The heavyweight champions of the world

Dublin felt like a different city last weekend. It was the U2 factor, of course. The band rolled their 360º tour into Croke Park, and the fans followed from all over the world. There was a palpable feeling of excitement on the streets. The energy levels were immense: they were here from all over the US, from South America, from Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain, Portugal, France, England and further afield, right across Europe and into Asia.

Aware of the shared history between the band and Hot Press, fans thronged around Wicklow Street and took photographs of the offices. We fielded calls from international radio and TV stations. The buzz got stronger. Hot Press sold out of newsagents all over the city and had to be re-stocked not once but twice and in some cases three and four times. The fans packed the hotels, cafes, bars and restaurants. All of a sudden, shops in the capital were jumping like they haven’t in well over a year. I met visitors from New York, New Hampshire, San Francisco, Seattle, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Milan, Amsterdam, London, Cologne, Paris ­– a random selection of cities in effect – and the atmosphere in town matched the profile of that cosmopolitan influx. The streets were a riot of colour. The sun shone too, and you were inclined to feel, as someone remarked to me late on Friday afternoon, quoting Van Morrison: if only it could be like this all the time.

In the end, there wasn’t a ticket to be had for the final, Monday night show. It is difficult to get an estimate as to just how many of the approximately 240,000 people who attended the gigs came from abroad, but it felt like it must have been at least half. Even the most die-hard of U2 begrudgers seemed to get caught up in the sense of occasion. Watching the crowd mill excitedly into Croke Park on Friday night you became aware afresh of just what this band means, in global terms (and therefore to Ireland). I spoke to a black South African and he told me how much he loved Bono, because of his humanitarian work. I spoke to a Brazilian and he repeated the message. There is a perception still that U2 are more than just a great rock’n’roll band; they connect in a very special way with their fans, who find a mirror for their own concerns about the world and the direction it is taking in U2’s songs.

But they are a great rock’n’roll band, with big riffs and memorable tunes to boot and so people had come to dance and shout and scream – to immerse themselves in the total U2 experience.
In this regard, U2 don’t do things by half measures: they set out to solve the problems presented by stadium shows and came up with the 360° concept, allowing them to communicate with all sides of the arena on more or less equal terms. The Claw is an impressive piece of work. As stage designs go, it’s state of the art. Not only does it look like something out of a 21st Century Bladerunner but it is brilliantly functional: the 360° video screens provide enough visual back-up for the audience always to feel that they know what’s going on.

There are 500 people employed on the tour, which is a massive logistical operation. There are currently three claws moving around the world. By next year there will be four. In total the band will do well in excess of 100 dates on the 360° tour, which will go on to become the biggest grossing in the history of rock’n’roll. This in itself is no guarantee of quality, but it’s no harm, every now and then, to consider the unprecedented level of success that U2 have achieved, and the impact that has had. You got a sense, being in the centre of Dublin over the weekend, just how good for this country their achievements have been, and how important they are to Ireland. This is not being either partisan or sentimental. Ireland has produced the world leaders in rock music, who have sustained that position now for over twenty years. By any standards they are an utterly extraordinary phenomenon.

U2 keep setting themselves new challenges. Very few alternative or indie bands would risk playing the number of songs from their new album that U2 performed on Friday night. Almost no one else would open the show with four new songs in a row. Bob Dylan aside, not that many would re-interpret songs, both old and new, in the way that they did ‘I’ll Go Crazy’ and ‘Stuck In A Moment’. Every night the set list was different. Every night they retained scope for surprises. As Edge told Hot Press, that’s the way they want it: there has to be a sense of jeopardy, a feeling that it’s happening in the moment.

Most people I spoke to after the show felt that they had pulled off one of the great ones, that it was U2’s best outdoor performance ever in Dublin. For me, it was way ahead of their last Croke Park shows, when the sterility of the environment staunched the flow of rock’n’roll juices. This time, it really worked, with the rawness and intimacy of ‘Stuck In A Moment’ contrasting beautifully with the epic scale of ‘Elevation’, ‘Magnificent’, ‘Vertigo’, ‘Get On Your Boots’ and the wonderful (and very brave) closer ‘Moment Of Surrender’.

That song is one of the most remarkable in their career to date. It is a thing of rare beauty that stands as a paradigm of how artistically vital they still are. U2 polarise feelings in Ireland in a way that is understandable. But too much of the criticism of the band is small-minded, petty, carping, hypocritical and ultimately beside the point.

They are the biggest rock band in the world at least in part because of their appetite for hard work. They are the biggest because they refuse to rest on their laurels and always strive to make things bigger, better, more innovative, more exciting. They are the biggest because they are driven by the desire to write great songs, to whip up an unforgettable noise and to create enduring art. And they are the biggest because they actually do all of that and more.
Long may they run.