U2

Show me a music photographer and I’ll show you a fan of live music. Shortly after my age hit double figures, one band dominated and continues to dominate my music collection. 8 tours and over 30 shows later, through the earnestness of LoveTown, the sheer bombastic ambition of ZooTV, the brilliance of Popmart, the heart of Vertigo, the audacity and scale of 360, the return to arenas with Innocence+Experience and the retrospective that was The Joshua Tree, the 4 lads from the north side of Dublin remain both a compelling and confounding live act.

And then they opened Sphere in 2023. Next level.

Compelling in their ability to overcome cavernous stadia and deliver songs spanning over 40 years that sound in most cases as fresh as when they were released, and confounding because they’ll never play the precise setlist of our dreams.

Album hiccups along the way (All That You Can’t Leave Behind, I’m looking at you) and courting adoration and hatred in equal measures, U2 endure, remaining the greatest live act I’ve had the pleasure to watch.

You can view my U2 Folio here

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