U2 In Denver – Innocence & Experience

I didn’t expect to be blown away going in. It’s Denver after all and the band have more or less on every tour treated this as a pit stop more than a significant run like LA, Boston and or New York. Night 1 had a standard set list, therefore, wasn’t expecting much in terms of curveball numbers tonight.
During soundcheck Volcano was rehearsed more.
Bono was 5,000 above sea level, therefore, not surprised that his vocals were a bit weak. Athletes have been known to train here ’cause it’s harder. I will be honest in saying that I’ve never heard a good Denver U2 show on any of the past 3 tours. Bono took a lot of short cuts vocally.
He seemed slightly out of place during the first two songs and incorporated a weird accent while singing. He ditched this quickly when he learned that it wasn’t working as planned. Bono was very aware that his vocals weren’t going to work tonight given the elevation (no pun). He did manage to work around this for the most parts. There were some moments in which his falsettos fell flat ’cause he forgot where he was. He would cringe at himself after certain notes.
In terms of stage banter both natural and rehearsed, he was very sociable with the audience. Bono was very emotionally invested in the show and was happy. There were moments in which he seemed more sentimental than in other cities. I am assuming that this is ’cause there was less performance pressure on the band since it wasn’t a high profile show in a large city where all eyes are on them and every move analyzed under a microscope.
The only reason that Denver got added to this tour is ’cause they couldn’t add/​do 8 shows in LA for booking reasons.
The two girls who called 9 – 11 when Bono had the biking accident were from Denver, therefore, he dedicated Ordinary Love a song to them.
Denver had the Columbine incident. Bono added a minor sympathetic statement before Bullet the Blue Sky, «I don’t blame your guns.» The statement was met with a few Boo’s. Bono is no stranger to controversy.
Two new-​ish songs in the «Mystery Slot» were kinda weak but I honestly wasn’t expecting too much in terms of rarities as explained earlier since it’s Denver.
Volcano was the wild card song that actually sounded really good compared to LA.
Aside from the new stuff, Bullet The Blue Sky seems to be the centerpiece of the tour. In fact given the environmental circumstances this song was executed flawlessly tonight with a little help with auto tune through the mic.
The general sound in the venue was okay, lots of limitations given the altitude.