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U2 (formed in 1976) is a highly-successful Irish rock band, formed of Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton, hailing from Dublin, Ireland.

Formed in 1976 after Larry Mullen, Jr. posted an advertisement on the bulletin board at Dublin’s Mount Temple Comprehensive, the band soon began practicing regularly and exploring their musical interests. Initially performing under the moniker The Hype before switching to the name of an American spy plane, the band’s popularity grew in Ireland through a string of independent releases.

The band signed to Isalnd Records and released their debut full-length “Boy” in 1980, followed the year after with the LP “October”. Thanks to American radio play and notoriously impressive live shows, U2 soon made name for themselves a procured a swelling fan base. U2’s subsequent release “War” in 1983 highlighted and cemented the band’s political conscious approach, documenting the unrest in Northern Ireland. The album which debuted at No. 1 on the British chart, spawned the politically-apt singles “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day”. Following another whirlwind worldwide tour in 1983 U2 released the live EP “Under a Blood Red Sky” recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, U.S.

U2 went on to release “The Unforgettable Fire” in 1984, the fruit of a collaboration with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, despite Island Records’ reluctance. Again the band supported the release with historic arena performances including Live Aid and were even named Rolling Stone’s “Band of the ‘80s”.

By the mid-1980s U2 had become highly revered musicians, however did not become rock superstars until their 1987 album “The Joshua Tree”. It became the band’s first No. 1 U.S. hit and their third consecutive UK album to reach the top spot, certified platinum within 28 hours. The album’s success was due in part to the smash hits “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. Following the release the band explored their fascination with American roots music including blues, soul and folk and delivered the album “Rattle & Hum” in 1988.

The ‘90s brought a novel-sounding U2 and a collection of albums to boot including 1990’s “Achtung Baby”, the Bowie inspired dance and electronic album, “Zooropa” the 1993 techno dance influenced album, and the collaborative album “Original Soundtracks, Vol. 1” with Brian Eno in 1995. The same year U2 renewed their contract with Island Records for an estimated $170 million.

Fan disgruntlement at U2’s new self-conscious, postmodern and dance approach did little to alter the outcome of their subsequent album “Pop”, and ultimately became fan’s least favourite album. With such criticism the band teamed up again with Eno and Lanois in 2000 to record and release “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”. The album was a rock effort and considered one of their best, led by the singles “Beautiful Day” and “Walk On”.

The band followed the release up with the No. 1 album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” in 2004, which led to the second highest grossing tour ever with $389 million. U2’s twelfth studio album “No Line on the Horizon” arrived in 2009, followed by "Songs of Innocence" in 2014, downloaded automatically to users of apple products.

U2 have sold more than 150 million records worldwide, have been awarded 22 Grammy Awards, have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility and are ranked by Rolling Stone 22nd on their list of “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.

Live reviews

What makes a U2 concert so special? What is it about a U2 show that compels us to travel hundreds and thousands of miles to see virtually the same concert over and over?

A U2 show is more than just the songs in the concert. It is the feeling you get when you hear those songs. Whether they lift you up or remind you of a special time in your life, either way, the feeling you get when you hear U2 songs is euphoric. But a U2 concert is more than just those euphoric songs that are played. It is 80,000 people singing those songs together. The fact that each person at that show is feeling the exact same excitement you are. It is a sense of community and belonging. More than just the U2 concert itself, it is the whole experience. The traveling and hanging out with fellow U2 fans. The day of the U2 concert is a great time for U2 fellowship since we arrive at the stadium in the early afternoon either to line up in the GA (general admission) line or to wait for Bono, Larry, Edge and Adam to arrive. With many hours to kill before the concert begins, U2 fans share their U2 experiences, such as favorite songs, albums and concerts.

My favorite U2 concert, of the 75 I have seen, was on the Elevation Tour in Providence, Rhode Island on October 31, 2001. It was my favorite U2 member's 40th birthday, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. It was the night Larry and I shared a drink. The morning of the show, I woke up outside around 8am – pretty good sleeping outside in 30 degrees for five hours. I went up to the warm hotel room until about 10am, then had some breakfast. I stayed in the GA line all day without leaving, except to take a shower around 3:30. I got everyone in the GA line to sign the big orange birthday card I made for Larry. I put my name and email address on the back just in case. The band didn’t arrive until after we were inside. Wearing our Larry Mullen Band shirts, we got our spots at the rail up front and center between Bono and Adam.

I held up my birthday card for Larry as they walked on stage, but he didn’t notice it. There were many, many signs including one saying, ‘Bono let Larry sing.’ During Elevation, Bono sang, ‘ Celebration’ then said, ‘Happy Birthday.' After "Stuck in a Moment," Larry’s 40th birthday celebration began. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Larry. A birthday cake was brought out, and Larry pretended to throw it out into the audience. Larry took the mic and came to the front to talk while Bono sat behind the drums. Larry said, "Bono can’t play drums. It took me 40 years to get up front. I’m glad I’m spending my birthday with 18,000 of my closest friends. I feel like I could borrow money from you." Then Bono asked for a bottle of champagne, which he shook up a la ZooTV and sprayed the audience. Edge took a swig, then Larry drank and continued to drink for the next few songs.

After "Kite," Larry got off the drums and made a B line for me. I got my card and shirt in hand so I could give it to him, but that’s not why he was there. He gave me the champagne bottle – with champagne still in it. I drank some and shared it with my friends. Larry wanted to share his birthday with ME! He wanted ME to have a drink on his birthday. I was SO excited I didn’t even realize they played "Wild Honey," which they rarely play. After "Pride," Larry came back over to me so I could give him the birthday card and Elvis tee shirt. I said, "Thank you. Happy Birthday." He smiled and said, "Thank You." Later on, Bono noticed our Larry Mullen Band shirts, shook his head and smiled.

