U2 | Vertigo Live in Melbourne 2006 | Telstra Dome

Last night U2 played their first night in Melbourne after the tour was delayed by one of the band’s daughters becoming ill. It was a long wait, but one we were happy to do as we love the band, and their well-beings and that of their families is the most important thing, as it is with all of us – famous rock-stars are no different.
It was worth the wait…

This was the setlist. Miss Sarajevo! Can you believe it?!? And Bono sang Pavarotti’s part! What a legend! This has to have been one of the single best setlists ever for a U2 concert, and it was amazing to see. I was there with my cousin Anthony and my best friend Jack. Jack came along because I had a spare ticket and enjoyed the night, but Anthony and I are old U2 fans and we hearily screamed our guts out singing along to every song – there really is nothing like going to a concert when you know all the lyrics!

There are some great photos over at this page, taken by Matthias Muehlbradt of last night’s concert, copyright him of-course. Great photos – you should check them out!

Without further ado, some dodgy phone-cam images! Followed by some great images I stole from the site above…

The start of the evening, it was still early at this point. Three cheers for Australian summer sunlight up until 9pm!

The floor area – heaps of people…

Kanye West opened. Here he is being ignored by 40,000 people, ourselves included. I know Bono’s daughter digs hip-hop and all, but it was the wrong act for the main-gig. Just wrong.

OMFG!!! It begins! City of Blinding Lights!

That is one cool giant telly.

Bono says ‘Let’s turn Melbourne into a Christmas Tree! Everyone get out your cell-phones!’ and 60,000 people did! The phone-cam is shithouse, but all of that stuff that looks like image-noise is actually countless glowing mobile-screens. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life.

Checkit! The Commonwealth Star and Southern Cross of the Australian Flag! Nothing will make thousands of Aussies scream like seeing their own flag on a giant telly! Bono also walked onto stage at the start of the gig wrapped in an Australian flag. How awesome is that???
(Photo by Matthias Muehlbradt)

First encore… oh my god! All of a sudden it’s 1993! After a really cool bit of visuals, we go full-ball into The Fly! Head explodes!
(Photo by Matthias Muehlbradt)

A better shot of the stage after the concert, gives you a clear picture of the layout.
(Photo by Matthias Muehlbradt)

This was where we sat, front row of the third level (or second tier). They were absolutely brilliant seats and really gave a great view of the scale of the show. I sat in a similar place back in 1997 for Popmart out at Waverley Football Stadium. I’m not a stand-up-in-the-crush general admin kind of guy, especially for U2 concerts which are always a grand. We could clearly see the band’s antics down on the stage from where we sat, and the screens and lights spectacular really is a sight to behold, as well as thousands of screaming, jumping, dancing, singing fans.
(Photo by Matthias Muehlbradt)

One of the best things about the night was that for many of the songs, the entire crowd sang at the top of their lungs, and their voices were louder than Bono’s. That has to be one of the most awesome things to be a part of, and Anthony and I were up on our feet the whole time and singing along.

U2 remain to be one of the best acts in the world, and I’ve been fortunate enough to see them twice. Experiences like this stay with you for the rest of your life, and just like Popmart in 1997, I will always remember Vertigo 2006 – it was to be honest, an absolutely perfect concert.