It was raining, the audience were packed in like sardines, the band were all well into their forties and they opened and closed with the same song. U2 played the first of 3 hometown gigs in Croke Park in Dublin on Friday night, and they were excellent.

Ten minutes from the ground and you could already feel the unmistakable hum of a huge gaggle of excited people gathered together. The Radiators and Snow Patrol were able support – the latter concluding their set with a stirring rendition of Run – but both knew that the night belonged to the ageless pop rock veterans.

U2 (CDs) exploded into action with Vertigo, working the already
excitable crowd into a rabid frenzy, and immediately succeeding in
getting 80,000 fans leaping and singing in time. Proceedings remained
up-beat for the next few songs and in the incredible atmosphere it was
difficult even to acknowledge the rhyming of "mole" and "hole" as
anything other than pure genius.

Bono arranged with God that dusk arrive just as the band broke into
their current single, the enchanting City of Blinding Lights,
allowing the spectacular light show to begin in earnest. Jean
Michel-Jarre in his heyday would have been proud. Against such an
awe-inspiring backdrop it’s impossible not to look amazing, and they did.

The band are getting on in years, but are still super-cool. Each
member was given their own big screen, Larry Mullins choosing to scowl
like Mickey Rourke on his, and The Edge and Adam Clayton using theirs
to pull out some classic rock poses and stylings. Bono’s cameraman was
busiest, following him all over the stage as he proceeded endlessly
from corner to corner like a 4 year-old on a Fruit Shoot.

The show was a perfect mixture of new and classic material, and
elaborate visual spectacle. Events threatened to take a turn for the
worst when Bono put his preaching hat on, but even the most cynical
amongst the crowd must have found it difficult not to be moved at the
sight of 80,000 mobile phones being switched on and held aloft in
protest at Human Rights abuse. Especially as it was followed by One,
a definite high point amongst numerous high points.

Two encores brought us The Fly and With Or Without You. Finally,
two hours after bursting on to the stage and with an apology to local
residents, they finished with another rendition of Vertigo, a strange
choice given the wealth of material they have at their disposal, but a
fittingly mania-inducing end to the night.

The crowd throughout were outstanding. They would never have stopped
singing "Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" had The Edge not
interrupted with a wall-of-noise intro to the next song. In contrast to
the rest of the night they dispersed calmly into the mild Dublin night,
to regale to all who would listen jealously how they had been present
at one of the seminal gigs of at least the last decade.

So you missed the concert. Make up for it by finding the cheapest U2 CDs around at Kelkoo.co.uk

[story by Matt Cook]