I doubt there will ever be another U2 show like that night in Providence. Granted it was Larry’s 40th Birthday, and I love Larry, but also for the rarities U2 played that night. "Slow Dancing" was played for the first time on the Elevation tour, and only the 11th time ever. "Party Girl" and "Wild Honey" were played for the first time on that leg of Elevation – and I’ve only heard those songs a couple of times ever. There was just a great energy in Providence that night. I still have that champagne bottle that Larry gave me on his 40th birthday.

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Acompanho a Banda desde 1985, na época dos disco long play ou compacto e meu primeiro álbum, o primeiro disco que comprei foi "War". Sempre soube o posicionamento social e político do grupo, penso ser o que me chamou a atenção e cativou desde o princípio.Mas aqui no Brasil, vivemos tempos difíceis, de beligerância e intolerância de diversas formas, racial, social,religiosa. Uma sociedade apolítica, mas que fundamenta suas crenças no que a imprensa local determina.

Acredito que essa é a melhor Tour em que estive, visto ser minha segunda vez num show do U2. Estive em 2006, em Vertigo e mesmo passando por um momento delicado, pois estava tomando medicação para síndrome do pânico e depressão, saí do estádio 90% melhor do que quando cheguei.

A atual turnê, é de uma dos melhores, se não a melhor, assim como o álbum do grupo e se pudesse iria em todas, Setilist fantástica, iluminação e palco minimalista e remetendo a uma simplicidade do inicio dos shows da Banda. Amei!!!!Parabéns e que venham muito mais........

...............................................

Good Morning,

I accompany the band since 1985, in the days of long or compact disc and my first album, the first record I bought was "War". I have always known the social and political position of the group, I think it is what caught my attention and captivated me from the beginning. But here in Brazil, we live in difficult times, of belligerence and intolerance of diverse forms, racial, social, and religious. An apolitical society, but that bases its beliefs on what the local press determines.

I think this is the best Tour I've been on, seeing it as my second time at a U2 show. I was in Vertigo in 2006 and even going through a delicate time, since I was taking medication for panic syndrome and depression, I left the stadium 90% better than when I arrived.

The current tour is one of the best, if not the best, as well as the group's album and if it could go in all, fantastic Setilist, minimalist lighting and stage and referring to a simplicity of the beginning of the bands shows. Congratulations and many more ........

Let me begin with, "U2 is the greatest band in the universe!" I have a strong connection with the band as the Joshua Tree tour was the first concert I ever attended back in 1987. 28 years later, they are still the best live band. I have been very fortunate to have seen them for most of their tours, Elevation, Vertigo, 360 and now ie. I was a broke college student during Zoo and PopMart.

U2 has a very loyal fan base. You will meet people that have seen 50-400 of their concerts. I am fortunate to have seen them 4x already during this tour.

The live experience during the ie tour is very personal and intimate. Bono shows such strong emotion during Iris which makes you want to cry. I heard Out Of Control at the 2nd Phoenix show and I had tears of joy rolling down my cheeks as that was the one song I have been waiting to hear since Elevation. LA 4th show they played 40 which made me cry......."How Long To Sing This Song......." Such a great tribute to the late Dennis Sheehan. Bono is the perfect frontman, always introducing the band as if we are meeting them for the first time. (Brandon Flowers never introduces the other Killers) Bono always has crowd interaction from shaking hands, kissing women's hands, bringing up a lucky fan for the Meerkat live stream and singing to a lucky fan (like me during Beautiful Day in the 2nd night Phoenix show) I'm still on cloud 9!!! Larry, The Edge and Adam also interact with the crowd. I know first hand as I got an air kiss from Adam. The Edge smiled at my friend. Larry shakes hands with people at the e stage.

I can go on and on how U2 is the perfect band. No other bands compare to them. What band has loyal fans waiting all night thru rain and hail to see them? What band always mentions how they tour for the music and the fans?? I sure don't think they need the money.

I will continue to see them until they tour no more. I ❤️ U2

Great show, very basic staging, which is a nice change of pace for U2 recently. It allowed you to focus on them as a band, 4 guys playing music together.

As a tour kick off, there will be some glitches and bugs, the worst of which is when The band and Bono totally flubbed the entire song With or Without You!!! The band was out of sync right from the start and that must have rattled Bono because he false started the first verse, got the lyrics wrong, then just stood there silent while the crowd sort of tried to chime in with the vocals. It was actually pretty awkward, and Bono didn't acknowledge it except by saying "you guys can sing this one".

It was so great to see them actually play Joshua Tree straight through, track by track. I wasn't sure that's how it would really play out. As an album about the greatness, and hardships, of America, with inspiration from American music, landscapes, and especially politics, there was no way to get through the set without nods (mostly subtle - for U2) to the current leadership in America. The opening 8-9 songs before actually launching into Joshua Tree were pretty telling about the bands politics and values of freedom, truth, and fulfilling the American dream. The fact that opening night coincidentally fell on the 60th anniversary of the Martin Luther King "Give Us the Vote" speech gave more weight to lyrics referencing King's assassination in "Pride (In the Name of Love)".

Finally, totally unrelated to Songkick or U2, but I have to say how HORRIBLE Levi's Stadium is and the whole process of getting there (unmanaged traffic), getting into the venue (no purses bigger than a cell phone allowed and no mention of that fact anywhere), getting food (seemed like only 25 people trying to sell hot dogs to 50,000!). Will never see another show there again no matter who the act is.

This show needed to start and finish in darkness to concentrate the mind on the amazing imagery and truly iconic music.

The lead in through tracks from Unforgettable Fire set the pace and raised the pulse rate to a crescendo at the onset of Where The Streets Have No Name where it remained at rates which would have set off many a hospital vital signs alarm until the end of the a play through of the entire Joshua Tree album.

