U2 have announced that they will commemorate the 30th anniversary of their seminal album, ‘The Joshua Tree’, by playing the album in full in a stadium tour encompassing Europe, the US and Canada; according to Rolling Stone Magazine. The Tour’s first leg in North America will begin in Vancouver on 12th May 2017 and wrap up in Cleveland on 1st July before the band hop across the Atlantic for eight European dates from the 8th July to the 1st August. The full list of dates can be found at the bottom of this article.
Speaking about the inspiration for playing the album in full on the Tour, The Edge said that he felt the album had once again become especially pertinent, explaining, ‘It seems like we have come full circle from when ‘The Joshua Tree’ songs were originally written, with global upheaval, extreme right wing politics and some fundamental human rights at risk. To celebrate the album – as the songs seem so relevant and prescient of these times too – we decided to do these shows, it feels right for now. We’re looking forward to it.’ Bono expressed similar sentiments, adding, ‘Recently I listened back to ‘The Joshua Tree’ for the first time in nearly 30 years… it’s quite an opera. A lot of emotions which feel strangely current, love, loss, broken dreams, seeking oblivion, polarisation… all the greats… I’ve sung some of these songs a lot… but never all of them. I’m up for it, if our audience is as excited as we are… it’s gonna be a great night. Especially when we play at home. Croke Park… it’s where the album was born, 30 years ago.’
The Tour will be a plethora of firsts; the set at Bonnaroo will be the first time the band has headlined a U.S. festival, while the set-list will feature ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ for the first time ever. As for the exact order of the setlist, however, guitarist The Edge told Rolling Stone, ‘The show might not necessarily start with Track 1, Side 1 ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ because we feel like maybe we need to build up to that moment. So we’re still in the middle of figuring out exactly how the running order will go.’ The Irish band will also get a host of new support acts, with Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers and OneRepublic on rotational duty during the North American leg of the Tour, and Noel Gallagher’s The High Flying Birds taking over once the Tour reaches Europe. Gallagher was delighted to be asked and told U2.com, ‘It will be both a pleasure and an honour to play my part in what still remains the greatest show on earth.’
U2 also plan to release a new album, ‘Songs of Experience’, which will be a sequel to 2014’s ‘Songs Of Innocence’, although according to Adam Clayton will go in a different, more hopeful and uplifting, direction, ‘What we are trying to do with this album is show, where we are have been, and where we are now, which is a much lighter and enjoyable place to be. Songs of Experience is going to be taking everything we’ve learned in the last 40 years and consolidating them into one piece of advice which we will dispense at some point.’
The full US, Canadian and European schedule can be found below:
12/5 – BC Place – Vancouver
14/5 – Century Link Field – Seattle
17/5 – Levi’s Stadium – Santa Clara
20/5 – Rose Bowl – Los Angeles
24/5 – NRG Stadium – Houston
26/5 – AT&T Stadium – Dallas
3/6 – Soldier Field – Chicago
7/6 – Heinz Field – Pittsburgh
11/6 – Hard Rock Stadium – Miami
14/6 – Raymond James Stadium – Tampa
18/6 – Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia
20/6 – FedExField – Washington DC
23/6 – Rogers Centre – Toronto
25/6 – Gillette Stadium – Boston
28/6 – MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford
1/7 – FirstEnergy Stadium – Cleveland
8/7 – Twickenham – London
12/7 – Olympic Stadium – Berlin
15/7 – Olympic Stadium – Rome
18/7 – Olympic Stadium – Barcelona
22/7 – Croke Park – Dublin
25/7 – Stade De France – Paris
29/7 – Amsterdam Arena – Amsterdam
1/8 – Stade Roi Baudoulin – Brussels
