As we had a 2 hour wait before entering the pitch area we settled down to read the Friday reviews in the papers & listen to a few tunes (U2 of course) on my MP3 player. We were talking to people of various nationalities from Brazilian to Austrian to Scottish who had descended on the city to see their idols in their homeland. Irish fans seemed few & far between! We also signed up to the ONE foundation which works alongside organisations to offer relief in Africa & other places around the world.
Finally one of the moments that we had being waiting for. Doors open & time to get our first views of the mighty claw. It was awe-inspiring! Croke Park on its own is really impressive even to my familiar eyes but seeing this huge piece of art sitting majestically in the stadium was a pretty amazing sight. As we walked into the pit we were just staring up at this over-whelming structure over our heads. It was then time for more pressing matters & finding a spot where we not only had a good view of the stage but also of the ring around it & of a bridge. I spotted a gap at the side with the wall to lean on & seemingly halfway from the stage & a bridge but things are not always what they seem as will be explained later.
It was now shortly after 4pm & another couple of hours wait before the live music began but time passed really quickly & it was soon time for the last toilet visit & to top up on vital water supplies to last us until the show was over. Then camera at the ready let the show begin.
First up were Irish band Republic of Loose. Being honest I was a little disappointed by these. While the music was very good & ‘You know it’ & ‘Comeback Girl’ were great to hear, until the last song there was no crowd interaction. I wasn’t the only one to notice this & indeed Mike Pyro the lead singer himself made comments that we were at a U2 gig & why was everyone so quiet. My own thoughts were that yes we came to see U2 but the reason we were all quiet was all their doing. Another aspect of their set that annoyed me was that they had a photographer with them on stage for a good while which made taking us taking photos really difficult & it came across as somewhat amateur & unprofessional. However they were only the warm-up band so in the run of things they didn’t really matter.
Next up were The Kaiser Chiefs & here were a band who know how to perform & engage their audience. From the 1st notes of ‘Never Miss a Beat’ they were totally on form & in the words of that opening song, they didn’t miss a beat! Lead singer Ricky Wilson was full of energy & spent the set racing around the stage & once he even got into the crowd and was surfed back to the stage with the help of willing fans. Their set list included all the favourites & we all enjoyed hearing ‘Every day I love you less’, ‘Ruby’, ‘I predict a Riot’ & ‘Oh My God’. I had chosen to go to the Saturday gig because The Kaiser Chiefs were supporting & I wasn’t disappointed. They left us all with a satisfied feeling & the knowledge of knowing that U2 would be taking the stage in less than an hour which thankfully passed quite quickly.
At approximately 8.50 David Bowie’s’ Space Oddity’ blared out of the speakers and smoke started bellowing from the centre of the claw. Cheers erupted around Croke Park as a lone Larry Mullen Jnr walked out on stage up to his drum set & the first beats of ‘Breathe’ can be heard as Adam, Edge & Bono walk out on stage to deafening cheers from the crowds. From the start it is a high energy, high octane gig. Starting with 4 songs from the new album was a brave decision but one that worked as the guys went from ‘Breathe’ to ‘No Line On The Horizon’ to ‘Get on Your Boots’ & ‘Magnificent’ with barely stopping to swap guitars. They were all excellent songs which had the crowds already singing along with every word. Altogether there were six songs from the new album performed on the night.
The business end of promoting the new album opened the way for a set filled with great songs & quite a few snippets along the way. ‘Beautiful Day’ was 1st in a line of songs to get this treatment with a little bit of ‘Here Comes the Sun’. A personal highlight was when they sung ‘Angel of Harlem’ with a sample of Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’. There was no mention of Michael Jackson but I felt it was a nice touch one month to the date he died. Just after this we had a pre-recorded video link up with the space station & the band sang ‘Unknown Caller’ while Bono made references to our claw being a spaceship.
Shortly after this there seemed the weather was conspiring against us as it started raining but as Bono said no one cared about the rain as covers were put up to protect Larry’s drums. It was a surreal moment in the night as the rain started just before ‘The Unforgettable Fire’. Fire & water may not mix but there was going to be no dampening the moment as the huge screen surrounding the inside of the claw started dropping down & separating into sections as it did. With a red glow surrounding the stage there really was a feeling we were looking at a massive fire. With the screen remaining in position & different colours flashing by we were treated to ‘City of Blinding Lights. A few songs later the rain had gone & such was the enjoyment of the gig it hadn’t caused much disappointment to anyone.
During ‘Walk On’ there was images of the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi on screen who has being under house arrest for 20 years. Bono made an emotional plea for her release. During the song a few dozen people wearing masks of her face walked out along the pit wall. Some fans were also wearing masks that had being given out before the concert. Other similar moments included images of Iran on the screen during ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ & an impassioned speech played on the screens from Desmond Tutu.
The final song before the encore was ‘One’. What is now a familiar sight at recent U2 tours saw Bono asking everyone to light up their mobile phones in what used to be where people lit their lighters with the lights dimmed. It does look amazing & ‘One’ is not only my favourite U2 song but also one of my all time favourite songs so I never tire of seeing this.
We were now nearing the end of the night & 3 songs remained but we wouldn’t be forgetting these in a hurry as Bono emerged on stage with an amazing jacket with what looked like laser lights all down the side. As it was dark at this stage it a spectacular sight. It fitted right in with the song ‘Ultraviolet’. This was followed by crowd favourite ‘With or Without You’ which had us all singing along. The final song of the night was my personal favourite from ‘No Line on the horizon’, ‘Moment of Surrender’. It sounded brilliant live & I hope that it will be released on single so everyone can get to hear it. It was then time to say final thanks & goodbye & the band left the stage to cries of people wanting more & the sounds of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ from the speakers. There was just time to enjoy the final views of the claw on the way out. A few more snaps before we started the trip back home.
My final thoughts on this concert are that it was great seeing U2 in concert after 4 years. They really do leave too long between tours. We were extremely lucky with where we were standing for this gig as the bridge we were ‘near’ turned out to actually be moved quite a lot & for most of the walks that the lads took it was right beside us. Having seen U23D I never thought I’d actually ever stand that close with an uninterrupted view of the band. It was an amazing feeling & made for some great photographic moments. Bono kept referring to how happy they were to be playing in their hometown & thanked us the fans for sticking with them. It makes for a very special concert when you can see that that the band is actually enjoying themselves & not just going through the motions. I have since read complaints about the gig with some fans complaining about the set list. My answer to that was that you can never please everyone & while there are songs I’d have love to have heard I feel it was a balanced set list & included songs spanning their entire career. U2 are one of the best bands in the world & any show they put in is going to be a visual spectacle with guaranteed great music. They consistently come back with excellent new music. I’ve seen them live 3 times now & while Slane will always have a special place in my heart this too was a brilliant gig. One of my thoughts as I left Croke Park was will it be another 4 years before they come back again? I sincerely hope not.
Gwen Langford, 26/07/09
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