Had this concert finished there it would have sad to depart - and U2 knew this so included a further array of some of their finest tracks from the last 30 years.

This was the trickiest period of the gig however, as not all of the next 35 - 40 minutes could match the standard set down by some of the best music of the 20th century. Moments of oddness crept in, as is Bono's way, and momentum was lost - not gained - towards the end.

Ultimately, an incredible visionary onslaught and a truly mammoth rendition of One lifted the gig back to the heights of its earlier euphoria.

This could easily have been the best concert I have ever seen, but on balance it dropped short. I would not have missed this for the world and I am sure I will look back in years to come and feel so pleased that I was there and saw what was a true moment in musical history. As it stands right now I have a mixed emotion... but there is no denying that of the many hundreds of concerts I have been to in the last 40 years this was right up there at the very pinnacle - a top ten bucket list moment.

U2 at Arrowhead Stadium in KC was a musical memory I'll put in my Top 10...so far. We got parking lot passes from Ticketmaster beforehand to save $$ & make navigating the throngs of traffic manageble. We got to the lot about 5:30 p.m. People had been there tailgating & the lot attendants were very organized, flagging us in to our spot. We immediately headed in to the Stadium so we could check out the U2 merchandise. Entering was a breeze, even with security, because we had checked online to see what could or couldn't be taken into the Stadium. The restrictions make lines move much quicker, even with entering through metal detectors. Walking up the ramp to our seat level was easy. U2 had merchandise areas set up at more locations, so lines there were less. The concession places had very friendly attendants. The stadium seats were very comfortable. Security was there in abundance & were also helpful & friendly. Concert acoustics for an open stadium were amazing. The only downside was the placement of the

audio towers or whatever they were, but they were necessary to provide the incredible U2 audio & visual experience. After the concert, we waited for an hour on purpose before exiting to avoid sitting in traffic, idling. Again, smooth exit. So I highly recommend seeing U2 for their musical talent, their political message & celebrating the 4th anniversary of the Joshua Tree album. ENJOY!

U2 are a band who have conquered the globe and are considered iconic by fans of most genres. With such staggering reputation it is obviously quite difficult to form a live show of equal stature. Luckily, Bono and co obtain a form of bravado that is required of any iconic band.

The key component of their gigs is that they understand how important and dear the audience hold tracks such as 'With Or Without You' and the intense sincerity in which they perform could not be more appropriate. There is an ethereal state when thousands upon thousands are singing along to 'The Streets Have No Name' whilst four musicians command the entire crowd.

There is no denying Bono performs with the same level of self-assuredness that he conducts himself in daily life yet when the opening bars of 'Pride' begin, this level of bombast is required to tackle these gargantuan anthems. They have an impossible amount of hits to choose from, yet the setlist feels well calculated and not simply a 'greatest hits' compilation. The use of snippets of their own music and classics by the likes of Bowie turned their gig from a concert into a musical celebration.

The concert was awesome but the venue was absolute crap!!!!! Paid $264.00 x 2 & a tower was blocking the view depending where the band was standing on the stage. So view blocked. Support act Noel Gallagher couldn’t hear him speak, don’t know what he was saying & sound not too good at all.

U2 came on & could hardly see them. GA would have been better & cheaper & from what Ive heard, they had the best place to hear.

SCG is not a good venue for a concert & we were so totally disappointed with what we paid, seating & going to ground & trying so squeeze through the line ups for toilets & good to get to the Merchandise shop. Then trying to get back up to level 5.

Please never put a concert there again, unless you our stage in centre, so everyone can see. You shouldn’t charge extreme prices for crap seating.

U2 was awesome as always but couldn’t always see them & at times hear them, the sound got better as the night went on.

Definitely very disappointed with SCG

Amazing concert as always. Lot of security at the entrances so it was a little bit slow everything and I was afraid because maybe I couldn't watch Noel Gallagher but organization was clever and started one hour later more or less. Really it was very difficult to be there at 19 with that security level. But everything was perfect. Noel played lot of Oasis songs with classics like Wonderwall, Little by Little or Don't Look Back in Anger. Then with less than 20 minutes delay, U2 came on stage. Larry Mullen started alone in the middle of the scenario situated at the center of the stadium and it all began... Thanks for allow us to remember a great album like Joshua Tree! All the songs in order, side A and side B if you like more the vinyl. And the last part... Amazing with songs like Elevation or Vertigo. And one last surprise... We could listen a new song from the upcoming album, Songs of Experience. No more to say: GREAT AS ALWAYS U2. We love you!

Best concert I've ever seen and probably will ever see save for another U2 show. No seat was a bad seat as they had a massive 'screen' that spanned roughly half the length and a third of the height of MSG. The screen could be lowered and raised and there was a catwalk inside of it as well as under it on the floor for the band members to move around on. Animations and live videos of the band members playing were projected onto the screen and could be interacted with inside of the screen. I've never seen anything like it.

They had a great mix of classic U2 songs and new ones all while using mixed media to create much more than a music concert. This was a retrospective art show, film screening, advocacy platform, etc. A final treat was Bruce Springsteen coming on near the end of the show trading mics with Bono to sing Where the Streets Have No Name. You have got to see this band live.

