Blue Room
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
They opened with Vertigo on the EU dates because for COBL they needed it to be dark to have full effects of the confetti and lights. Summer in Europe = dark at 10pm. So they had to start with something else.
No idea why they dropped LAPOE though, that was a great opener.
The conversation I "overheard" about this is that it started the show to dark and they did not think it worked going into Vertigo.
You are correct on Vertigo in Europe. However the band thought it was a strong opener also and struggled with what to open with on the third leg, Vertigo or COBL. It was their sound engineer Joe O. at soundcheck in Chicago on the third leg that made the choice. Bono asked him which he preferred and he went with COBL. Opened every show for the rest of the tour, I think. At least most of the rest of the tour.