Today, U2 performed their first ever concert in Russia, at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. It was an eventful day: Mikhail Gorbachev was in attendance, there was heavy rain during U2's performance, and Russian musician Yuri Shevchuk appeared on stage to help cover a Bob Dylan song. Controversially, the heavy police and military presence shut down tents for Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the One Campaign, claiming they were illegal. Furthermore, multiple activists were detained; they were ultimately released without charge. Bono was reportedly informed and perplexed by the action.

Before the concert, Pride, In A Little While, and an acoustic Desire were soundchecked. In the setlist itself, for the first time this year, the band only played one unreleased song: the brief opener, Return Of The Stingray Guitar. All previous 2010 shows have featured at least two unreleased songs. Slotting in at tenth in the set was Pride, the earliest it has been played on the 360° Tour, while Sunday Bloody Sunday was restored to the setlist in its usual position after being dropped at the previous gig. The encore was extended when Yuri Shevchuk, most famous for his band DDT, joined U2 to cover Knockin' On Heaven's Door. Although Bono performed the song recently, on 24 December 2009, it has not been performed by the whole band since 2 December 2001.

The full setlist was:

1. Return of the Stingray Guitar
2. Beautiful Day / Rain (snippet)
3. New Year's Day / Singin' In The Rain (snippet)
4. Get on Your Boots
5. Magnificent
6. Mysterious Ways / My Sweet Lord (snippet) / Singin' In The Rain (snippet)
7. Elevation
8. Until the End of the World
9. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
10. Pride (In the Name of Love)
11. In a Little While
12. Miss Sarajevo
13. City of Blinding Lights / Singin' In The Rain (snippet)
14. Vertigo
15. Crazy Tonight / Discothèque (snippet)
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Get Up Stand Up (snippet)
17. MLK
18. Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)

encore(s):

19. One
20. Amazing Grace (snippet) / Where the Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet)
21. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
22. With or Without You
23. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (with Yuri Shevchuk)
24. Moment of Surrender

All details for this show including reviews, videos and photos can be found here.

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Posted on August 25, 2010 by Axver