U2 hits San Jose for ‘Vertigo’ world tour

(Santa Cruz Sentinel) -- Hot on the trail of the newly released "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," U2 comes to the HP Pavilion in San Jose Friday and Sunday.

These shows are sold out, but the Vertigo/2005 tour comes back to the Oakland Arena Nov. 8 and 9, with tickets currently on sale through tickets.com. Opening the San Jose show will be the Kings of Leon.

The world tour, the first after three years, kicked off in San Diego at the end of March, played Anaheim and now hits the San Francisco Bay Area, varying set lists from both new and old repertoire for every show.

A Web site tracks the band’s progress with reviews, interviews, a crew member’s diary, photos and set lists — everything for the devoted fan.

Already commented upon is the band’s seemingly simple stage design, but one embedded with lights, featuring smoke, video and word clips and artsy backgrounds.

Tour manager Paul McGuinness says the show will contain about half the songs off the new album, with a mix of older songs.

"This is our moment right now," said Bono on the Web site. "People are playing our songs on the radio, people can’t get in to our shows so what are we going to do with this moment? We don’t want to choke, we don’t want to blow it, let’s see what a rock band can do when they are right at their prime."

U2 formed in 1976 with Larry Mullen, Paul Hewson (aka Bono Vox), Dave Evans (aka The Edge), Dik Evans and Adam Clayton. Dik Evans left to join the Virgin Prunes, but the four remained together and, riding on a reputation for great live shows, got a record deal with CBS.

The band hit in 1983 with "War," featuring such concert staples as "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "New Year’s Day" and "Two Hearts Beat As One," but perhaps are best known for "The Joshua Tree."

The band wasn’t content to ride on fame, though, producing records and tours that mocked their celebrity, becoming active in human rights issues and experimenting with their music.