MANCHESTER, Tenn. – U2, along with the Rolling Stones, can lay claim to being the world’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll act working today, and they proved why Friday night at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.
Accustomed to selling out the largest venues in the world, this was only their second festival ever. One of the reasons for that is their over-the-top stage shows demand lots of space for extra lighting, staging, video and pyrotechnics. On this tour the band is playing its 1987 hit record “The Joshua Tree” in its entirety, in addition to other hits from their 41-year career.
While that means Friday’s show was smaller by U2 standards, it was by no means small. A giant, five-story-tall screen covered the entire back of the main stage, with equally big screens flanking the stage.
U2 used the screens to show videos of everything from Joshua trees to historic figures to streets to scrolling texts, including words from poet Walt Whitman and civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The size of the crowd was also notable, as it felt more like crowds of earlier years here when the entire field in front of the main What Stage was full and there were still plenty of people in the main Centeroo area. No other acts played during U2’s set.