Last weekend, Bono and Edge performed a brief set at the O2 Arena in Dublin for a special RTE programme about late Irish musician Ronnie Drew. The two songs played were acoustic versions of Desire and Van Diemen's Land. While Desire has been a staple of the band's setlists for the last two decades, Van Diemen's Land was last played on 6 July 1993 in Rome. Accordingly, this was its first performance in 15 years, 5 months, and 1 day. At present, we do not know the order the songs were played, hence the setlist page lists them in alphabetical order.

This appearance makes U2 the first band to play at the O2 Arena, a substantial redevelopment of the former Point Depot theatre. U2 were the first band to play at the Point, filming Desire and Van Diemen's Land for Rattle And Hum there in 1988. Owner Harry Crosbie accordingly invited U2 to be the first to play the new O2 Arena, a venue much larger than the old theatre, which closed in 2007. Hence the setlist decision to revisit the two Rattle And Hum songs.

The RTE special featuring this appearance will be broadcast over the holiday period, but no precise date has been given yet. Update 12/12: U2's appearance will be featured in The View on RTE 1 this Tuesday, the 16th of December.

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Axver