U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour: Los Angeles 3

U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE

Brunch at The Pan in Gardena, complete with golden hashbrowns, brioche french toast, eggs, and bacon. Pretty ordinary diner food, but well done, particularly the hashbrowns and french toast.

Then time for U2! Just baaareeellly made it in before show start with Pearl, but we made it! Setlist was a typical mix of old and new, with a triplet of new stuff (Iris (Hold Me Close)/Cedarwood Road/Song for Someone) highlighting the reminisce back to growing up in Ireland for the band.

Can't say I'm the biggest fan of Raised by Wolves or some others, but hearing The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) as well as an acoustic performance on the rear stage of Every Breaking Wave by Bone and The Edge were all quite good. Also in the second half were the return of classics- the tour debut of Elevation and a stirring rendition of Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of. Bullet The Blue Sky finally ditched the F-15 graphic (which made me both excited and a little sad), while the encore was City of Blinding Lights, Where the Streets Have No Name, and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

The long center walkway with screen and performance inside was a great thing, the audio was terrific, and the rear stage, both with full band as well as piano only, made it a surprisingly intimate show. The little kid who looked half-terrified when he was brought on stage for City of Blinding Lights was a tad awkward, although the random fan they pulled on the rear stage earlier to do video with the U2-provided iPhone did a superb job. It was pretty awesome-- and we're all glad U2 is back on tour!

Also, a few videos are up well.