Oscar The Third: They like the way I be leanin'

Monday, 25 July 2011

They like the way I be leanin'

I'm not really a U2 fan at all but when they decided to bring their entire 360 degrees tour to New Zealand, it was hard to avoid the hype. The country was buzzing with the news that U2 were actually going to bring their whole stage show all the way down here, but I remained rather neutral about the matter. That is, until it was announced that supporting U2 on their tour would be Jay-Z. I've been a fan of his ever since he released the cross-over album with Linkin Park, and now I was torn between wanting to go to the show and not having enough money to buy an expensive U2 ticket. So when it was announced that there would be extremely cheap tickets sold for the show, approx $40, i was keen as. Surprisingly, the cheap tickets actually gave me a really good view of the show, and the stage was so big that it is hard to miss anything. Jay-Z opened when the sun was still up and most of the older U2 fans sitting around me had no idea who the hell he was, but that was to be expected. Jay-Z played a great set with all his hits, including H To The Izzo, 99 Problems, Big Pimpin' and Dirt Off Your Shoulder. He played a few off of his new album as well, with Empire State Of Mind and On To The Next One sounding even better live than on CD, and Run This Town always sounds amazing. U2 played a massive set and everyone seemed to love it. I only recognized a couple of songs, like Beautiful Day, Vertigo and Sunday Bloody Sunday but despite my ignorance, I still really enjoyed the performance. They put on a good show (but it was maybe a little long) and the alien-like stage was perpetually fascinating.

U2 w/ Jay-Z. 26/11/2010. Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand.