Elevation Tour

Elevation Tour
Tour by U2
Associated album All That You Can't Leave Behind
Start date 24 March 2001
End date 2 December 2001
Legs 3
No. of shows 113
Box office US $142.8 million ($191.16 in 2016 dollars)[1]
U2 concert chronology

The Elevation Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, the tour visited arenas in 2001. After the band's previous two extravagant stadium tours, Zoo TV and PopMart, the Elevation Tour returned the band to indoor arenas with a much more stripped-down, intimate stage design. A heart-shaped B-stage extended from the main stage, while encapsulating many of the fans.

The Elevation Tour comprised three legs and 113 shows and was seen by about 2.1 million people. The Elevation Tour opened on 24 March 2001 (27 September 2000 when promo tour included) with the first leg in North America, the second leg in Europe that summer, and the third leg back in North America that autumn, ending on 2 December 2001. The tour was the top concert draw of 2001, grossing $143 million, and was top draw in North America, with the band's 80 shows grossing $110 million at ticket prices of $45–$135.[2] Its success was capped off by the band's performance at the Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show in 2002. The tour was depicted in two concert films, Elevation 2001: Live from Boston and U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle.

Stage design

The Elevation Tour's stage design was by Willie Williams and Mark Fisher, designers of a number of U2's tours. Unlike its predecessor Zoo TV and PopMart tours, Elevation was a simpler, stripped-down affair, hitting indoor arenas instead of outdoor stadiums. The key feature was the stage, which included a large heart-shaped ramp which jutted halfway out onto the arena floor, creating a glorified catwalk. Some general admission ticket-holders were placed inside the heart, on top of which band members could walk, getting closer to the audience on both sides. Visual images were presented on scrims mounted high among the lighting rigs, sometimes in dynamic swirling fashion such as for "Kite", and even on the entire indoor surface.[3] Williams would win Live Design magazine's 2001 EDDY Award for his work on the tour;[4] the award stated, "While U2's current Elevation tour is striking in its simplicity, Williams created an almost complete amalgamation of lighting and video by using the entire space of each arena as a projection surface."[3]

Tour overview

U2 in concert of the Elevation Tour

Lead singer Bono would reiterate during shows the promotional theme of both the tour and the new album, that after the relatively poor sales of Pop and sometimes poor reception of PopMart, "We're back, re-applying for the job ... And the job is best band in the world."[5][6]

The European leg of the Elevation Tour was also presented in arenas. However, several outdoor shows were played due to logistics and facility requirements. These included both of the Slane Castle shows, which were part of Ireland's annual Slane Concert. For these two performances, the "heart" was extended and widened in order to accommodate the more than 180,000 people who attended each gig.[7] The Turin show was played in a football stadium, with a black U-shaped semicircle extending out into the crowd instead of the heart. The Berlin show was performed in a natural outdoor arena with a tent-like structure supporting all the band's flown gear such as speaker stacks and lighting rigs. Due to the limited amount of space available for production, the top of the heart was placed at the front of the stage. During this leg, Bono regularly flew back to Dublin after each show to be with his dying father.[8]

The third leg of the tour began in the U.S. only a month after the September 11, 2001 attacks and in the midst of the 2001 anthrax attacks. This nearly led U2 to cancel the leg, but they decided to continue, starting it at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, home of the "Fighting Irish". While some fans shied away from coming to an ordinarily celebratory occasion or to a large, enclosed public gathering, many other fans did not let these events stop them. The tenor of the times dramatically affected the temperament of the shows, with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" appearing frequently in the setlist and the band's "Walk On" taking on added emotional weight.

Setlists

Bono performing on the Elevation Tour

Shows would traditionally open under the venue house lights with the Influx mix of "Elevation" playing as the band's intro music. "Elevation", the tour's title track, would then kick off the show, and would then be normally followed up by "Beautiful Day", "Until the End of the World" and "New Year's Day". Occasionally, "Discothèque" or "Mysterious Ways" followed "Until the End of the World" instead of "New Year's Day".

For the first two legs, most shows would then use "Kite", "Gone" and "New York" early in the setlist. Sometimes "Discothèque" or "Even Better Than the Real Thing" was played between "Gone" and "New York". All tour shows would see "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" Normally, one out of "I Will Follow", "Out of Control" and "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" would be played before "Sunday Bloody Sunday". "In a Little While" would then normally be played (sometimes "Sweetest Thing" or "Wake up Dead Man" would be played), and that would be followed by a full band acoustic rendition of "Desire" and then an acoustic song, normally "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Sometimes "The Ground Beneath Her Feet", "Staring at the Sun" or a cover of "I Remember You" by The Ramones would be played instead.

The acoustic song would then normally be followed by the live favourite "Bad", which had appeared few times on the previous PopMart Tour. On occasions, "All I Want Is You" would be played instead. "Where the Streets Have No Name" followed, which was played at every concert. Normally, the band would then play "Mysterious Ways" with snippets of "Sexual Healing" at the end of the song and a new version of "The Fly" with the Edge playing guitar and Bono performing at the end of the heart catwalk. On occasions, "The Fly" would be replaced by "Pride (In the Name of Love)". After playing either "The Fly" or "Pride", the main set would end and the band would leave the stage.

U2 would then open the encore with "Bullet the Blue Sky", usually accompanied by Bono protesting against gun crime and giving a speech against handgun crime, while using a smaller version of the spotlight he used on The Joshua Tree Tour. "Bullet" would then be followed by "With or Without You". The band would then normally play "One", which was played at every concert. On occasions in the first leg, the band played "Pride" or "The Fly" between "With or Without You" and "One" with the other one of those two songs played after "Mysterious Ways" at the end of the main set. "Wake up Dead Man" was sometimes played after "One", if not after "Sunday Bloody Sunday". "Walk On" would then be played as the outright show closer.

The third leg saw some alterations to the setlist to reflect the much more emotionally poignant times that existed within America in the wake of the September 11th attacks. After opening with the same trio that they opened the first two legs with, the band would then most commonly play "New Year's Day", "I Will Follow" or "Out of Control", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" and "Kite". "Angel of Harlem" also made appearances either before or after "Kite".

The band's acoustic slot was moved forward, with "In a Little While" dropped altogether and the acoustic slot taking place after "Kite". Normally, "Wild Honey" and "Please" would be played. "Please" also made one appearance in its electric form, in a similar style to its Popmart performance where it would run into "Where The Streets Have No Name". Most shows however would then see be similar to the first two legs, with the main difference seeing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", played once in the first two legs, given a regular slot between "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" while the regular for the first two legs in that slot, "Mysterious Ways", was dropped for most of the second leg.

The encore would once again contain "Bullet the Blue Sky", "One" and "Walk On". Instead of playing "With or Without You" between "Bullet" and "One" as they did on the first two legs, the band would instead play a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and "New York". A few times, the band played "Peace on Earth" between "One" and "Walk On".

Overall 53 songs were played by U2 with six songs ("Elevation", "Beautiful Day", "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "One") played at all 113 concerts, and a further three tracks ("Bullet the Blue Sky", "Until the End of the World" and "Walk On") only missing one show apiece on the tour.

Super Bowl performance

Following the Elevation Tour proper, the band performed a three-song set during the halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI. The set opened with "Beautiful Day", with Bono entering through the crowd. Next was "MLK". The highlight was a performance of "Where the Streets Have No Name" in which the names of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks were projected onto a tall backdrop, scrolling up towards the sky. At the end of the song the backdrop was released, descending to the ground in a gentle revisiting of the World Trade Center's fall. Bono then opened his jacket, which he had worn throughout the Elevation Tour, to reveal the American flag printed as the lining, an image that was widely reproduced in the media.[9] In 2009, SI.com ranked it as the best halftime show in Super Bowl history.[10]

Concert filming

Two DVDs of the Elevation Tour were released. The first, Elevation 2001: Live from Boston, was released in December 2001, and included material from three different shows filmed in June 2001 in Boston at the then-named FleetCenter. The second, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, was released in November 2003. Filmed on September 1, 2001, it captured the outdoor variant of the show at the Slane Concert performance. It was directed by Hamish Hamilton.

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, amount of available tickets and gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Opening act Attendance Revenue
All That You Can't Leave Behind Promo Tour
27 September 2000 Dublin Ireland Clarence Hotel N/A N/A N/A
19 October 2000 Paris France Manray Club
22 October 2000 Dublin Ireland Dave Fanning Radio Show (2FM Studios)
23 October 2000 London England Maida Vale Studios (BBC Radio 1)
25 October 2000 Rome Italy RAI2 Studios
26 October 2000 Universal City, CA United States Kevin & Bean Show (KROQ FM)
27 October 2000 FarmClub.com TV
29 October 2000 Dublin Ireland Dave Fanning Radio Show (2FM Studios)
N/A England Modern Rock Live (Westwood One Radio Network)
30 October 2000 New York, NY United States MTV TRL Live
2 November 2000 London England Virgin Radio Studios
Top of the Pops
3 November 2000 CountDown:UK
13 November 2000 Madrid Spain Parque Ferial Juan Carlos (Amigo Awards)
16 November 2000 Stockholm Sweden Globen (MTV European VMA)
23 November 2000 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Globo Studios
30 November 2000 Los Angeles, CA United States Shrine Auditorium
5 December 2000 New York, NY Irving Plaza
9 December 2000 Saturday Night Live (NBC Studios)
7 February 2001 London England Astoria Theatre
North America[11][12]
24 March 2001 Sunrise United States National Car Rental Center The Corrs 37,969 / 37,969 $3,032,028
26 March 2001
28 March 2001 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum Nelly Furtado 19,054 / 19,054 $1,447,355
30 March 2001 Atlanta Philips Arena 20,596 / 20,596 $1,500,277
2 April 2001 Houston Compaq Center PJ Harvey 14,859 / 14,859 $1,198,589
3 April 2001 Dallas Reunion Arena 18,166 / 18,166 $1,450,655
6 April 2001 Denver Pepsi Center 18,462 / 18,462 $1,509,290
9 April 2001 Calgary Canada Pengrowth Saddledome 35,778 / 35,778 $1,824,131
10 April 2001
12 April 2001 Tacoma United States Tacoma Dome 21,807 / 21,807 $1,671,880
13 April 2001 Vancouver Canada General Motors Place 18,520 / 18,520 $960,419
15 April 2001 Portland United States Rose Garden Arena 16,653 / 16,653 $1,276,120
17 April 2001 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena 14,850 / 14,850 $1,237,115
19 April 2001 San Jose San Jose Arena 35,550 / 35,550 $2,878,940
20 April 2001
23 April 2001 Anaheim Arrowhead Pond 49,377 / 49,377 $4,152,640
24 April 2001
26 April 2001
28 April 2001 Phoenix America West Arena 17,575 / 17,575 $1,424,390
1 May 2001 Minneapolis Target Center 18,691 / 18,691 $1,465,425
3 May 2001 Cleveland Gund Arena 18,763 / 18,763 $1,492,460
4 May 2001 Lexington Rupp Arena 16,642 / 16,642 $1,143,878
6 May 2001 Pittsburgh Mellon Arena 14,863 / 14,863 $1,225,160
7 May 2001 Columbus Nationwide Arena 15,495 / 15,495 $1,284,930
9 May 2001 Milwaukee Bradley Center 18,622 / 18,622 $1,433,435
10 May 2001 Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse 15,088 / 15,088 $1,210,988
12 May 2001 Chicago United Center 78,275 / 78,275 $6,393,525
13 May 2001
15 May 2001
16 May 2001
24 May 2001 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre 39,048 / 39,048 $2,096,034
25 May 2001
27 May 2001 Montreal Molson Centre 42,198 / 42,198 $2,090,423
28 May 2001
30 May 2001 Auburn Hills United States The Palace of Auburn Hills 21,173 / 21,173 $1,638,325
31 May 2001 Buffalo HSBC Arena 18,434 / 18,434 $1,422,510
2 June 2001 Albany Pepsi Arena 15,515 / 15,515 $1,215,470
3 June 2001 Hartford Civic Center 15,717 / 15,717 $1,244,825
5 June 2001 Boston Fleet Center 68,139 / 68,139 $5,620,260
6 June 2001
8 June 2001
9 June 2001
11 June 2001 Philadelphia First Union Center 38,536 / 38,536 $3,076,345
12 June 2001
14 June 2001 Washington, D.C. MCI Center 37,971 / 37,917 $3,172,418
15 June 2001
17 June 2001 New York City Madison Square Garden 36,632 / 36,632 $3,141,260
19 June 2001
21 June 2001 East Rutherford Continental Airlines Arena 39,282 / 39,282 $3,205,680
22 June 2001
Europe[13][14]
6 July 2001 Copenhagen Denmark Forum Copenhagen Stereophonics 20,000 / 20,000 $1,107,040
7 July 2001 JJ72
9 July 2001 Stockholm Sweden The Globe Stereophonics 31,511 / 31,511 $1,269,775
10 July 2001
12 July 2001 Cologne Germany Kölnarena Söhne Mannheims 36,915 / 36,915 $1,701,438
13 July 2001
15 July 2001 Munich Olympiahalle 13,543 / 13,543 $602,819
17 July 2001 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy Stereophonics 34,000 / 34,000 $1,737,977
18 July 2001
21 July 2001 Turin Italy Stadio delle Alpi Timoria
Verdena
Fun Lovin' Criminals		 73,061 / 73,061 $2,616,225
23 July 2001 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion Kelis 26,000 / 26,000 $1,107,246
24 July 2001
26 July 2001 Vienna Austria Stadthalle 32,148 / 32,148 $1,213,120
27 July 2001
29 July 2001 Berlin Germany Waldbühne Michael Mittermeier 20,030 / 20,030 $856,742
31 July 2001 Arnhem Netherlands GelreDome Kelis 107,812 / 107,812 $4,015,276
1 August 2001
3 August 2001
5 August 2001 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis Stereophonics 32,878 / 32,878 $1,092,552
6 August 2001
8 August 2001 Barcelona Spain Palau Sant Jordi 18,000 / 18,000 $748,498
11 August 2001 Manchester England Manchester Evening News Arena Kelis 38,742 / 38,742 $2,073,724
12 August 2001
14 August 2001 Birmingham LG Arena 23,022 / 23,022 $1,255,635
15 August 2001
18 August 2001 London Earls Court Exhibition Centre 73,742 / 73,742 $4,475,265
19 August 2001 PJ Harvey
21 August 2001 Nelly Furtado
22 August 2001 JJ72
25 August 2001 Slane Ireland Slane Castle Relish
JJ72
Kelis
Coldplay
Red Hot Chili Peppers		 157,418 / 157,418 $6,683,996
27 August 2001 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Cosmic Rough Riders 19,231 / 19,231 $1,029,914
28 August 2001
1 September 2001 Slane Ireland Slane Castle Ash
Moby
Nelly Furtado
The Walls
Dara		 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 1]
North America[15]
10 October 2001 Notre Dame United States Edmund P. Joyce Center Garbage 11,441 / 11,441 $774,685
12 October 2001 Montreal Canada Molson Centre 21,063 / 21,063 $1,028,673
13 October 2001 Hamilton Copps Coliseum 18,486 / 18,486 $984,912
15 October 2001 Chicago United States United Center 39,368 / 39,368 $3,206,600
16 October 2001
19 October 2001 Baltimore Baltimore Arena Graham Parker 13,510 / 13,510 $1,131,610
24 October 2001 New York City Madison Square Garden Garbage
No Doubt
Stereophonics		 55,155 / 55,155 $4,706,370
25 October 2001
27 October 2001
28 October 2001 East Rutherford Continental Airlines Arena Stereophonics 19,589 / 19,589 $1,596,735
30 October 2001 Providence Dunkin' Donuts Center 26,575 / 26,575 $2,269,218
31 October 2001
2 November 2001 Philadelphia First Union Center 19,320 / 19,320 $1,541,360
5 November 2001 Austin Frank Erwin Center No Doubt 16,585 / 16,585 $1,083,525
7 November 2001 Denver Pepsi Center 18,432 / 18,432 $1,505,225
9 November 2001 Salt Lake City Delta Center 17,197 / 17,197 $1,347,245
12 November 2001 Los Angeles Staples Center 33,448 / 33,448 $2,987,433
13 November 2001
15 November 2001 Oakland Oakland Arena 35,546 / 35,546 $2,920,335
16 November 2001
18 November 2001 Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center 17,999 / 17,999 $1,497,148
19 November 2001 Los Angeles Staples Center 16,724 / 16,724 $1,493,716
20 November 2001 Sacramento ARCO Arena 13,789 / 13,789 $1,139,145
23 November 2001 Phoenix America West Arena 17,106 / 17,106 $1,385,805
25 November 2001 Dallas Reunion Arena 17,489 / 17,489 $1,417,350
27 November 2001 Kansas City Kemper Arena Garbage 13,456 / 13,456 $1,106,456
28 November 2001 St. Louis Savvis Center 16,051 / 16,051 $1,269,365
30 November 2001 Atlanta Philips Arena 18,535 / 18,535 $1,504,925
1 December 2001 Tampa Ice Palace 16,494 / 16,494 $1,339,865
2 December 2001 Miami American Airlines Arena 16,197 / 16,197 $1,350,595
Total 1,624,988 / 1,624,988 $112,241,902

Notes

  1. 1 2 The score data is representative of the both shows at the Slane Castle on August 25 and September 1 respectively.

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ Edna Gundersen (2005-01-23). "U2 tour has the concert business getting dizzy". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  3. 1 2 Catherine McHugh (2001-12-01). "The 2001 EDDY Awards: Willie Williams". Live Design. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  4. ↑ Ellen Lampert-Gréaux (2001-11-21). "10th Anniversary EDDY Awards Presenters Announced". Live Design. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  5. ↑ David Cheal (2001-02-09). "U2 make their bid to be best band in the world – further candidates need not apply". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
  6. ↑ Matt Dentler (2001-04-05). "beaU2ful days". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
  7. ↑ Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr. U2 by U2. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-077674-9.
  8. ↑ "Bono Flies Back to Dying Father After Each U2 Gig". Reuters. 2001-08-21. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
  9. ↑ Parra, Pimm Jal de la U2 Live: A Concert Documentary, pg. 268, 2003, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-9198-7.
  10. ↑ "Top 10 Super Bowl Halftime shows". SI.com. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  11. ↑ de la Parra (2003), p. 228-244
  12. ↑ North American box score:
  13. ↑ de la Parra (2003), p. 245-258
  14. ↑ Europe box score:
  15. ↑ North America box score:
Bibliography
  • de la Parra, Pimm Jal (2003). U2 Live: A Concert Documentary (second ed.). New York: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-9198-9. 
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