U2 eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour 2018

'Lights go down, it's dark…'
 

'Lights go down, it's dark…'

When & Where
Opening night in AccorHotels Arena, Paris, Saturday September 8th 2018.

Set List
First of four shows in Paris and the European tour is well underway - Summer of Love is received with a fantastic crowd clap-along, being played live for the first time in the country that inspired its creation. 'Four Irishmen discovering (for the first time) the South of France… how fancy!' Here's the full set list. 

In The Press 
Eric Bureau for Le Parisien (translated from French original via google translate) 
'... the first black and white images of European cities destroyed between 1939 and 1945, Hamburg, Paris, Cologne, London, Manchester, explode in your face. Chaplin's face in "The Dictator" and an excerpt from his satirical film of 1940 herald the very pro-European message that the band has decided to bring to the European part of its world tour. They use more and better this screen than during the previous tour. They also attack the effective "The Blackout" - a title of the last album - hidden inside with their four silhouettes projected in shadows. They will return to play several times, including the Irish passage of the concert where Bono sings about his mother, Iris, his youth at Cedarwood Road, Dublin, then the classic "Sunday Bloody Sunday". …the show (then) takes off after an hour with "Until the End of the World" and the animated film that introduces the second part. In this cartoon, the four musicians explain in French with humour and self-deprecation how they survived the famous encounter with the devil - the worldwide success and all the vertigo that is linked - before returning to a small circular stage installed at the foot bleachers. This is where U2 is the best, at hand and heart. They deliver explosive versions of "Elevation" and "Vertigo", and offer fans a nugget from the album "Achtung Baby", "Acrobat", and beautiful acoustic versions of "You're the Best Thing About Me" and "Summer of Love", taken from their very good last album. The Francophile Bono repeatedly says his love for France, "the country of Johnny Hallyday and Brigitte Bardot", in Paris "the city of light", thanks the singer Cali to support its humanitarian associations in France. Very aware of the news, he pretends to lambast the "steps for the climate" of the day by replaying his double faust, the evil character of Mr. Mac Phisto who marked the ZooTv tour 25 years ago.
Power to the people, gender equality, the reception of migrants, the favourite themes of U2 are obviously also on the menu of a very European show. Taken in chorus by the hall, the humanist hymn "Pride" - inspired by Martin Luther King - is illustrated by the clash of images of migrants welcomed in Europe by Nazi militants, the rock anthem "New Year's Day" is sung before a huge European flag and finished with some notes of the European anthem, "The hymn to joy". Reminders also have their hymn, the unmistakable "One", and a touching finale with "Love is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way" - a hymn to difference illustrated by happy images of homosexual couples, young transsexuals, marginalised and the poignant "13 (There Is a Light)" where Bono crosses the hall to return to the home of his Dublin childhood, reproduced in miniature, before disappearing into the pit. The return to innocence. In these moments of grace, U2 leaves us speechless….'

On The Socials 
@luxetiffany (via Instagram) :  U2 in Paris #U2eiTour was phenomenal! The crowd was so energized and the band was on fire! If you have the chance to see this show... go! You will love it!

Laurence Wowy (via Facebook) Hi guys! I was there last night ... it was SENSATIONAL !!! you were all fabulous… I met fans as crazy as me and I felt in my element, I was good, I was in paradise! I want to keep in myself those sensations that fill me with happiness! Do not change anything ... You are the best and your love for the human kind gives me hope for the future !!! seven billion BISOUS of France

@HerzensSonne22 (via Twitter) Every time I see the visuals for ”Summer of love” and ”Pride” I ask my self: Will we ever learn…??? Sometimes it's hard not to loose hope. U2 makes me cling to it, no matter what.

What Did Bono Say?
'Still you hear those voices in your head… telling you you're nothin'… then you look over and you see The Edge, and think - WOW…  you see Adam Clayton and you think 'look at him!… and you see Larry Mullen Junior… and your know truth is not far from here…'

“Blessed is Oscar Wilde, for he loved Paris enough to die here!” 

Shoutouts to Paul McGuinness, in the audience, and Willie Williams, with the crowd joining in a half-english, half french version of 'Happy Birthday' to the #U2eiTour Stage Director.

If you were at the first show in Paris, add your own reviews and add your photos here.