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U2 Confirms European Tour Dates

U2's tour in support of "All That You Can't Leave Behind" (Interscope) will set down in Europe in July and August. The band has confirmed what it calls "the first 16 cities" on the tour, kicking off…

By Billboard Staff

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U2’s tour in support of “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” (Interscope) will set down in Europe in July and August. The band has confirmed what it calls “the first 16 cities” on the tour, kicking off July 6 in Copenhagen, and ending with the previously revealed headlining festival gig at Ireland’s Slane Castle outside of Dublin. There is no indication whether or not more cities will be added to the itinerary. Tickets to three U.K. shows — Aug. 11 at the Manchester Evening News Arena, Aug. 14 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, and Aug. 18 at Earls Court in London — are set to go on sale Friday (March 9). Tickets to shows at Prince van Oranjhal in Utrecht, Netherlands, and Slane Castle will go on sale Saturday. As previously reported, the Slane show will also feature the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coldplay, Kelis, JJ72, and Relish. Similar to the band’s North American shows, registered U2.com members to have access to purchase a limited number of tickets to each show before tickets are on sale to the general public. U2’s world tour will kick off March 24 at the National Car Rental Center arena in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and conclude with a pair of shows June 21-22 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. Here is the list of confirmed U2 European dates: July 6: Copenhagen (TBA) July 9: Stockholm (TBA) July 12: Cologne, Germany (TBA) July 15: Munich (TBA) July 17: Paris (TBA) July 21: Imola, Italy (TBA) July 23: Zurich (TBA) July 26: Vienna (TBA) July 29: Berlin (TBA) July 31: Utrecht, Netherlands (Prince van Oranjhal) Aug. 5: Antwerp, Belgium (TBA) Aug. 8: Barcelona (TBA) Aug. 11: Manchester, U.K. (Manchester Evening News Arena) Aug. 14: Birmingham, U.K. (National Exhibition Centre) Aug. 18: London (Earls Court) Aug. 25: Slane, Ireland (Slane Castle)

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March 2 : Las Vegas

March 1 : Las Vegas

February 24 : Las Vegas

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On This Date

July 21, 1980 : Project Arts Centre , Dublin , Ireland

July 21, 1987 : Olympiahalle , Munich , Germany

July 21, 2001 : Stadio Delle Alpi , Turin , Italy

July 21, 2005 : San Siro , Milan , Italy

July 21, 2009 : Amsterdam ArenA , Amsterdam , Netherlands

U2Tours on YouTube

U2gigs.com - U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere 2023/2024

Showing all tours for U2

Welcome to our comprehensive historical database of U2's tours. It is the largest setlist archive on the Internet and contains sets from U2's very first concert to the most recent. Where possible, we provide information beyond the songs played: snippets, soundchecked songs, concert runtime, statistical observations, and trivia are given for many shows. Beyond just setlists, many concerts contain photos and reviews to bring the data to life. We also have a Setlist FAQ to answer any further questions you may have. We hope this wealth of information helps you relive concert memories, satisfies your curiosity about U2 live, and is both useful and helpful. Please be aware that prior to the Conspiracy Of Hope Tour, not all setlists are known.

• U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere (2 legs / 40 shows)
• Stories of Surrender Tour (3 legs / 42 shows)
• Joshua Tree Tour 2019 (15 shows)
• Experience + Innocence Tour (2 legs / 60 shows)
• Songs Of Experience Promo Tour (10 shows)
• Joshua Tree Tour 2017 (3 legs / 51 shows)
• Innocence + Experience Tour (2 legs / 76 shows)
• Songs Of Innocence Promo Tour (15 shows)
• 360° Tour (7 legs / 110 shows)
• No Line On The Horizon Promo Tour (26 shows)
• Vertigo Tour (5 legs / 131 shows)
• How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb Promo Tour (8 shows)
• Elevation Tour (3 legs / 113 shows)
• All That You Can't Leave Behind Promo Tour (20 shows)
• PopMart Tour (4 legs / 93 shows)
• ZOO TV Tour (5 legs / 156 shows)
• Lovetown Tour (2 legs / 47 shows)
• Joshua Tree Tour (3 legs / 109 shows)
• Conspiracy Of Hope (6 shows)
• Unforgettable Fire Tour (6 legs / 112 shows)
• War Tour (5 legs / 109 shows)
• October Tour (7 legs / 103 shows)
• Boy Tour (5 legs / 155 shows)
• 11 O'Clock Tick Tock Tour (2 legs / 26 shows)
• Early Days (5 legs / 139 shows)
• Various Dates (5 legs / 393 shows)

U2, ‘360’ tour praised by Stade de France 15 years later

15 years after playing two shows at the Stade de France, U2 and their “360” tour is being celebrated.

The stadium took to X on July 11, 15 years to the day of the first show, to celebrate U2’s shows. They first shared a time-lapse video of them constructing the “360” tour stage. The video continued throughout the show as well — showing off the bright lights and spectacle.

They also shared two sets of photos. They include Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr . One of the highlights includes Bono standing behind Mullen’s drum kit with peace signs up.

There is another image of the stage from further back in the audience. It captures the grandiose stage and is breathtaking to look at. Small bridges connected the outer ramp to the main stage, allowing the band to get close and intimate with their audience on the floor.

In the second set of photos, a close-up of The Edge walking on one of the bridges is included. He is playing a bright yellow Fender Telecaster. There is also a stellar shot of Bono as he looks at the crowd.

U2’s “360” tour

The aforementioned Stade de France shows on U2’s “360” tour were some of the earliest on the tour. It was just their third stop on the tour and fifth and sixth shows in total.

They did return to France later in the tour, playing a show at the stadium on September 18, 2010. U2 visited several other countries, though, in between those shows.

The “360” tour is still U2’s biggest to date. They have done everything from the revolutionary “ZooTV” tour to the recent “Joshua Tree” anniversary tour. But the “360” tour remains their biggest spectacle.

For a while, it was the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Elton John, and Taylor Swift later topped it.

Its stage was dubbed “the Claw” and featured connections to the audience all around. For a stage and show as big as it was, U2 found a way to connect with their audiences.

The “360” tour commenced on June 30, 2009, and concluded on July 30, 2011. 111 shows were played across seven legs, and U2 also headlined Glastonbury in the midst of it all.

