U2 at Soldier Field, 7/5

By Mike Sullivan

U2 made a promised return to Soldier Field Tuesday night on their 360° Tour after having to cancel last year when Bono suffered a back injury.

The band went all out on stage presence again. The 167-foot tall, 4-legged “space station” was the center of the stage, equipped with large screens and a stack of speakers. There were multiple rings which the band used to get closer and more intimate with the crowd. The large, open stage gave viewers from every seat in the stadium a perfect view of the performance.

The quartet opened with “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” “The Fly” and “Mysterious Ways,” and played through their catalog of hits for the next two-plus hours. They even threw in a few rarities, including “Out of Control,” their first single from 1979. Surprisingly, the band did not play any new songs even though they are supposed to be releasing a new album shortly.

Mark Kelly, astronaut and husband of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, made a brief appearance on the massive video screen holding a sign with the title to the song “Beautiful Day.” He then quoted David Bowie’s "Space Oddity": “Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows.” This gave the whole crowd goosebumps.

U2 ended the night with “One Tree Hill,” which Bono asked nicely that people not post on the Internet if they screwed it up. They managed to pull it off successfully--videos have already begun appearing.