Since Clarity is too lazy to post it:
MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- Irish rockers U2 ended their hugely successful "Elevation" tour Sunday night in the same neighborhood as they started but with a show that poignantly reflected the events that have shaken the world since the band set out nine months ago.
At the outset of the trek, the band had said they wanted the concerts to focus on the songs after the theatrical extravaganzas of their previous few tours. Following the September 11 attacks on the United States and the launching of U.S.-led war against terrorism, many of those songs have taken on a new resonance.
Several times during the concert at Miami's American Airlines Arena, lead singer Bono, often a fervent critic of U.S. government policy, declared the band's affection and sympathy for the United States.
"I'd like to say how much we love this country and we wish you safety and prosperity," he told the crowd at one point.
U2 have always been a politically and socially involved band -- usually as a champion of the underdog.
Songs such as the vintage "Sunday Bloody Sunday" about the troubles in Northern Ireland, with its chorus of "how long must we sing this song," were delivered with new fire and relevance in light of the conflicts raging in the world today.
During the song, Bono picked an Irish tricolor and a U.S. flag from fans in the crowd, tied them together, then buried his face in them. The gesture was greeted with whoops of appreciation.
The show moved to an emotional climax with the encore "One," a plea for peace and harmony, as a screen behind them scrolled the names of victims of the September 11 attacks, Bono by then wearing a New York Fire Department T-shirt.
Played to 2 million fans
More than 2 million fans in North America and Europe have seen the 109 shows the band has played this year. The tour has buttressed U2's claim to be the greatest rock and roll band in the world -- and, according to the latest figures by Pollstar, U2 grossed $69 million by mid-year, the biggest earning of the year.
Sunday night's tour closer, like the others, featured songs from throughout the band's two-decade career, from the 1980s classics that seemed to delight the crowd most to the strong performances of their Grammy Award-winning 2000 album "All That You Can't Leave Behind." Not a few people in the crowd were parents with their children.
"So we began in Miami and we finish in Miami," Bono said. "Something special is going on with our band and our crowd -- it's like a church."
Highlights
Among the notable moments:
-- Bono and guitarist the Edge, playing an acoustic guitar, singing "Please," a song, Bono explained, originally written about "religious nuts and political fanatics" in their native Ireland and now directed at Osama bin Laden.
-- During the anthem "Bad," Bono plucked a fan from the crowd and danced with him on stage. The fellow had tattooed on his back all the U2 concerts he had attended.
-- In a ringing version of "Pride (in the Name of Love)," screens showed a video of Martin Luther King, the song's subject, then King's words were broadcast and melded into the song.
The encores, packing a heavy emotional punch, began with "Bullet the Blue Sky" -- a song about air raids on civilians in Central America -- then Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," about America's confusion in the Vietnam era.
Then the elegy "New York," from the new album, when silk screens emblazoned with skyscrapers were lowered from the rafters. "Even Miami loves New York," ad-libbed Bono, the significance being lost on no one.
"One," with the September 11 roll call, followed, then a few choruses of "My Sweet Lord" in tribute to late Beatle George Harrison. Then with a poignant "Walk On," with its call to struggle through adversity, U2 closed the tour.
