Six years ago, U2 kicked off their “Experience + Innocence” tour, a sequel to 2015's “Innocence + Experience” tour. It began in grand fashion and is one of the band's most memorable tour openers ever.
I didn't get to catch the tour until it hit Philadelphia in mid-June — a graduation gift at the time. However, listening to the show proves that the band took a big swing. Of course, being a sequel to 2015's “Innocence” tour was a tall task. The show masterfully blended Bono's autobiographical Songs of Innocence with the band's biggest hits.
But after touring The Joshua Tree in full on the 2017 anniversary tour, U2 decided against playing the album at all. That meant “With or Without You” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” would not be played, opening the setlist for surprises.
And that's exactly what they did. U2's “Experience” tour opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma and featured a variety of deep cuts and resurfaced songs.
What songs U2 played on the “Experience + Innocence” tour opener
The show began in a grand sci-fi fashion. An MRI of a brain is showed on the gigantic LED screen that spans the length of the arena floor. “Breathe in, breathe in, exhale,” a voice says overtop of the display.
Slowly, Bono descends as the LED screen opens. He sings Songs of Experience's opening track, “Love Is All We Have Left,” with a vocal backing track. The band then kicks in to “The Blackout,” another song from the album, as well as “Lights of Home.”
During the latter song, the LED screen creates a slanted catwalk. Bono begins walking to the stars before going to the B-stage for the “free yourself to be yourself, if only you could see yourself” refrains, a line borrowed from Songs of Innocence's “Iris (Hold Me Close).”
Deep cuts
After the euphoric “Beautiful Day” came the show's first surprise. U2 played “All Because of You,” a rocker from their 2005 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It was the first time since 2006 that the band played it.
They then played their iconic hit “I Will Follow” before dusting off another deep cut, “The Ocean,” from the same album, Boy, the band's debut album. The song is primarily used as a segue into the Songs of Innocence portion of the show.
“Tonight's show is a very personal story,” Bono begins. “Could be Larry's [Mullen Jr.], could be Adam's [Clayton], could be Edge's. All of you [have] people and places that mean more to you than can be explained.”
Songs of Innocence
“Iris” then kicks off a sequence of songs familiar to U2 fans. However, it did slightly differ from the 2015 shows. The first pre-chorus is cut out of the song, getting right to the point with its first chorus. “Cedarwood Road,” “Song for Someone,” the stripped-down “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Raised by Wolves,” and “Until the End of the World” followed.
The same visuals were kept for these songs, with Bono walking down his childhood road and writing a song to his wife being displayed on the LED screen. One part I loved about this particular show was how they introduced and played “Song for Someone.”
“Here I am, back in my bedroom, practicing my guitar hoping one day to be good enough to be in a band,” Bono said. “Getting ready to go out. I'm gonna find that someone else that I will need to be whole… I know this girl, Alison Stewart — I'm gonna give her guitar lessons. It's gonna cost her the rest of her life.”
Bono then sings the love song. The Edge puts a little twist on the guitar solo, which added a new element to it. Sadly, this was one of the songs dropped from the setlist after the show.
The intermission featured a remix of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” performed by Gavin Friday. A comic book-style animated short shows U2 reaching their peak stardom. It's an amazing visual and their most creative intermission.
The second act called “Vertigo”
The second act of U2's “Experience” show began with “Elevation” and “Vertigo.” They then played “Desire,” however, it was a new version of the song. The Edge's guitar had more shimmer than usual, and it sounded like the performances from the band's “ZooTV” tour decades prior.
They followed that up with the first ever performance of Achtung Baby's “Acrobat.” While they rehearsed it ahead of the “ZooTV” tour, the song never made an appearance during a concert.
The pure intensity of the song shook the Wells Fargo Center when I caught the show. I imagine that the live debut had a similar impact on the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Political blindness”
A tuned-down acoustic rendition of “You're the Best Thing About Me” followed. Another surprise was then played. Bono and The Edge played an acoustic version of “Staring at the Sun” from Pop. The song hadn't been played during a concert since 2001 and Bono claims it's about “stubbornness” and “political blindness” while introducing the song.
“Pride (In the Name of Love)” is then played. While it sounds similar to the band's other live performances, it opens with Larry Mullen Jr.'s drums. When I saw the show, I just remember thinking they were playing “God Part II,” which would have been an even bigger shocker than any of the other deep cuts dusted off.
U2 then plays two more tracks that go hand-in-hand from Songs of Experience, “Get Out of Your Own Way” and “American Soul.” Like the album version, the songs are tied together with Kendrick Lamar's Beatitudes. A gigantic American flag serves as the backdrop as the band plays an intense rendition of “American Soul.”
The band then went into “City of Blinding Lights.” If you can't play “Where the Streets Have No Name,” this was a great audible as a crowd-pleasing anthem.
The encore
U2 then took a brief break before an encore that featured “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.” Fans may take the song for granted after the band has played the song 40 times at the Sphere, but they were clearly rusty, as the song hadn't been played since 2006.
“One” then followed, which was a no-brainer. “Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way” and “13 (There Is a Light)” closed out the show. The former is one of the band's best “One”-like anthems and a great singalong.
Bono closed out “13 (There Is a Light)” by walking by himself to the B-stage. A miniature replica of his childhood Cedarwood Road home is sitting there. Bono opens the roof to reveal a yellow lightbulb — the same one that would swing above U2 during the early portion of their “Innocence” tour sets.
How the “Experience + Innocence” tour changed over time
Tulsa got the best “Experience + Innocence” tour show of the entire 60-show run. The setlist would drastically change over the two legs of the tour.
U2 would slowly phase out the Songs of Innocence set. It would eventually only consist of “Iris,” “Cedarwood Road,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” and “Until the End of the World.”
The move makes sense, as U2 generally doesn't play 27 songs a night. Over time, the setlist became refined. In Europe, U2 began dusting off more Achtung Baby songs, playing “Zoo Station” and “The Fly, “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” and “Stay (Faraway, So Close!).”
This sequence would replace the Songs of Innocence suite. But at the end of the day, none of that would have happened if U2 didn't open with this special show in Tulsa.
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