U2 Elevation Tour

Elevation Tour 2nd leg: Europe

2001-08-25: Slane Castle - Slane, Ireland

Slane Castle rocks as U2 put on ‘stunning’ homecoming gig

Review
U2
Slane Castle
By Tim Brannigan

FROM time to time in the life of a nation, events take place which compel people to proclaim to friends and family: “I was there.”

U2 at Slane on Saturday August 25 2001 was, unarguably, such an event. Some 80,000 people showed up at Co Meath’s natural amphitheatre to welcome home their idols.

Many hours later, they went home exhilarated, inspired and, in some cases, overwhelmed by the sheer power of U2’s performance. The band were, in a word, awesome.

On our arrival at the first of many checkpoints around the gig, we saw two men from west Belfast who had shown up without tickets. Many others made the journey in the forlorn hope of blagging their way in.

However, security was tighter than ever before and I suspect they had to either head home or sit in a field and hope the sound reached them.

In years to come, they might tell their friends they were there. Almost.

Following the death of Bono’s father, Bob, there was always going to be a sense of sadness about the night. The funeral took place only the day before the gig.

The U2 frontman – a religious man at the best of times – said: “I would like to thank God for taking my elderly father’s sick and tired old body and giving him a new body.”

He added: “I would like to thank you, the fans for your support. It has taken us 20 years to get to this moment.”

The singer joked about the band’s previous gig at the venue, when they supported Thin Lizzy.

“We were crap,” he said, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Fine weather and an impressive support cast meant that the sense of anticipation was almost tangible by the time U2 took to the stage, late on Saturday evening.

Earlier in the day, Relish, JJ72, Kelis, Coldplay and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers kept the crowd entertained with strong performances.

Coldplay, in particular, got a warm reception and seemed suitably moved by the reaction to what must have been the biggest gig of their career to date.

Singer Chris Martin told fans that, despite offers to support other bands, they had turned them all down to play Slane. He added that they were “deeply honoured” to be there.

In a reference to a famous U2 song, the singer then introduced their biggest hit with the words: “There’s been a lot of talk about this song. This song is not a rebel song, this song is...Yellow.”

Later, Bono returned the compliment when, under a clear sky, he serenaded the audience with words from the Coldplay hit: “Look at the stars, look how they shine for you...”

U2 kicked off their show with their most recent hit, Elevation.

Eighty thousand people joined Bono in singing the “wooo-hooo” chorus and for most of the rest of the show, the band and the crowd were almost one.

To be brutally honest, this reviewer would not have been U2’s biggest fan, and had considered not going to the gig at all.

While I won’t be running out to buy their albums, I have to concede that they did put on one hell of a show.

The atmosphere switched between being poignant and electric.

It has become something of a cliche now for pop giants to pluck pretty girls from the audience for a smooch and a bit of a dance, but when Bono singled out one lucky fan, it was genuinely touching.

As they cavorted and danced their way along the runway which protruded from the front of the stage deep into the crowd, it seemed that the star-struck girl was in a daze.

She finally summoned up the courage to shake her hips while going toe to toe with the rock legend.

Kicking off with songs such as the number one single Beautiful Day, the band then played what was virtually a greatest hits show.

At one point, they lapsed into an earlier incarnation with tracks such as Where The Streets Have No Name, Pride and Bad from U2: The Mullet Years.

As the hits rolled out, many people could be seen sending text messages on mobile phones to friends elsewhere, boasting about their good fortune at being able to witness the rock event of the year.

Having been humbled by their performance, this reporter might just be a little less cynical about U2 in future.

Their ability to rock such a stunning venue is probably without equal.

Bono’s star quality and sheer presence touched fans and cynics alike – and for one night, everyone experienced a little of the magic.

As an image of his father looked down from giant screens, this star did indeed shine for us.

It was that sort of night; that sort of homecoming.