page_title: City of Blinding Lights
section_title: Music video
hierarchical_section_title: City of Blinding Lights / Music video
caption_attribution_description: English: U2's Vertigo Tour, Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, 22 May 2005, "City of Blinding Lights".
context_page_description: "City of Blinding Lights" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their eleventh studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and was released as the album's fourth single on 6 June 2005. The song reached number one in Spain, and peaked in the top ten in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. The music video was shot at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
  The earliest incarnation of the song was developed during sessions for the band's 1997 album, Pop. The lyrics were written by the band's lead vocalist Bono, taking partial inspiration from his recollection of his first trip to London, and from the band's experience playing in New York City in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks during their Elevation Tour in 2001. Other lyrics refer to Bono's relationship with his wife Ali. The song's underlying theme reflects lost innocence and was inspired by an image Bono saw of himself from the early 1980s. The sound has been compared to the tone of U2's 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire and their 1987 single "Where the Streets Have No Name."
context_section_description: The music video for "City of Blinding Lights" was shot at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on 27 April 2005, and was directed by Alex Courtes and Martin Fougerol. The video included additional footage from the band's Vertigo Tour concert of 28 April 2005. Planning for the project began as soon as U2 became aware the arena was available (a result of the NHL lockout of 2004–2005). Manager Paul McGuinness believed selecting Vancouver as the filming location made a lot of sense, saying, "[i]t's a world-renowned production centre. We knew we'd be able to get the crews and camera people and equipment here." Members of the public were invited to be part of the video via radio and internet announcements. Word of the shoot leaked before the official announcement, which led to fans lining up outside for the entire day. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people were allowed in for the filming. During the shoot, U2 performed "City of Blinding Lights" multiple times, followed by "Vertigo," "All Because of You" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own."
  The video shows the band playing the song on the Vertigo Tour concert stage. The live audio is kept to demonstrate the imperfections and emotion in the performance. The lighting is kept low, drawing attention to the visuals on the LED curtains used throughout the tour and obscuring much of the band members' facial features in shadow. Courtes and Fougerol explained: "we wanted to reflect the mood we've seen at the concerts, so we played with that lighting knowing that you are more blinded from a light if it was darker before".
caption: The visuals used on the Vertigo Tour were displayed in the music video.
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