It was a beautiful night for U2 fans as the heavens smiled on the Irish supergroup, keeping the rain at bay last night for the first of their two shows at Suncorp Stadium, in Brisbane.

While the band’s 360 Degrees tour is a ”rain, hail or shine” extravaganza that delivers even in a deluge, the crowd of 45,000  some of who had camped outside the venue since Tuesday night to secure a front-row spot  were counting their blessings with just some early drizzle.

The spirit of John Lennon loomed large as Bono performed Stand By Me in honour of the 30-year anniversary of Lennon’s death before dedicating In the name of love to him as well.

Bono captivated the crowd and one woman in particular who he pulled up on stage, serenading and dancing with her during a sweet version of In a little while.

The set list was peppered with old and new hits… I will Follow, Mysterious Ways, Vertigo, Where the Streets have No Name, Elevation, Ultraviolet and so on.

With a massive catalogue there was always bound to be the odd song missed out (no Desire, Even Better than the Real thing, New Years Day) but how much can you cram into 2 hours and 15 minutes?

Bono got the gig of to one hell of start praising his Brisbane fans.

“Allow us to let us kiss your arse for one moment. Thank you for the life you’ve given us.”

Bono strutted around the stage, his natural domain with the Edge and Adam Clayton more than happy doing the occasional lap as well.

A brief sprinkle of rain was all we got, enough though for a mechanical umbrella to deploy and cover drummer Larry Mullen Jnr. Yep, this stage has got it all.

The importance of this day 30 years ago when John Lennon was murdered was not forgotten with Bono paying tribute to the singer.

You knew all the words, all the songs (perhaps fumbling through of the lyrics of the newer ones) and the crowd was in fine voice.

Bono appeared to have a couple of blips, at one point tearing out his ear piece and on another occasion losing his voice momentarily during With Or Without You.

A criticism? Hmmm….It should have finished one song earlier… With or Without you would have been perfect but, not unlike the monstrous stage they just had to go that one step further.