What have they done since?

Since the “360” tour concluded, U2 has released three studio albums and embarked on three concert tours and a Las Vegas residency. The “Innocence + Experience” and “Experience + Innocence” tours came in 2015 and 2018, respectively, in support of Songs of Innocence (2014) and Songs of Experience (2017).

In between those tours, they celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of The Joshua Tree by touring it. The “Joshua Tree” tour originally took place in 2017. However, in 2019, the band went on a second leg of the tour that visited Asia and Oceania.

Starting on September 29, 2023, U2 became the first band to play a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas. They opened the new high-tech venue with their U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere show. It was another anniversary gig that focused on Achtung Baby 32 years after it came out.

The residency concluded on March 2, 2024, after 40 shows. Where the band goes from here is unknown. Perhaps a new album or stadium tour like the “360” tour is coming.

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Concerts and tour dates of U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), the Edge (lead guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums and percussion). Initially rooted in post-punk, U2's musical style evolved throughout their career, yet has maintained an anthemic sound built on Bono's expressive vocals and the Edge's effects-based guitar textures. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal and sociopolitical themes. Popular for their live performances, the group have staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career. The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album, Boy (1980). Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album, War (1983), and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" helped establish U2's reputation as a politically and socially conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987), made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Facing creative stagnation and a backlash following their documentary/double album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), and the multimedia intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band integrated influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial music into their sound, and embraced a more ironic, flippant image. This experimentation continued through their ninth album, Pop (1997), and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group. Their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The group's thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence (2014), was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, but received criticism for its automatic placement in users' music libraries. U2 have released 13 studio albums and are one of the world's best-selling music artists in history, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, and Music Rising.

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"The Europa EP" - U2

Track listing:.

• "Love is All We Have Left" (Experience + Innocence Intro / Chaplin Speech) - U2 with Charlie Chaplin (03:14)
• "New Year's Day" (Live from Dublin, Nov. 5 2018) - U2 (05:08)
• "New Year's Day" (St Francis Hotel Remix) - U2 (05:11)
• "Love is All We Have Left" (Jon Pleased Wimmin Euromantic Mix) - U2 (05:40)

Background Information

“The Europa EP” is a three track EP released by U2 for Record Store Day 2019. The EP is a mix of live tracks and remixes, and according to the Record Store Day site, is limited to 5000 copies in the USA . The same number was produced for the “Lights of Home” single in the USA , and it is less than the 7000 copies produced for the USA for “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.”

The EP opens with the “Love is All We Have Left” opener used in Europe on the Experience + Innocence tour, overlaid with Charlie Chaplin’s speech from The Great Dictator. This is mixed seamlessly with a live version of “New Year’s Day” recorded in Dublin on November 5, 2018. The second side of the release contains the St Francis Hotel Remix of “New Year’s Day” (the studio version of the mix that inspired the version played live featured on the A-Side) and the Jon Pleased Wimmin Euromantic Mix of “Love is All We Have Left.”

We shared the news of this EP on January 4, 2019. The official announcement of the release was part of the 2019 Record Store Day announcement on February 28, 2019 at 11am Eastern time. The formal announcement read, ““U2 present the The Europa EP: Side A features the previously unreleased opening from the recent eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE European Tour – Charlie Chaplin’s final speech from the movie The Great Dictator, underscored with a unique musical mash up of ‘Love Is All We Have Left’ with 1993 classic ‘Zooropa’ – which leads into a ‘live’ performance of New Year’s Day from Dublin in November 2018. Side B has two ‘Euro’-tinged remixes: St. Francis Hotel’s mix of ‘New Year’s Day’ and Jon Pleased Wimmin’s Euromantic mix of ‘Love Is All We Have Left’. The artwork is an eXPERIENCED Chaplinesque homage to the artwork of the Zooropa Album.”

The EP was be limited to 5000 copies (according to the US Record Store Day site), the same number that was produced for “Lights of Home” and slightly less than “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”. The vinyl is on 180 gram black vinyl, and has an embossed cover. It includes a four page colour insert with lyrics and credits, plus an added sticker sheet, which will be 5.8-inch x 8.25-inch sized (148mm x 210mm). The marketing stickers on the release feature both the Record Store Day logo as well as the “Chaplin 130” logo which celebrates the 130th birthday of Charlie Chaplin on April 16, 2019. The logo features Chaplin’s name, with a large 130 below, and the 0 is done to look like Chaplin with his recognizable mustache and hat. The item is not individually numbered.

The European leg of the eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour saw “New Year’s Day” replace “American Soul” as the centerpiece of the tour, where a large European Union flag is draped behind the stage. Bono used the song to talk about unity, the European Union, and the pending Brexit changes to that union. The opening track on the EP, which features the instrumentation of the song “Zooropa”, and lyrics from “Love is All We Have Left” played as a video displayed images of conflict throughout Europe from World War II onward, and featured a voice over by Charlie Chaplin taken from the movie The Great Dictator . Bono throughout the show also spoke of Europe in his introductions to “Acrobat” while playing the character MacPhisto, in the beatitudes that followed “Get Out of Your Own Way,” and even in his opening to “City of Blinding Lights” where he hums the “Anthem of Europe,” taken from “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

The B-Side of the EP features two remixes of U2 tracks, the first is a studio remix of “New Year’s Day” that was used to build the version played in concert, but regular collaborators St Francis Hotel. The other remix is a remix of “Love is All We Have Left” by Jon Pleased Wimmen titled the “Euromantic Mix”. St Francis Hotel has been working with U2 for a while now, as we detailed in our article, St Francis Hotel and “One Tree Hill” . Jon Pleased Wimmim, aka Jon Cooper is a UK DJ who first started DJing in 1991. Jon Pleased has called the song a “space age lullaby” and has thanked Gavin Friday for “hooking me up.”

