It’s 7.30pm on the evening of November 3 2015, and, backstage at the cavernous London O2, there’s a small rock ‘n’ roll party happening in a specially erected black marquee named the Cedarwood Lounge. In a little under an hour, U2 will be playing the last of six iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE shows in the UK capital and, given the night that’s in it, some stars have come out in their honour.

There’s no sign of Larry Mullen (he’s rumoured to be still on the Tube), but Bono, Edge and Adam Clayton are meeting and greeting the likes of Noel Gallagher, Paul Epworth, Guggi and assorted members of One Direction. Gallagher made a guest appearance onstage the other night, performing ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and ‘All You Need Is Love’ with the band, but according to U2 manager Guy Oseary there won’t be any special guests this evening.

A youthful-looking 43-year-old Israeli-American, Oseary has been managing U2 for the past two years, taking the reins from the redoubtable Paul McGuinness in November 2013 in a reputed $30million deal. He tells Hot Press he’ll be returning to the US in the coming days to take care of some Madonna business (he has been a business associate of Ms Ciccone since his late teens and has managed her for a decade), but he’s hoping to make the last show in Dublin. “I somehow managed to get a ticket,” he explains. Surely he’s joking? “Believe you me, it was actually a lot harder than you’d think,” he sighs.