U2 360 Tour Mexico

Universal Music Mexico honored U2 with three awards for their follow high sales in the Mexican territory:

• The historic sale of their catalog totaling more than 3 million units;
• Platinum Album for their latest album No Line On The Horizon;
• Platinum Disc for DVD / Blu-Ray documenting their current tour, U2 360° Live At The Rose Bowl.

FREE and GRATIS! Welcome to a new area on U2.com where the site be adding free graphics, photos and other cool stuff for you to take away. Help yourself… and keep checking back as U2.com will be adding more regularly.

U2 > Downloads

You can also go to the Picasa Album below (click in the photo), courtesy of U2News, and download all the available wallpapers so far.

Bono has something to say about Mexico’s drug war too.

U2 packed Mexico City’s Aztec Stadium for three shows ending Sunday, and didn’t shy away from addressing the country’s brutal drug violence, which has killed more than 34,000 people since President Felipe Calderon announced a new offensive against traffickers in 2006. On closing night, the band’s lead singer, Bono, steered pointed remarks toward the United States, the source of many of the powerful weapons employed by the cartel hit men, in what he called a “message of love along the border.”

Bono said that while much attention is paid to drug-smuggling from Mexico to the United States, “we don’t hear about all the automatic weapons that are being smuggled into Mexico from the United States.” (That’s not really true, since The Times and other outlets have reported often on the cross-border arms trade, but let the man have his say.) “Nine thousand registered arms dealers on the other side of the border,” Bono told the crowd. “Nine thousand.”

“We sing this for the innocents who have lost their lives in the violence here,” Bono said. The band eased into ”Pride (In the Name of Love)” with slightly altered opening lyrics.

The band made a serious splash in Mexico City (link in Spanish), where Bono celebrated his 51st birthday last week (he even took a bottle of bubbly to the crowd outside his restaurant). Bono visited Calderon, who has complained often about the flow of U.S. -purchased arms into his country. Calderon, who is three years younger than Bono, attended Saturday’s show and tweeted that it was “extraordinary.”

New Year’s Day, All I Want is You and Love Rescue Me  all arrived in the show for the final stop in a record-breaking week in Mexico.

‘Thank you for this last week,’ said Bono in Spanish towards the end of With or Without You. ‘We’ve had some great times in this country. This has been the best of all. Can we consider ourselves Irish Mexican?’

From the top of the show it felt like this third night in Mexico might be a big one: ‘Even better than last night…’ said Bono, after Even Better Than The Real Thing,  not forgetting a special send-off to a band who’ve played support on this tour more than anyone else. ‘We’ll miss you when you’re gone – Snow Patrol…’

The signature opening of New Year’s Day reminded everyone that on a third night in a city the band tend to throw in the surprises and this was the first of five tracks that weren’t in the show last night.

U2.COM review here

Below, you can see the videos we got so far, as well as link for a constantly updated album.

Many thanks to U2gigs.com for the videos, and all the fans who contributed the lot of several albums.

SETLIST

Opening Act(s): Snow Patrol

Main Set: Even Better Than The Real Thing, New Year’s Day, Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, Mysterious Ways, Elevation, Until the End of the World, All I Want Is You – Worried Blues, Love Rescue Me, Pride, Beautiful Day – Blackbird, Miss Sarajevo, Zooropa, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo – Teenage Kicks, I’ll Go Crazy (remix) – Discotheque – Please, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Scarlet, Walk On – You’ll Never Walk Alone

Encore(s): One, Play Me – Where the Streets Have No Name, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me, With or Without You, Moment of Surrender

VIDEOS

U2.com Official

Love Rescue Me

All I Want Is You

Vertigo
(Notice the girl storming on stage around the 3 minute mark)

Intro & Even Better Than The Real Thing

Magnificent

Elevation

Beautiful Day

City Of Blinding Lights

Crazy Tonight Remix

Where The Streets Have No Name

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

Moment Of Surrender

PICTURES

Click in the links below to see all photos

Here / Here /Here

Another remarkable show with a record-breaking Mexican audience totally pumped, a swathe of unexpected changes in the set list  and the spirit of Frank Sinatra in the house.

‘Where’s Frank?’ asked Bono during Until The End of the World. ‘Thirteen years ago we said goodbye to Frank Sinatra…’  At which point he broke into  Strangers in the Night and before you knew it 100,000 Mexicans were also ‘spreading the news’.

‘Peace…peace… We need it all over the world and here in Mexico. I woke up this morning – drums in my head – even the car horns were playing a tune. I realised it wasn’t a dream it was Mexico City.
‘And it’s Saturday night… there’s magic in the air …we are Irish Latinos. ‘

U2.COM review here

Bono wore a Sombrero during Mysterious Ways (video below). Also, Mexican President Felipe Calderon was at the show, and live-tweeted a photo near the end of the concert.