Concert review: U2 at Cowboys Stadium (October 12)

by Alex Bentley

Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, with its 80,000+ seats and massive video screens, is now the logical place for mega-superstars to showcase their egos talents when they come to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So far the venue has hosted George Strait and Reba McEntire, Paul McCartney, and now, U2. While not the most friendly place for acoustics and/or parking (seriously -- arrive early and stay late), JerryWorld is certainly an appropriate place to put on shows like the one that happened Monday night.

Unfortunately, we were only able to make it into the stadium for the latter part of the opening act, Muse. What we did catch, however, made the English rockers seem like a good fit with U2, and the crowd seemed to appreciate their style and enthusiasm. Of course, they also benefited from the staging as the 360° video screen hovering above the stage makes anyone seem larger than life.

Muse's set ended around 8:15, giving the crowd a not-unexpected 45-minute wait until Bono and company would take the stage. Their arrival was portended by David Bowie's "Space Oddity," a choice that seemed appropriate given the design of the stage, which resembled a spaceship combined with a giant insect. After a less-than-momentous entrance which involved them simply walking up from backstage, they kicked things off with "Breathe," a cut off their newest album, No Line on the Horizon. While not the most rollicking song in their repertoire (or on that album), it did set the tone nicely for what was to come.

The rest of the concert was a decent mixture of new and old songs (see set list below). Bono waited until the second half of the show to talk politics -- he dedicated "Walk On" to Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi, who was imprisoned before she could take office as prime minister. That song was accompanied by a group of people from the audience walking on stage with masks of San Suu Kyi. Bishop Desmond Tutu made an appearance on the video screen at the beginning of the first encore to say that we are all one, which naturally led into "One."

While this made the proceedings a bit more somber, it was still as strong a U2 concert as I've attended. Highlights included letting the audience sing the first couple verses of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and an acoustic version of "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of." Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.