Dubai just to do this show and well worth it all. Great to hear the music that a generation grew up around and also to hear the passionate views regarding dreamers, women's empowerment, Trump and his follies. All in al superb venue, great sound, awesome videos.
    mukundsrinivasan
    U2 - bucket list done and what a show
    Flew down from Dubai over 16 hours to Chicago and then drove to watch this show. Absolutely blew me away. Tears streamed down when they sang. Ended with The One which was inspirational. A lifetime crammed into one evening.
    granthart
    Badass visuals
    Great sound & great visuals!
    bloomingtonu2fan
    Not too old for GA tickets!
    So glad we did it! We've done the seats in Chicago at Soldier Field, but we Loved being on the floor so close to U2! More engaging experience for us! Great Concert, even the second for us since June! Shout out to Beck! We danced Hard!
    cdarr
    1st concert for a sweet 8 year old girl
    What an amazing experience to share my favorite band with my 8 year old daughter! She was awe struck!!!
    Tedin2
    Adam Killing it
    Adam Killing it on bass, like always!
    arsenal65
    Tour is Magnificent; just One request
    Dear U2 Please add another song to the set. One, although a brilliant song and importance to the band's history, just doesn't close a show well. Thank you
    Bono_U2_Fan_4ever
    Fifth tour, sixth show
    Had a ticket for The Unforgettable Fire tour ( Jacksonville)back in college but didn't make it. Zoo-TV tour in Atlanta, Vertigo tour in St Louis, U2 360 in Nashville, U2IETour in Chicago, The Joshua Tree 2017 first in Louisville and tonight I will be in GA(1st time) with my buddy Thelma (her first U2 show). Thank you for your gifts of not only music, but your gifts of the wonderful work you have done, do and will do as members of the Human race. Our planet is surely better because of U2.
    julie_harrington
    Pray for Florida
    U2 - your Tampa friends need your prayers!!! I'm a huge fan, of course. Lakeland practice for Achtung baby, Miami, Tampa shows. Florida loves you and now we need you and the prayers of all your fans!!!!
    leffler353
    No Chemo, No Cancer Im there.
    I'm the fan who got sick 5 min before U2 took the stage in Louisville. I had my final chemo treatment 2 days before the show, needless to say the heat and chemicals still in my body would have had a wiser man stay home. I tried to go and luckily security got me to an ambulance very quickly. I am excellent now, strength is great and I will b e right up front Sunday, my oncologist gave me the ok yesterday. Stoked and ready. Anyone know how they are doing the wristbands?
    kristinanebelhutchinson
    CELEBRATIONS
    Celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with you in Louisville on a HOT June night and am now looking forward to celebrating my birthday on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium!!! Can't wait for the show!!!
    bjkrober
    30 years on...
    My girlfriend and I went to the 87 Hoosier dome show as 16 year olds. I'm psyched to be on the Lucas Oil Stadium floor with her Sept 10! We've now been married 22 yrs. Besides filling the delay time with the Daltons, they cranked a few Stones songs over the P.A. that got the crowd pretty fired up too.
    Jerilynheapy
    VIP Party Package
    I would like to know more about the pre party. We have tickets for the St Louis show, but we don't know what time it starts or where to go! Does anyone have any info?
    bombermuskie
    Indy in 1987
    And it was Los Lobos who was running late - I'll never forget telling my friends that the Dalton Brothers were U2. I didn't know for sure until about 10 years ago when I looked it up. Crazy and one of the best experiences of my life!
    thesandbox
    Bring on the Daltons!
    I also saw this show back in 1987 at the Hoosier Dome and still have the newspaper clipping on their appearance as the Dalton Brothers for the first of only two times due to the Bodeans flight being delayed out of Canada if I recall. Still remember the crowd singing "40" as they poured out the doors and onto the streets at the end.
    SamanthaSophia
    U2 The Joshua Tree Anniversary Tour
    I'm over the moon with the fact that I am going to see my absolute favorite band in the entire world on Sunday September 10th! I was so fortunate to see these guys during the Elevation and Vertigo tours. But my love affair with them began in 1987 when I was just a 13 year old girl who had just been diagnosed with SLE. The Joshua Tree album helped me to be able to deal with all of the chaos that came into my life because of SLE. I wasn't able to see U2 during The Joshua Tree tour of 1987. But now, nearly 30 years to the day of being diagnosed, thanks to the brilliance of this band coming up with the idea of having an anniversary tour, I'm getting to experience a dream come true. Maybe I have been 'running to stand still' for the past 30 years.....
    2727tony
    30 years later...
    Saw the show at the Hoosier Dome in 1987 with my good friends. We were 14! Going again with the same good friends!!!!
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