U2 Elevation Tour

Elevation Tour 2nd leg: Europe

2001-07-06: Forum - Copenhagen, Denmark

Live Review

U2 / July 6, 2001 / Copenhagen (Forum)

U2 wanted intimacy with its worldwide Elevation tour and it certainly got just that in Copenhagen -- hot, sweaty, human-funk intimacy. The band kicked off the European leg of the tour with the first of two shows (which sold out in five minutes six months earlier) at the Copenhagen Forum, the smallest venue on the schedule. It will probably also prove to be the hottest spot on the quartet's journey as the audience and U2 battled oppressive heat in a country known for cool weather.

To be sure, a spot that heralds itself as the Danish capital's main indoor concert venue warrants some sharp criticism for its poor facilities. You simply can't have 10,000 people in an arena on the hottest day of the year and let vendors run out of bottled water. But that's almost trivial beside the fact that there was apparently no ventilation system. It was well over 90 degrees an hour before the show, and the peak temperature during the concert was estimated to be above 120 degrees! It was pure torture for the audience; just imagine the band.

But hats off for U2 -- they quickly got all 10,000 people bouncing for every second of the two-hour show. With all the house lights on, the band strolled on stage and greeted the sauna-sweaty crowd. The first song, "Elevation" was more or less an intro number, but the crowd immediately ignited when it heard the first few notes of the next song, "Beautiful Day."

Bono ventured around the heart-shaped ramps surrounding the stage, and with the exception of a couple of thousand people in the balcony, the audience was within 50 yards of the stage. "It feels great, the first date of our European tour," Bono told the crowd. When the Edge followed him out, he got a kiss.

About 300 fans -- the ones who spent the previous night and next day waiting at the venue to be the first through the doors -- were corralled inside the heart. From most angles it appeared the two front figures were performing atop the crowd's heads. For most of the 20-song set, the crowd acted like a fifth member of the band, singing along with the Irish lads.

The show had basically the same format as the U.S. gigs, although Bono spoke less than usual -- most likely because of the heat. He did say some kind words about the late Joey Ramone and the band played "In a Little While," just as he sang a few bars from the Beatles' "In My Life," in what could be interpreted as tributes to dead legends.

Around halfway through the set -- with the mercury impossibly high -- "Sunday Bloody Sunday" thrust everything up to a higher, hotter level. Three songs later, all four gathered on the ramp, and as Larry Mullen's kettle drum pounded the Bo Diddley beat of "Desire," the blast-furnace-like venue exploded.

Nobody seemed to care anymore about the heat, and every steamy body was moving. Aqua's Lene Nystrom, looking fetchingly chic in a skimpy leather dress, danced and bopped to several songs, but really let loose along with the crowd for "With or Without You" which ended the main set. Later she marveled at the ease with which a band that has been performing for 20 years could get the crowd boiling. "They were annoyingly good," she said afterwards.

The audience continued to sing the "With or Without You" refrain ("OOOh Oh Oh Ooh") until the video screens lit up with Charlton Heston promoting handguns -- a message that will not be understood by Euro audiences -- and then clips of street violence. The two-song encore of "One" and "Walk On" left the crowd begging for more.

Any shortcomings of the show must be forgiven, considering the ludicrous heat. So, hats off for U2 -- except the Edge, who left his on throughout.

Here is U2's July 6, 2001, set list:
"Elevation"
"Beautiful Day"
"Until the End of the World"
"Mysterious Ways"
"Kite"
"Gone"
"New York"
"I Will Follow"
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
"In a Little While"
"Desire"
"Bad"
"Where the Streets Have No Name"
"Pride"
"Bullet the Blue Skies"
"With or Without You"

Encore:
"One"
"Walk On"


-- Charles Ferro, Copenhagen