AS U2’s “eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE” Tour in Paris was about to start, I stood a few feet from the stage feeling anxious and excited. I had just survived waiting in line for 24 hours to have this unobstructed vantage point. Months of planning this Europe vacation around U2’s touring schedule finally paid off when my musical heroes entered the arena.
“Tonight is a story of four ordinary boys made extraordinary by our music and our audience,” announced lead singer Bono early in the show. “It’s a classic story where a boy searches for his manhood, the boy tries and fails to hold on to his innocence, only to discover later some wisdom and good company, and that in the far end of experience you can again recover that innocence. This is the tale we are trying to tell,” he said.
The immersive setup inside the AccorHotels Arena venue features on one end a traditional main stage (the innocence stage) and a second stage on the other end (the experience stage). A massive 96-foot double-sided LED screen, nicknamed the barricage, hung above the walkway connecting both stages.
U2 opened the show from inside the barricage with “The Blackout,” a song that tackles political turmoil juxtaposed with self-doubt. Next up was “Lights Of Home,” a contemplation of mortality from a near-death experience. Bono sang while following the lights that led him from the barricage on to the innocence stage where he joined his bandmates: guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr.
From the innocence stage, the band, whose members are now pushing 60 years old, still managed to conjure some youthful urgency as they performed timeless classics “I Will Follow” and “Beautiful Day.” The pace then slowed and turned serious as the band ran through “The Ocean” and “Iris,” songs that deal with Bono losing his mother as a child. “Cedarwood Road” showcased stunning screen visuals and effects that transported Bono to a virtual recreation of his childhood neighborhood.
The innocence chapter of U2’s story concluded with two songs that provide snapshots of the band’s turbulent upbringing in 1970s Dublin, Ireland: violence in “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” and religious questioning in “Until The End Of The World.” The band then exited the innocence stage.
An animated comic strip intermission video played onscreen depicting U2’s progression from young band to rock supergroup. After that bit, U2 re-emerged in the experience stage now armed with extra swagger and over-the-top outfits to bring the show to a peak after scorching versions of “Elevation” and “Vertigo.”
“What being a rock and roll star does to a young man’s mind sort of expands it and shrinks it at the same time. You just want to believe a lie that you’re more interesting than your next door neighbor or real heroes like firemen, nurses or teachers,” Bono mused before taking the lie further by going to full showman mode in “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and “Acrobat,” songs from U2’s era of excess and experimentation.
Still standing in the experience stage, Bono took off his hat then looked into a mirror to remove his eye-liner. Seeking refuge in his wife Ali, he phones her to profess his love and how much he misses home and family. He sings to her “You’re The Best Thing About Me,” an admission that it is she who made him amount to something.
“If there’s anything that I’ve learned from this thing called experience and innocence, it is this—that it is okay to depend on other people. I am one-quarter of an artist without Edge, Larry and Adam. And I am one-half of a man without my partner Ali. So, macho Irish guy out,” Bono confessed as he embraces his vulnerability and abandons his megalomania.
Returning to the innocence stage of the arena, the band now shared to its audience the wisdom gained from that journey to experience: “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” stresses racial equality with reworked lyrics; “Get Out Of Your Own Way” teaches that the greatest hindrance to one’s own growth is himself; “New Year’s Day” preaches solidarity among separated factions; and, “City Of Blinding Lights” yearns to rediscover lost innocence.
Powerful images and slogans advocating women’s rights and empowerment serve as the starting point for “One.” The enlightened audience all chanted and waved their hands in communion to the endearing message of the penultimate song, “Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way.”
The finale is the tender, contemplative “13 (There Is A Light)” when Bono walked to the experience stage to find a replica of his childhood abode from Cedarwood Road. He took the lightbulb from his room and sang tenderly to an innocent younger version of himself.
As the band ended the song, a blackout engulfed the entire arena save for that single lightbulb from Bono’s childhood room that remained as the only light that never went out. The tale that took the band from innocence to the far end of experience comes full circle when it finds innocence again.
Leaving the venue, I realized U2 left out a lot of its greatest hits. The song selection was clearly curated to serve their story in a cohesive manner. Notably absent were songs from its career-defining album “The Joshua Tree.” However, I did not feel any tinge of resentment at the song omissions. Instead, I felt thankful that U2 shared its magnificent journey from innocence to experience.