Vertigo Tour
Five legs of arena intimacy and stadium spectacle supporting How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Irish rock band U2, staged in support of their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Running from March 2005 to December 2006, the tour featured five legs that alternated between intimate indoor arena shows in North America and large outdoor stadium concerts internationally. The design included a stripped-down main stage with a distinctive ellipse-shaped catwalk extending into the audience, known as the "bomb shelter." By its conclusion, the tour had sold 4,619,021 tickets across 131 shows, grossing $389 million to become the second-highest-grossing concert tour at that time. The experience was captured in two official films: Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago and U2 3D.
Quick Facts
- Album
- How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
- Location
- North America, Europe, South America, Oceania, Asia
- Artist
- U2
- Start date
- 28 March 2005
- End date
- 9 December 2006
- Number of legs
- 5
- Number of shows
- 131
- Last tour
- Elevation Tour (2001)
Lore & Background
The tour's production was crafted by architect Mark Fisher and lighting designer Willie Williams. A defining element was the ellipse-shaped ramp connecting to the stage, where fans could stand inside or outside the structure. In North American arenas, seven retractable LED bead curtains hung behind the band, displaying abstract patterns and moving figures using 189 strings of "MiSphere" golf-ball pixels developed in Belgium. These curtains allowed excellent visibility for all attendees while rolling up when not needed. For stadium shows across Europe, Latin America, and Australia, these curtains were swapped for a large LED screen assembled from BARCO O-Lite modules, rigged similarly to the PopMart Tour. The stage also featured dynamic lights embedded in the floor and B-stage ramp, along with four screens suspended above showing close-ups of each band member.
Reader's Guide
The setlist varied significantly between legs and show types. Arena shows typically opened with "City of Blinding Lights," "Vertigo," and "Elevation," while stadium concerts often began with "Vertigo," "I Will Follow," and "The Electric Co." Early in the tour, "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire served as introduction music. Every show included a tribute to Bono's father with "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" and a politically themed sequence featuring "Love and Peace or Else," "Sunday Bloody Sunday," and "Bullet the Blue Sky," centered around the theme of "Coexist." The first encore frequently revisited the Zoo TV Tour with "Zoo Station," "The Fly," and "Mysterious Ways," though later legs substituted this for acoustic sets. The final leg in Australia introduced new closers like "Kite" accompanied by a didgeridoo, and the Honolulu finale featured special guests Billie Joe Armstrong, Eddie Vedder, and Mike McCready.
Did You Know?
- The tour grossed $260 million in 2005 alone, making it the top-grossing tour of that year.
- Tickets for shows in The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Austria all sold out within 60 minutes during the European leg.
- The ellipse-shaped catwalk area was nicknamed the 'bomb shelter' in reference to the supporting album's title.
- U2 broke Irish box office records with three Croke Park concerts that sold more than 240,000 tickets in record time.
More in Tours & Concerts
Related in U2
Links follow this subject's own source article.
Elsewhere in U2
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced