U2, Jay-Z @ Suncorp Stadium,Brisbane (08/12/2010)

Sun 12th Dec, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Walking into Suncorp Stadium with a sea of thousands, the first thing to grab everyone’s attention was the unbelievable size of The Claw. Most had seen photos of it following the Auckland and Perth shows and via Live Nation’s Facebook page but to see the enormous structure, covering half of the playing ground and reaching higher than the stadium itself was purely awesome. With the sun setting in the distance, a fifteen minute countdown appeared on the screen in the claw’s centre accompanied by tracks from Beastie Boys, Tupac and Nirvana and bringing with it a visible sense of anticipation from the fast growing crowd.

As the clock neared zero a few small drops fell from the heavens but as both the strangest and greatest support act selection in recent memory strode on stage, the clouds disappeared almost as if it were choreographed. Decked out head-to-toe in black (including sunglasses, leather jacket and policeman/sailor style hat), Jay-Z strutted around the claw like he owned it, and for the best part of an hour he did. Backed up by singers, dancers and a full band, New York’s finest gave the crowd everything. His cameo verse from the remix of Kanye West classic Diamonds from Sierra Leone made an early appearance, as did the Rihanna featuring Run This Town. Hits such as Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Izzo (H.O.V.A) and 99 Problems were complemented with samples from The Jackson 5, Eminem and The Prodigy.

Shout-outs to the evening’s main act and the beautiful city of Brisbane (complete with token mispronunciation) were followed by the scarf spinning Big Pimpin’, Empire State of Mind and the Linkin Park duet version of Encore. With a large portion of the crowd in attendance only for the headliner, it’s a testament to Jay-Z’s ability as a performer that the entire standing area and a large amount of the seated were bouncing along, holding their “two’s” in the air and “raising their diamonds.” As he walked off stage to the cheers of thousands and dripping in sweat, Jay-Z had given the people of Brisbane more than their money’s worth and further reinforced himself as one of hip-hop’s greatest assets. He came, he saw, he conquered.

The entire stadium was buzzing both with excitement due to what had just happened and anticipation of what was to come. As toilet and drink lines filled, another countdown appeared on the screen. This time it was in analogue format and moving at a rapid rate, presumably towards 12:00 and the appearance of U2.

The quartet walked on stage to unrelenting applause. Bono dressed in black, The Edge with his trademark beanie and looking like they were about to compete in Eurovision, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jnr. Set opener Return Of The Stingray Guitar was a meet and greet of sorts, with the band members strutting around the outer ring of the stage to view the entire audience before kicking things off with Beautiful Day. Everyone was out of their seats, and remained standing for the rest of the evening. The masters of stadium rock went from hit to hit, treating the audience to Get On Your Boots, Mysterious Ways and Elevation early on.

A comparison between the Irish and Australian people, mainly due to “their use of expletives as an art-form” and their generosity was followed by a thank you to the crowd, for making their career possible (and no doubt for providing them with swimming pools full of cash). As the set continued both the bands performance and the audience participation went from strength to strength, peaking when Bono plucked a young lady from the crowd and serenaded her with the track In A Little While.

The band played tribute to John Lennon as it was the 30th anniversary of his death and lead the crowd in a sing-a-long of Stand By Me. A cover of Dear Prudence more than pleased the Beatles fans in the crowd but it was the expanding and collapsing big screen during Vertigo and Walk On, complete with a snippet of You’ll Never Walk Alone to close the set that really got the punters moving.

After a short pause, a video of Desmund Tutu discussing the various health issues that are affecting the people of Africa appeared on screen, during which U2 reappeared and broke into emotional track, One. This humanitarian part of the set was expected by most of the crowd who are well aware of Bono’s attempts to save the world and tendency to get ‘preachy’ during live performances. Simply raising awareness seemed to be the intention, with a short speech about releasing political prisoners and an appearance of amnesty international torches being nice touches as opposed to the long winded, momentum stopping speeches he has delivered in the past. With the crowd still standing and ready for more, a hair raising rendition of Where The Streets Have No Name sent the stadium into a rapture before the band departed, leaving an empty stage and chants for their return.

The final encore slowed the pace down somewhat, with the band showing some of their more heartfelt recordings. A quick jacket change had Bono looking like a member of Daft Punk with red lights lining it and a suspended lit up microphone which he swung above the crowd as they played Achtung Baby’s Ultraviolet (Light My Way). The epic With Or Without You displayed the bands ability to make a football stadium feel intimate, leaving every fan feeling as if they were on stage with the band. Closing the evening with new track Moment Of Surrender was an interesting choice given the band’s extensive back catalogue of hits, yet with a sea of lighters and mobile phones turning the venue into the milky way as the band farewelled their devoted fans, it would be hard to find a more suitable ending.

In a month that is bringing a plethora of arena and stadium shows to our shores from various superstar artists, U2, with Jay-Z in tow, have raised the bar and displayed why they are arguably the biggest band of the last twenty years. From Jay-Z’s bouncing to The Edge’s distinctive guitar and Bono’s soaring vocals the evenings attendees could not have asked for any more from these legends. If Suncorp Stadium had a roof, December 8, 2010 would be forever remembered as the night it got blown off.