Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
Set List of Show:
- "City Of Blinding Lights"
- "Vertigo"
- "With or Without You"
- "Out of Control"
- "Stories for Boys"
- "I Will Follow"
- "Iris (Hold Me Close)"
- "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
- "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
- "Where the Streets Have No Name"
- "Desire"
- "Beautiful Day"
- "Torna a Surriento"
- "Into the Heart"
- "Gloria"
- "October"
- "Miss Sarajevo"
Pre-Recorded Intro Song: "Empire State Human" - The Human League
Snippets of Other Songs Performed by Bono:
- "Piece of My Heart" (Janis Joplin) / "Miracle Drug" (U2) / "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) / "Glad to See You Go" (The Ramones) / "Crumbs from Your Table" (U2) / "Money Money" (from Cabaret) /
Show Details:
This article is about a show that just finished and changes may still be made over the next few days as more information is available.
This was the fourth night of Bono’s run of 11 shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The theatre, capacity 2894, was also where the first leg of the tour started, and Bono will return to the theatre the day after the final show to film a performance. Bono performed with Kate Ellis on cello and backing vocal, Jacknife Lee on keyboard and percussion and Gemma Doherty on backing vocals, harp and keyboard.
The show like others on the tour, started around 8:30 and ran for approximately two hours. The show is advertised as sold out, and only resale tickets appeared to be available as the show started. No soundcheck was done ahead of the show today, and Bono entered and left the venue quickly, greeting fans only briefly.
The show is similar to the ones from last fall, however there have been some tweaks and changes throughout. The songs performed are the same as were performed on the first night of the leg, and tonight, like the previous night, “City of Blinding Lights” is only played once during the main show. (In the first leg, in American shows, it had been played twice.) Some songs have been extended. There have been some changes to the stories between songs as well, extending some thoughts in places.
Snippets of other songs are sprinkled throughout the presentation. Bono sings a piece of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” when he speaks about his heart surgery, and recites some of the lyrics from “Miracle Drug” as well. There’s a brief reference to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” ahead as Bono introduces Gemma Doherty on the harp, as Bono slips in an impersonation of Cohen’s voice. Bono also sings along to the Ramones’ “Glad to See You Go” ahead of “Out of Control”. Bono quotes the line “Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die” from “Crumbs from Your Table” as the music builds for “Where the Streets Have No Name”. “Money, Money” from Cabaret appears in “Desire” as it had during other shows on the tour. The “Ultra Violet” reference heard in the first show back at the Beacon has morphed into “let the Beacon light our way” and we are no longer listing it as a snippet, as the clear connections to the original are now gone.
There are other moments of U2 music in the show “Into the Heart” can be heard on harp at one point under Bono’s story, although Bono does not reference the song or sing it at all. “Gloria” can be heard in the backing with vocals by Gemma Doherty. “October” can also be heard as an instrumental. But Bono isn’t performing on these.
One moment of confusion comes when Bono puts his mic stand away for a visit to the other side of the stage, but then realizing he has not put his microphone into the stand. He hands it off to a member of the audience, signalling them to be silent so as not to be heard on the mic. A little confusion is witnessed at the sound board as they rush to turn the mic off. After, Bono returns to ask for the mic, but is met from someone side stage who has collected the mic instead.
The event was a phones free event, and phones were collected as people entered the theatre and placed into locked pouches. Your phone is with you during the performance but can only be unlocked in certain areas of the theatre lobby, and is unlocked upon ending.
The theatre, located on the Upper West Side of New York opened in 1929. It was originally built as a movie theatre, and these days is used as an entertainment venue by Madison Square Garden Entertainment. The theatre is a New York City interior landmark and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. The Beacon makes use of a new audio system, Sphere Immersive Sound (yes, the same Sphere as Las Vegas) to provide state-of-the-art sound to each seat in the venue.
These additional shows were announced on December 12, 2022. A pre-sale for U2.com subscribers was held on December 13, 2022 for these added shows, starting at 10am local time. For the pre-sale tickets were limited. Tickets ranged from $105 (upper balcony) including fees, and went to $441 (orchestra). Additional tickets were available at $162 for the loge and lower balcony, and $313 for the loge and orchestra back seats. There was a four ticket limit for the presale. Tickets do not include a copy of Bono’s book. The main ticket sale happened on December 15, at 10am local time. Unlike the pre-sale, platinum priced tickets were available throughout most of the venue, with the exception of some upper balcony seats. These platinum priced tickets were priced well above the prices seen during the pre-sale.
A big thank you to Kelly for her help with this entry.
