Irish rock king-pins U2 have announced that they are going back on the road with The Joshua Tree Tour. The band finished their Innocence + Experience tour late last year, with successful shows in Belfast and Dublin among the highlights.

There had been some fears that the band might take time out to reconsider their future and with no recording plans announced that seemed as if indeed might indeed lead to a prolonged absence from the rock ’n’ roll fray. Today, however, those fears were allayed in an unexpected way with the announcement that U2 are to take their acclaimed Joshua Tree Anniversary Tour to Australia and other points south easterly, later this year.

The band plan to do dates in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. The gigs in Singapore and South Korea will be the band's first ever in these relatively exotic territories.

The tour is scheduled to begin in Aukland, New Zealand on November 8, and will run through till December. Their Aukland date is likely to be a particularly emotional one for both band and fans. The song ‘One Tree Hill’ on The Joshua Tree was written about Greg Carroll, a New Zealander of Maori descent, who was killed in an accident while he was riding Bono's motorbike, in July 1986. ‘One Tree Hill’ was inspired also by One Tree Hill, a location in Auckland, where Greg Carroll had brought Bono during the band’s tour there in 1984.

“It’s only taken me 30 years to learn how to sing these songs,” Bon =o said. “It’s great to sat that I have finally caught up with the band.

“Our audience has given the songs a whole new lease of life on this tour,” he added. “Doing these shows has been very special for us, a lot of emotion.

“From the despair of how relevant some of the dark songs are, to the joy, pure fun of three staging, it’s quite a ride. And now we get to do it all over again. Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul… We’re coming to you.”

One of the highlights of the Joshua Tree tour in 2017 was a concert any Croke Park, which will go down in the annals for U2 fans across the world who trekked to Dublin for what was an extraordinary musical – and emotional – experience.

"We really, REALLY wanted to bring The Joshua Tree to New Zealand, Australia and Asia," The Edge added. "We promised we would and finally, now we can say that we will see you in November... It’s going to feel like a homecoming and we are very excited.”

Noel Gallagher has been confirmed as support for the New Zealand and Australia dates. "We are beside ourselves," he said. "The Joshua Tree 2017 Tour was some of the most fun we ever had. It will be both an honour and a pleasure to share the stage with our friends and comrades once again. It's gonna be a ripper!"

THE JOSHUA TREE TOUR DATES 2019 ARE:

8 November Auckland, NZ Mt. Smart Stadium
12 November Brisbane, AU SunCorp Stadium
15 November Melbourne, AU Marvel Stadium
19 November Adelaide, AU Adelaide Oval
22 November Sydney, AU Sydney Cricket Ground
27 November Perth, AU Optus Stadium
4 December Tokyo, JP Saitama Super Arena
5 December Tokyo, JP Saitama Super Arena
8 December Seoul, KR Gocheok Sky Dome