Bono and The Edge to Perform on December 14

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2022-12-05)

On December 14, 2022, Bono and The Edge performed at the Ambassador Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the promotional tour for Songs of Surrender. The concert was used for footage for the film Bono and The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming which debuted on Disney Plus on March 17, 2023, the same day the album was released.

Bono and The Edge were joined by Kate Ellis and Jacknife Lee, who have been touring with Bono for his “Stories of Surrender” tour. Also present are kids from Music Generation, Ireland’s music education program, and long time friend Glen Hansard. The audience was made up of invited guests, including some current students from Mount Temple, family, and guests of Music Generation. Also present were guests from the local music community including members from Fontaines DC. Longtime associate Anton Corbijn is also present. An email sent to local Dublin-based subscribers of U2.com may have also been used to fill the audience. Letterman also handed out invitations to the event as he traveled around Dublin meeting people.

Bono and The Edge do three sets of songs. In between each set, Letterman comes on stage to interact with the band. The whole evening is a relaxed evening, with jokes in between songs. Glen Hansard joins for the first song, and Kate Ellis, Jacknife Lee and the kids from Music Generation are present for the entire performance.

Letterman takes the stage first, and introduces the whole evening. He shares with the crowd that this is his first trip to Dublin, but it won’t be the last. He shares that James Joyce had done his first stand-up comedy special at the Ambassador theatre. Letterman says “I’m not saying this is a life changing experience but I am saying as you go through the rest of your life you’ll be very very happy that you had this experience”, prior to introducing the good-looking half of U2, Bono and The Edge.

The first song recorded is apparently the last that will be shown on television show. Bono and The Edge perform with Glen Hansard and start with “Invisible”. Bono stops to teach the “There is no them, there’s only us” and encourages the audience to sing, which is repeated as the song fades out. At one point Bono adds some extras, singing “There’s only use, and me, me and you…” before returning to the regular refrain.

The next song is “Bad” which Bono explains was one of the first songs they wrote about Ireland, telling how they were writing about Dublin in the 1970s, and about their friend Guck Pants Delaney. Bono shares he was born just around the corner, and that The Edge only wishes he had been born in the Republic of Ireland. He also uses the opportunity to talk about Songs of Surrender and how the band wanted to revisit the songs during lock down. “We broke them down, stripped them down to just the melody”. “Bad” has a number of changed lyrics which reflect some of the lyric changes on the new album. “Vertigo” is the third and final song of the first set, and Bono and The Edge go right into the song with little talk. The song is performed much the same as it has on Bono’s “Stories of Surrender” tour.

In between sets, Letterman returns to the stage and talks with Bono and The Edge. He opens asking them if they know where Adam and Larry are, and then informs them that Adam and Larry are across town playing a gig at Croke Park. They talk about Letterman’s visit to the Forty Foot swimming hole, and about their 2009 visit to his show, where U2 played each night for a week, gifting Letterman with a signed guitar at the end of the week. Talking about lyrics, Bono claims God doesn’t get any credit until a song wins a Grammy. Letterman talks about taking the DART with Hansard earlier in the day. And speaking of Busking and performing Bono comments that Letterman is a brave man for taking the stage without an instrument or a band. Letterman jokes he doesn’t go out there alone…“pharmaceuticals”.

The second set of songs includes “One” performed on piano and cello similar to the version found on Songs of Surrender. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is similar to the version Bono and The Edge did earlier in the year for the 50th anniversary of Sunday Bloody, including the new lyric, “here at the murder scene, beginning of the fiction, the facts will not come clean, why so many mother’s cry…” The song starts out stripped back and bare, but takes on a very Irish sound as the Music Generation kids add strings to the song. “Stuck In A Moment” is introduced as a song about friendship, “your best friends are the ones you have the best arguments with.” Bono then speaks about his friendship with The Edge, and then shares that the song was about a friend he should have had an argument with but didn’t. Edge messes up the start of “Stuck in a Moment” and Bono comments, with Edge replying “I’ve only played this thing a thousand times.”

Between sets Letterman asks for a photo of himself with Bono and The Edge, and tells the crowd his family asks what is the difference between Bono and the Edge. “We were invited to The Edge’s home, and had a wonderful 2 hour conversation with The Edge. Then we went to Bono’s and spent 2 hours listening to him.”

The third set is “Every Breaking Wave”, “Beautiful Day” and “Angel of Harlem”. “Every Breaking Wave” starts quiet, and as we are used to, but comes to a very different ending. “Beautiful Day” has a number of lyric changes throughout. The night ends with “Angel of Harlem”. There is little talk between the third set of songs.

Letterman returns calling the evening a “wonderful experience” and finally summons Anton Corbijn to take the photo of him with Bono and the Edge that he’s been requesting. Bono tells Letterman that Corbijn is good at following the height rules during the photo session.

The filming will continue with Glen Hansard, David Letterman and other local musicians the follow night at McDaid’s Pub, just off of Grafton Street.

For the full show details, including set list, please check the following show listing:

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