page_title: U2 concert in Sarajevo
section_title: Concert overview
hierarchical_section_title: U2 concert in Sarajevo / Concert overview
caption_attribution_description: Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo, Bosnia. The largest stadium in BiH.
context_page_description: On 23 September 1997, the Irish rock band U2 held a concert at Koševo Stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the group's PopMart Tour. They were the first major artist to hold a concert in the city after the end of the Bosnian War. Approximately 45,000 fans attended the show.
  The band first became involved with Sarajevo in 1993 on their Zoo TV Tour; approached by aid worker Bill Carter about bringing attention to the Siege of Sarajevo, the band conducted nightly satellite transmissions with Bosnians during their shows. These link-ups were the subject of criticism from journalists for mixing entertainment with human tragedy. Although the war made it impractical for U2 to visit Sarajevo at the time, they vowed to eventually play a concert in the city. After the conflict ended in November 1995, they made arrangements to visit Sarajevo, and with help from United Nations ambassadors and peacekeeping troops, they scheduled and played the concert in 1997.
  The band offered to hold a benefit concert or small show in Sarajevo, but it was requested that they stage a full PopMart concert.
context_section_description: The concert was held on 23 September 1997, and approximately 45,000 people attended. It was broadcast in Bosnia by local television networks, as well as globally by BBC. During the event, 10,000 soldiers stood on the left side of the stadium to ensure no conflicts broke out. At showtime, a decision was made to open the stadium gates to all, allowing approximately 10,000 more fans who could not afford the concert or who had not purchased tickets in time to attend. In addition to the local and foreign fans, 6,000 off-duty SFOR soldiers attended the event in uniform. Inela Nogić attended the concert and arrived in a limo with the band. The concert was broadcast live internationally on radio, and all proceeds from the radio sales were donated to the War Child project.
  Three opening acts played before U2, beginning with the Gazi Huzrev-Beg choir, an Islamic choir from a local high school. Their performance was followed by two local bands, Protest and Sikter, one of which was chosen personally by Sacirbey, and the other which was selected through a radio contest.  Following the opening acts, musician Howie B performed a DJ set before U2 took the stage.
  The band's set list was similar to that of most shows on the PopMart Tour, but with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" in place of The Edge's karaoke segment and the addition of "Miss Sarajevo" in the second encore. The night was a celebration of the end of the war, with Bono setting the tone by shouting out "Viva Sarajevo! Fuck the past, kiss the future!" at the beginning of "Even Better Than the Real Thing". Bono had struggled with his voice throughout the tour, and the morning of the concert he woke up "without a voice". There was no intent to cancel, and the show went ahead as planned. Though Bono had few difficulties through the opening quartet of "Mofo", "I Will Follow", "Gone", and "Even Better Than the Real Thing", his voice gave out during "Last Night on Earth". In 2006, The Edge suggested that Bono's vocal troubles had been caused by laryngitis or by the stress of the previous few months of touring, though he later remarked that "it didn't really matter that our lead singer was under the weather because every member of the audience seemed to join in on every song. There was a mass chorus for the whole concert."
  At various points during "Until the End of the World" and "New Year's Day", Bono gestured for the audience to help him with the vocals, and by the eighth song of the night, "Pride (In the Name of Love)", he was reduced to speaking the lyrics instead of singing them. The band continued with their standard set list by playing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "Stand By Me", "All I Want Is You", and "Staring at the Sun". U2 considered playing "Desire" after "All I Want Is You", but they chose not to perform the song. The Edge then performed a solo version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday". The rendition was slower and quieter than the studio version. During the song, Bono went backstage for cortisone injections, which helped to improve his voice for a short time. Brian Eno was prepared to go on stage to replace Bono if he could not continue, or to sing alongside him. Bono ultimately returned to the stage alone for the next song, "Bullet the Blue Sky", and the band continued with renditions of "Please" and "Where the Streets Have No Name", which concluded the main set.
  In the interlude before the first encore, U2 had a worried discussion over the introduction to "Miss Sarajevo".  The song had only been played once prior—at a benefit concert in 1995 with Bono, The Edge, Eno, and Pavarotti. They returned to the stage and played "Discothèque", "If You Wear That Velvet Dress", "With or Without You", and a rough version of "Miss Sarajevo". Pavarotti was not at the concert to sing his part and so an antique gramophone was brought onto the stage in his place. Eno came on stage to sing backing vocals, and Bono invited Nogić on stage during the chorus. During the song, the video screen showed images from Carter's Miss Sarajevo documentary, including footage of the girls taking part 
caption: The concert took place at Koševo Stadium (pictured in 2003), which was previously used as a morgue during the war.
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