The Joshua Tree Tour 2019

'Heroes' in Australia

Sixth and final show in Australia and this one is right up there.
'Thank you to Noel Gallagher and his High 
Flying Birds… We've had some real altitude going 
over the last month… this tour will be hard to come 
down from.  
And thank you, Perth for your patience… the only 
thing we can do to make up for the last 10 years is 
make tonight the best show we've ever played in this city. 
And it's what's going on inside you that makes a great show…
What a magnificent country you live in. What beauty. Australia.. 
What a wonder you are…'

'Sunday Bloody Sunday', 'I Will Follow', 'New Years Day'… then 'Bad' finds yet another song within it, this time Bowie's 'Heroes' with special mention both to the country's firefighters - putting themselves in harms way to keep others out of harm - and to the young, peaceful activists in the city today, including schoolchildren, 'trying to keep us from extinction.'

Legendary producer Steve Lillywhite is in the house and gets a shout out while 'Still Haven't Found...' goes out to the late Aboriginal Elder, Rev Sealin Garlett.

IN THE PRESS
Simon Collins in The West Australian.
'Talk about good craic. The greatest rock band from the north side of Dublin turned on one for the ages at a pub called Optus Stadium on Wednesday night for around 50,000 mates.
Sure, U2 have had their trials and tribulations since they brought that claw thingamajig to Perth on that 360 Tour, which made ‘em a few bob, but the final show of their first Australian tour in nearly a decade was something really special.
With not too may airs, few graces and one or two speeches from old mate Bono, this show – part of the ongoing 30th anniversary celebrations for classic album The Joshua Tree – felt like the four-piece was playing down your local. That is if you could ignore the massive, super high-definition screen spanning from one forward pocket to the other….'

@dantheinternut for Triple M : 
After weeks of watching the rest of the country frenzy over the legendary U2 and their amazing tour celebrating The Joshua Tree, finally, it was #Perth's turn and the anticipation was palpable. Finally, our new(ish) stadium would host arguably the biggest stadium rock band in the world. What a night it promised to be. Of course, after two odd hours celebrating one of the biggest bands the world has ever seen, the night was all that and everything more. Quite frankly, U2 were bloody amazing and the wait was well and truly worth the while! Of course, Noel Gallagher kicked things off and although he didn't say much, he certainly set the mood for things to come. Ending with a Beatles classic, genius! When the house lights went down and the PA cranked up to the sounds of The Waterboys' The Whole Of The Moon, we knew, it was time. When that familiar, epic run of snare hits from Sunday Bloody Sunday reverberated around Optus Stadium, U2 were here and yes, the crowd reacted as expected. Of course, this tour was built to celebrate their 1987 masterpiece The Joshua Tree, and symbolically, that's how it played out. The band played a few of their early hits, all on the small stage, right in front of a massive shadow of the Joshua tree  hanging over them. It was like a trip back in time, watching a band play a small stage but knowing that things would explode for them off the back off one very special album. When the tree lit up and the boys launched into Where The Streets Have No Name, it was the official beginning of said celebration of said album. Once again, the crowd responded in kind.
Hearing these songs again in a live environment, it's easy to see why The Joshua Tree was such a worldwide smash back in the late '80s. Unlike many of their peers at the time, their songs stand up still to this day. Obviously, when you're U2, you can't celebrate just the one album. There's too many hits to play. So, once the final track from The Joshua Tree echoed throughout the stands, the haunting Mothers Of The Disappeared, we were back into U2's extensive back catalogue. And what a back catalogue. Elevation, Beautiful Day and Even Better Than The Real Thing all got their time to shine (amongst many others). It's got to be said, their celebration of powerful, strong women throughout the underrated Ultra Violet (Light My Way) was simply excellent. "History becomes Her Story", nice! It's also got to be said that the screen and "show" surrounding the band's performance was awesome. It felt like this show was more about the music and the musicianship. There was a distinct lack of sequencing and the central theme of the band, playing as a band, rang true. Fittingly, U2 finished with their beautiful song One. A sage choice to end what was an epic night in #Perth.'

IN THE SETLIST
Angel Of Harlem, Every Breaking Wave & Love Is Bigger (Than Anything In It's Way), all make a welcome return to the set for Perth.

ON THE SOCIALS
@markoyaaaay : Fourth time seeing this guys and this goes right up there with ZooTV in 1993. Last night was absolutely electric
@riccairns : The Joshua Tree. Hearing the whole album played live reminded us why it's iconic. Lifted us off the ground.
@Kathryn427 : This is the best I've heard U2 sound, the most incredible, inclusive and fun show I've been to. Bono - you're a f*cking legend 

WHAT DID BONO SAY
‘Is it wrong that I will miss 50,000 Aussies telling us they love us to feel normal?'

AND ALSO
Exact halfway point of the tour tonight in Perth. If you want to see at-a-glance what songs have and have not played each each night and how many times in total then be sure to check out U2 stat fan @markpeterboro's #TheJoshuaTreeTour2019 running set list chart over here : https://twitter.com/markpeterboro/status/1199716955936231429?s=20 - it's gonna be interesting to see those blank spaces getting filled in some brand new places these coming weeks…

Here's the complete set list - if you were at the Optus Stadium tonight, tell us all about it. 

Add your own review and photos on our tour pages.