U2
Soldier Field
Chicago, Illinois
July 5, 2011

Source: Church Audio CA-11 cards => UGLY pre-amp => Tascam DR-2D (24/48)
Transfer: DR-2D => WAV => Audition 1.5 (dither to 16-bit) => WAV => Magix Audio Cleaning Lab => WAV => FLAC (level 8)

Location: Field, slightly in front of soundboard, in line with right speaker stack

Disc one (67:36):
(1) Even Better Than The Real Thing (4:39)
(2) The Fly (5:07)
(3) Mysterious Ways(/Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World/Independent Woman) (4:42)
(4) Until The End of the World (6:12)
(5) Out of Control (4:58)
(6) Get On Your Boots (4:02)
(7) Banter (3:37)
(8) I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For(/The Promised Land) (4:20)
(9) Banter (0:57)
(10) Stay (Faraway, So Close) (4:58)
(11) Intro (1:42)
(12) Beautiful Day(/Space Oddity) (5:11)
(13) Elevation (4:20)
(14) Pride (In The Name Of Love) (4:27)
(15) Miss Sarajevo (4:24)
(16) Zooropa (3:52)

Disc two (73:49):
(1) City of Blinding Lights(/My Kind of Town) (5:34)
(2) Vertigo(/Miss You) (4:11)
(3) I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (remix) => Discotheque(/Life During Wartime) (6:27)
(4) Sunday Bloody Sunday (4:15)
(5) Scarlet (2:18)
(6) Walk On(/The Battle Hymn of the Republic) (6:31)
(7) Encore break (1:49)
(8) One (5:48)
(9) Where The Streets Have No Name (5:34)
(10) Encore break (3:12)
(11) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me(/My Kind of Town) (5:11)
(12) With or Without You (5:37)
(13) Bono Banter (3:25)
(14) Moment of Surrender(/One Tree Hill) (8:03)
(15) One Tree Hill (5:47) *

* patch from alternate source (DPA 4060 => Edirol R-09 HR (24/44.1)

Md5 signature file is included. Sorry, no artwork (feel free to make some)

Comments:

Good performance by U2 at Soldier Field near the close of their 360 tour, 364 days after the originally scheduled date. Many changes have been made to the setlist since the North American tour opened in Chicago nearly two years ago -- all but three of the new songs have been dropped from the set, and the opening sequence showcases the nearly 20-year-old "Achtung Baby," which is a big improvement in my opinion. Overall, I thought the performance and song selection was a lot more compelling than the first leg of the tour. The band gave a high-energy performance all the way through, fueled by a vocal sellout crowd of 60,000 -- there was not an empty seat to be seen all the way to the top of the stadium.

The emotional highlight, of course, was "One Tree Hill," performed in honor of the 25th anniversary of Greg Carroll's death. This was clearly tentative and under-rehearsed, but it didn't matter. One of the coolest moments I've seen at any U2 show over the years.

The recording is pretty good, although I have no doubt that there are better recordings out there. I was in line with the right speaker stack about halfway back on the floor, and the sound was great. Vocals are prominent in the mix, and there isn't too much crowd interference near the microphones. As luck would have it, my flash card errored out and the deck shut off about 30 seconds into OTH, so the last track is patched from the source recorded by my friend standing next to me. The cutover is pretty seamless, though you might notice that the last track has more clarity on the upper ranges and a little more crowd noise due to the audience members to his right.

Many thanks to u2setlists.com to help me fill out all of the tags. Mp3 samples are included in the comments.