The cover of the EP features scenes that were shown on the screen during the opening of the concert while the mash up of “Love is All We Have Left” and “Zooropa” played. These are overlaid with the European flag, blue with yellow stars. Chaplin’s image taken from The Great Dictator is at the centre of the images. The 9×9 grid in the design recalls the similar 9×9 grid that was used for the album Zooropa , which also featured the ring of yellow stars. The label will feature the same image of Chaplin as the cover, but on a red, white and black label.

At this point we do not have any information on a digital release of these tracks. U2 has not included a download card in any of their Record Store Day related releases since “Ordinary Love.” But items like “Red Hill Mining Town” and the Beck Remix of “Lights Of Home” were put onsale in online shops in the days following the Record Store Day event. However, the most recent release, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” did not include a digital download, and has not been placed on sale in digital storefronts. We can confirm there is no download card with this release, but will share any news about a digital format if that information becomes available.

Along with the vinyl, U2.Com also offered some exclusive merchandise in their shop to tie in with this release. Three different screen prints were produced, and three different T-Shirts. In each case these prints and shirts are limited to 150 pieces.

Record Store Day is an annual event, happening in April of each year. A second event organized around Black Friday in November is also organized by the Record Store Day organization. U2 has been participating in these events since 2010 including the following releases:

• Nov. 26, 2010: “ Wide Awake in Europe “ EP [5,000 copies, numbered]
• Nov. 29, 2013: “ Ordinary Love “ 10-Inch Single [10,000 copies]
• Nov. 28, 2014: North and South of the River Poster / Map [5,000 copies]
• Apr. 18, 2015: Songs of Innocence double 12-inch black vinyl [5,000 copies, numbered]
• Apr. 22, 2017: “ Red Hill Mining Town “ 12-Inch Picture Disc [7,000 copies not numbered, 1,000 copies of a US numbered fanzine, 500 copies of a UK numbered fanzine]
• Nov. 24, 2017: “ The Blackout “ 12-Inch Vinyl [750 copies coloured vinyl, 19,250 copies of black vinyl]
• Apr. 21, 2018: “ Lights of Home “ 12-Inch Picture Disc [5,000 copies, not numbered]
• Nov. 23, 2018: “ Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me “ 12-Inch Vinyl [7,000 copies]

We have also taken a closer look at some of these releases in our History Mix column in the past.

For those unfamiliar with Record Store Day, items are sold in store only on the day of release in most territories. Stores are not allowed to hold or save copies of the release in advance, nor are they allowed to take any pre-orders. Online sales are only allowed to begin on the week after the in-store release. And Record Store Day organizers in North America ship only to independent record stores, and thus these items are not available in larger chains. Quantities of the releases are often limited, and this results in some stores having line ups on the day of release. Because there are no pre-orders allowed, many will speculate that they will receive a copy of these items and will take orders for these items at highly inflated prices on eBay before they are available. Quite often the prices drop quickly on the day of release as people are able to pick up the items in store. In some countries, the Record Store Day rules are less restrictive, and stores do take pre-orders. It is always best to check with your local store once the announcement has been made as to what the policies will be.

Liner Notes

Love is All We Have Left (eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Intro / Chaplin Speech) / New Year’s Day ‘Live’ (Dublin, November 5, 2018): Produced by St Francis Hotel. Recorded by Alastair McMillan. Additional engineering by Andrea Lepori. Contains elements from “Zooropa”.

New Year’s Day (St Francis Hotel Remix): Remixed in 2018 for U2 eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour by St Francis Hotel. Mixed by Andrea Lepori. Original production by Steve Lillywhite, engineered by Paul Thomas, assisted by Kevin Killen. Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland.

Love is All We Have Left (Jon Pleased Wimmin Euromantic Mix): Remixed by Jon Pleased Wimmin. Remixed at Finiflex Studios, Edinburgh. Original production by Andy Barlow. Engineered by Andy Barlow. Original mix by Andy Barlow at The Lookout Studios. Assisted by Alex Bailey. Additional keyboards, programming and sound design by Andy Barlow. Additional credit to Dawn Kenny.

All tracks mastered by Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Creative director: Gavin Friday. Director of Production: Nadine King.

Sleeve designed by Shaughn McGrath, Amp Visual, Dublin. Image of Charlie Chaplin in “The Great Dictator” Roy Export S.A.S. Anniversary logo for Charlie Chaplin, Bubbles Incorporated, S.A.

Related Promotional Videos

Related news.

• 2019-04-10 Recent Screen Prints by White Duck Editions (Original Story)
• 2019-03-02 Euromantic Remix: An Interview with Jon Pleased Wimmin (Original Story)
• 2019-02-17 New Release Oddities (Original Story)
• 2019-03-01 The Crystal Ball: Australia Rumours and Looking ahead at 2019 (Original Story)
• 2019-01-17 U2’s The Europa EP Update & Fan Club Release & No Line Release Date (Original Story)
• 2019-01-05 U2’s Record Store Day 2019 Release Plans: The Europa EP (Original Story)

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Taylor Swift Flashes Double Peace Signs During 'Midnight Rain' at Eras Tour Gelsenkirchen Night Two

At her second show in the German city, fans caught a cheeky moment as Swift goofed around during the line "he never thinks of me / except when I'm on TV"

Sarah Michaud is the senior news editor of PEOPLE's music vertical. She has been working at PEOPLE for 16 years.

Andreas Rentz/TAS24/Getty

Taylor Swift dazzled the crowd Thursday in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, during her second of three sold-out Eras Tour shows in the city — and let her sense of humor shine as well.

