Music review: Beautiful day as out of this world U2 touch down at Hampden

THEY redefined the epic pop show with Zoo TV, they have emerged from inside a giant lemon and have already made the onstage phone call to the world's most powerful man on previous tours. So what is left for U2 to aim for in the concert arena?

The rather old-school notion of playing a gig in the round, as it turns out. This being U2, their 360 tour is a tad more ambitious.

U2 made a statement from the moment their fans arrived. To make the most obvious allusion, it looked like a massive cartoon spaceship had landed.

David Bowie's Space Odyssey boomed through the PA system. Too obvious, perhaps, but no one comes to a U2 concert for subtlety. Without further fanfare, a single figure strolled into view. Well, it would be drummer Larry Mullen Jr, never one for a fuss. The Edge and Adam Clayton materialised just as instantaneously. Then Bono, in regulation black leather and shades, popped up.

They opened with a salvo of tracks from current album No Line On The Horizon, including the throwaway bluster of Get On Your Boots, which made a lot of muffled noise without ever threatening to turn into a song.

The it was time to roll out Magnificent, with its echoes of the classic U2 sound, and its close cousin Beautiful Day to warm up the party.

The band struck up I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For only to cut all but the rhythm and let the crowd take over with a surprisingly tuneful communal vocal.

Moving fluently from the anthemic to the intimate, the camera picked out a Scotland snowglobe on the stage and a lovely acoustic version of Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of was graced by The Edge's sweet falsetto voice. As the lightshow kicked in, the mothership went into overdrive for stirring renditions of The Unforgettable Fire, Vertigo, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Pride (In The Name Of Love).

Sound problems briefly threatened to derail the juggernaut just at the point when Bono was singing his heart out in support of jailed Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but there were other ways to get the message of solidarity across, as the stage was ringed with supporters holding masks of her face, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu beamed in a personal message of hope to introduce One.

There were other tricks still up their sleeve – literally, in the case of Bono's laser lightshow attached to his jacket and, prettiest of all, a mirrorball effect beamed from the apex of the spaceship during With Or Without You, before the foursome strolled off together the way they had arrived.