On Sunday I was down in Twickenham for an amazing gig – U2 celebrating 30 years since The Joshua Tree was released! I’d bought a few extra tickets, so Tom Musgrove travelled down with me (we drove down to Feltham and then got a train from Feltham to Twickenham), and then met my Bristol friends Ali and Chelly nearby, before all heading to the stadium.
As we arrived around 7pm, the support act was already playing – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds! They were really good, but it was kind of weird seeing Noel Gallagher playing as an opening act, because the stadium was still filling up and not everyone was paying attention!
U2 came on stage around 8.15pm, and opened with a few songs from earlier albums (including ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and ‘Pride’), then launched into all the songs in order from The Joshua Tree.
The album is such a classic, and to hear songs like ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and ‘With Or Without You’ played live and all together was a truly magical experience! The music sounded so good, and they’re really great at all the accompanying visuals which appeared on a giant screen behind the band, mixed in with live footage of their performance.
The show lasted over 2 hours, and it’s the second time I’ve seen them live now – and they really do knock it out of the park! I’ll definitely try to see them again if they do any more UK gigs in the future!
We got out of the stadium just after 10.30pm, and joined the throng of people walking towards the railway station. I had planned to buy some food once we got out, but the queues were so long, and we just thought we needed to try and get a train as soon as possible! When me and Tom got back to Feltham, there was a McDonalds next to the station, so we joined a long queue in there to get something to eat (they actually locked up whilst we were still inside queuing!), and eventually got some food before the long drive home!
Ali & Chelly.
Setlist:
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year’s Day
Bad
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
With or Without You
Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God’s Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared
Encore:
Miss Sarajevo
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Vertigo
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
One
The Little Things That Give You Away
Don’t Look Back in Anger (with Noel Gallagher)