U2 @ Prudential Center, Newark, NJ 6-29-18

Coming off of a huge North American stadium tour in 2017, U2 didn’t rest on their laurels on being one of the biggest rock bands in the world. At the end of 2017, the band released their 14th studio effort titled “Songs for Experience” and set out for another world tour. One of the longest running original bands in rock history still comprise of Bono on vocals, The Edge on guitar and backup vocals, Adam Clayton on bass and Larry Mullen Jr. on drums.

U2 are known for having massive stage productions. This time it would be a challenge to fit what they normally have within an arena size setting. This time around they had a large 2-sided video screen that stretched 3/4ths of the center length of the arena and had a walkway underneath it. It went all the way to the opposite side where another smaller stage was set up.

The show started with Bono appearing solo on the walkway as he sang the opening track “Love Is All We Have Left” off of “Songs for Experience.” Immediately after, the band appeared within both screens as the lights flickered as each member would appear then instantly disappear for “The Blackout.” The band then returned to the stage minus Bono, who stayed on the walkway that was lifted as he sang “Lights of Home.” Bono then joined his bandmates for one of the bands earliest his in the classic “I Will Follow.”

What will become a familiar tendency throughout the show, Bono kept addressing the crowd as New Jersey. He even wanted all the lights to be turned on so he can see the crowd before the band kicked into “Beautiful Day.” Bono talked about the thought process of “Songs for Experience” and how he reflected on past childhood experiences. For the track “Cedarwood Road,” he talked about growing up on that particular road and how it shaped him for the man he is today. The band played During the song the screen showed images of what was going on at that time. Bono talked about how his native country finally achieved peace after 30 years of the Northern Ireland Conflict in 1998. The Edge joined him as they were the only two left on stage as they did an acoustic version of “Staring at the Sun.” Following this, both The Edge and Adam Clayton went on small separate side stages in the crowd for “Pride (In the Name of Love).

When the band returned for the encore, Bono gave a prolific statement about journalists: “I wanna dedicate this next song to the journalists, to reporters. To people who, at their best, give us every foundation of our democracy. They give us the facts, of which to form our opinions. They give us truths, to guide our understanding…and we need them. We need them! We need them to help us understand each other. I think that’s also true. We need writers so we can focus on what unites us, rather than what divides us. So, for the Capital Gazette…there is no them, there is only us. Then Bono introduced “One.”

For the last song of the evening, the band decided to close with “13 (There is a Light) a song that held more meaning than your typical up-tempo hit song. The Edge played keys for the song.

This may sound off the wall but after seeing the band numerous times in the last 15 years (mostly in stadiums), I think the band were able to capture the intimacy of playing in an arena. The band reached their audience in a more direct way. It should also be noted that Bono’s voice still has amazing strength and tone after all of these years. In addition, not many arenas can match the sound quality of the Prudential Center either. These factors and not to mention the over the top production made it to be one of the best shows you will see in 2018!

Setlist:

Love is All We Have Left

The Blackout

Lights of Home (St. Peters String Version)

I Will Follow

All Because of You

Beautiful Day

The Ocean

Iris (Hold Me Close)

Cedarwood Road

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Until the End of The World