U2’s return to Croke Park was an unreserved triumph, with none of the first night nerves or hesitancy, which was evident when the Vertigo tour pitched up in Dublin four summers ago.

We’re not going to give too much away, suffice to say that the boys blasted their way through 23 songs including the rarely played live ‘Unforgettable Fire’ and ‘Until The End Of The World’, which flew the flag for Achtung Baby.

There were a couple of curveballs too such as a stripped bare ‘Stuck In A Moment’, and full on techno version of ‘I’ll Go Crazy’.

Along the way there were nods to Brendan Behan, The Corrs, The Beatles, The Clash, the Stones and a very funky speech by U2’s soul brother Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

If you’re going again tonight, we have it straight from Paul McGuinness’ mouth that at least a third of the set will be different.

As eye-poppingly huge as the production is – the only thing The Claw doesn’t do is get up and go for a walk – musically this was a lean, mean U2 who the set-piece tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi aside were happy to let their songs do the talking.

For a full U2 live at Croker report and six-pages of photos, see the new issue of Hot Press out on Thursday July 30.

Plus, check out our live galleries online, and see if you can spot yourself in the crowd.

The Hot Press Newsdesk