Towards the end of the concert at Veltins Arena, fans caught a cheeky moment as the musician, 34, goofed around during the usually serious "Midnight Rain," sticking out her tongue and flashing a double peace sign following the lines "he never thinks of me / except when I'm on TV."

Swift's boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce , was also in attendance July 17 and 18 for what were likely his final shows before he's due back in Missouri for the Kansas City Chiefs' training camp on July 21. As she often does when he's at a show , Swift shouted out Kelce as she performed "Karma," singing "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs / coming straight home to me."

Swift will play a third show in Gelsenkirchen on Friday night before she heads elsewhere in Germany later in the month.

Ahead of her concerts, the German city renamed itself “Swiftkirchen” after a local Swiftie created a petition that made its way to the desk of the mayor.

To honor the superstar’s shows — her first even in Gelsenkirchen — the city even made an exception to its rule that stones on the Gelsenkirchen Walk of Fame can only be dedicated to local personalities, according to an Instagram post from the city’s official account. But Swifties who want to snap a photo with the colorful tile will have to hurry: The city said it would replace the stone with a blank tile after Swift takes her record-breaking act to the next city.

The “All Too Well” singer will bring the Eras Tour to two more German cities: Hamburg on July 23 and 24, and Munich on July 27 and 28. Swift will close out the European leg of the tour in August when she returns to Wembley Stadium for five nights in London.

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Cigarettes After Sex and Gen Z’s Passion for Dream-Pop

The buzzy band that makes woozy, sensual music is releasing its third LP and starting an arena tour. It’s part of a wave reviving the fuzzed-out aesthetic of shoegaze.

By Ben Sisario

In 2016, after a four-year-old track by a struggling Brooklyn band called Cigarettes After Sex blew up on YouTube, the group’s brand of crisp, lovesick minimalism began selling out clubs all over Europe. At a tour stop in Prague, Greg Gonzalez, its leader, saw unticketed fans weeping in the street.

“OK, this is bizarre,” Gonzalez remembered thinking. “But that showed me that this is doing what it’s supposed to do. This is music that’s meant for emotional people that are in love. That’s what music did for me. So I thought, that’s what I want my music to do for somebody else.”

Eight years later, that pattern has repeated for Cigarettes After Sex , on a far grander scale. Although largely ignored by the mainstream media, the band’s spare, crystalline ballads have again caught fire online — this time on TikTok — racking up almost 10 billion streams around the world. Its third album, “X’s,” will be released on July 12 via the indie label Partisan, and an exhaustive global tour includes sold-out stops at Madison Square Garden as well as the Kia Forum near Los Angeles, and arenas throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South Africa and Australia. By stealth, Cigarettes After Sex has become one of the biggest cult bands in the world.

Its success is also a high-water mark in rock’s latest retro revival, for shoegaze and dream-pop — appropriately nebulous terms for a range of music from the 1980s and early ’90s, when groups like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins and Lush cloaked melodies in waves of shimmering guitar or synthesizers, along a sonic scale from gauzy reverie to caustic noise. Long a recurrent strain in indie-pop, the sound has been catapulted by TikTok to a new level of popularity among Gen Z acts like Wisp, Sign Crushes Motorist and Quannnic that are posting millions of streams and dotting festival lineups.

Cigarettes After Sex represents one end of this spectrum, with a carefully calibrated, almost cinematic approach: a hushed, dark landscape punctuated by splashes of color from Gonzalez’s guitar, topped by his whisper-soft, almost feminine singing voice. But in an interview in an East Village hotel bar, Gonzalez — who in person speaks in an easy, rapid-fire baritone — said he sees Cigarettes After Sex as fitting more in a tradition of classic, moody love songs, referencing Marvin Gaye, Françoise Hardy and Al Green.

“It’s not about ‘let’s create this atmosphere,’ and that’s all,” said Gonzalez, 41, whose black Ray-Bans never left his face. “The Cocteau Twins, you could argue, is more that kind of thing,” he added, referring to the foundational Scottish dream-pop trio whose lyrics were often a jumble of fantastical verbiage. “What if you could do that and also had lyrics you could relate to more?”

Those lyrics can be strikingly raunchy, but with a verisimilitude that Gonzalez said is often straight autobiography.

The band’s origins go back to Gonzalez’s days at the University of Texas at El Paso in 2008, where, he said, his early songwriting efforts, inspired by the Smiths and the Jesus and Mary Chain, were reverb-drenched and overstuffed. Gonzalez’s approach changed when he encountered “ The Trinity Session ,” the Cowboy Junkies’ hear-a-pin-drop 1988 album that was recorded around a single microphone.

To capture that same intimacy, Gonzalez set up his band in the echoey stairwell of the college music building and recorded its performances live. It was a eureka moment: “I finally found some kind of identity that feels special.”

Gonzalez moved to New York and self-released four songs from those sessions as an EP called “I.” Its black-and-white cover photo by Man Ray, of human anatomy turned surreal landscape, established a stark yet erotic visual identity that Gonzalez has stuck with ever since. (He later moved to Los Angeles.)

But Cigarettes After Sex had little success until a cut from that EP, “ Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby ,” began garnering millions of views on YouTube after it was promoted to some of the site’s European users. Gonzalez, who had no label or manager at the time, began fielding thousands of curious emails.

Pouncing on the momentum, the group went on tour and signed with Partisan, and its self-titled debut album arrived in 2017. One weightless track from it, “ Apocalypse ,” caught the ear of a SiriusXM programmer, Chris Muckley, who put it into rotation. “It took all the best things I liked about the xx, Mazzy Star and the Jesus and Mary Chain,” Muckley recalled. “It’s an aural sedative.”

That was nothing compared to the boost Cigarettes After Sex got during the pandemic. Its songs became the soundtrack to hundreds of thousands of TikTok videos, when young users added lilting snippets of tracks like “Apocalypse,” “K.” or “Cry” to extreme close-ups of their faces, in bliss or in tears. “Apocalypse” alone has since cleared two billion streams, according to Partisan.

“X’s” tweaks the formula only a bit to achieve what might be called Cigarettes After Sex’s version of dance-floor bangers. That means slightly more elevated tempos, with grooves that were composed over drum loops. On past albums Jacob Tomsky had played a stripped-down drum kit, with a sonic wash from a single ride cymbal; on “X’s,” he plays a more danceable hi-hat instead. (The band also includes Randall Miller on bass, with Jeff Kite contributing keyboards.) But from the threesome described in the title track, the thematic continuity is clear.

Rare among indie rockers, Gonzalez is also unapologetic about commercial ambitions. “When you write, you want to aspire to be among the greatest, and you want to stand on the shoulders of the giants that got you there,” he said. “So you want to be the biggest because you respect those artists that were the biggest as well, right?”

WHILE CIGARETTES AFTER SEX was building a fan base, a noisier brand of neo-shoegaze music was taking hold on TikTok, abetted by YouTube tutorials offering step-by-step instructions for mimicking the fuzzy guitar effects that gave the original stuff its distinctive sound.

Last year, an 18-year-old computer science student at San Francisco State University named Natalie Lu began tinkering with a ready-made backing track she found on YouTube, recording her voice through her AirPods. The result, “ Your Face ,” was a vortex of serrated guitars and ethereal vocals about unrequited love set to a lunging, wave-tossed beat.

Lu posted the track to TikTok under the name Wisp, and by the next morning it had gotten over 100,000 views. Within a few days it crossed half a million, and soon Lu was fielding calls from trend-chasing record companies. Before Wisp had played a single concert, Lu signed with Interscope Records, the major label behind stars like Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey. Next month Wisp — now a full band — is playing Lollapalooza in Chicago.

“It was a complete shock to me,” Lu, now 19, said in a video interview from her new home in Los Angeles, where she sported a pink-purple dye job recalling vintage Lush. “But I’m happy that people on that platform enjoy it, and I think TikTok is a really good app to use, to just market your music and make connections.”

What gets called shoegaze now is a shaggy agglomeration of indie-rock that may feature bits of shimmering feedback or any number of ’90s influences. Quannnic , another solo project, can conjure Radiohead’s infatuation with dehumanized electronics. Wednesday could be heirs of Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. The Boston band Horse Jumper of Love , with slow, ragged grooves, are more lo-fi rock than anything.

“Shoegaze used to mean one thing, which was a giant pedal board,” said Will Anderson, whose bands Hotline TNT and Weed also get the tag, though they could just as accurately be described as grunge descendants. “It inches a little wider every year. That’s like anything else — pop or indie or punk.”

Phil Pirrone, co-founder of the Desert Daze festival in Lake Perris, Calif., which has hosted reunion performances by OG shoegazers like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Ride, said the revival built gradually but now seems to be everywhere. Desert Daze’s next event, in October, will feature Wisp and what he said were an array of other neo-shoegaze groups.

“We are living in a maximalist future in which every era is being romanticized by some demographic of people,” Pirrone said. Shoegaze, he said, “as dreamy as it is, it’s also dangerous, fatalistic. There’s something romantic about that in this day and age.”

It also represents a shift in the effects of streaming media. Half a generation ago, the playlist economy was pushing producers in a pop direction, rewarding tracks that front-loaded their hooks. Shoegaze and dream-pop, on the other hand, take time to cast their spell — though in the era of TikTok, even the most cinematic expanse still gets compressed into a few bars of sonic wallpaper.

When the term shoegaze was first used in the British music press in the late 1980s, it was a lightly mocking insult aimed at a clutch of bands that appeared diffident onstage because their members tended to hang their heads downward — as they stared at their guitar effects pedals.

“We were consciously wanting to get away from the Simple Minds, U2, big-star-onstage thing,” Andy Bell of the band Ride said in an interview. “I think a lot of shoegaze came from the fact that we were trying to be humble, to let the music speak, create a really huge wall of noise and let that be the sound.” Since the band reunited in 2014, Bell said, he has noticed its live crowds getting younger and younger.

Miki Berenyi, of Lush, recalled that by 1991, when her band toured with Ride, the winking humor of the term had evaporated once American journalists began applying it wholesale. “It’s interesting,” Berenyi said, “how the irony or the sarcasm was lost in this shift over to America.”

In Britain, the original shoegaze wave died with the rise of Britpop in the mid-90s; in the United States, if it took hold at all, it was blasted away by grunge. But the sound never completely vanished, and it got new attention after My Bloody Valentine reunited in 2008. Groups like Diiv and Beach House — whose hypnotic 2015 track “ Space Song ” has crossed a billion streams on Spotify — absorbed the influence of shoegaze and dream-pop, setting up the next generation.

Despite Cigarettes After Sex’s popularity on TikTok, the key to its success may be old-fashioned touring. The band has crisscrossed the globe multiple times, building up loyal — and notably young — fan bases in Poland, India, Indonesia, South America; the United States has only recently caught up as to the rest of the world as one of its top live markets. For some tours in Asia and the Middle East, where public standards may be less liberal, the band is advertised only under the name CAS.

And while the band’s slow-motion soundscapes can recall classic dream-pop or the soundtrack to “Twin Peaks,” to Gonzalez, the only thing old-fashioned about Cigarettes After Sex is its insistence on romantic songwriting.

“I just thought it’d be nice to have someone who pretty much only does love songs,” he said. “You’re not really going to go wrong in that department.”

Ben Sisario, a reporter covering music and the music industry, has been writing for The Times for more than 20 years. More about Ben Sisario

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