2022-11-21

3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Ireland

Set List of Show:

Main Set List:

"City Of Blinding Lights"
"Vertigo"
"With or Without You"
"Out of Control"
"Stories for Boys"
"I Will Follow"
"Iris (Hold Me Close)"
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Pride (In the Name of Love)"
"Where the Streets Have No Name"
"Desire"
"Beautiful Day"
"Torna a Surriento"

Instrumentals / Non-Bono Performances:

"October"
"Gloria"
"Into the Heart"
"Miss Sarajevo"

Additional Music

Pre-Recorded Intro Song: "Empire State Human" - The Human League
Pre-Recorded Exit Song: "La Traviata Act I: Dell'invito trascorsa e gia l'ora" - Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Matteo Manuguerra

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by Bono:

Cabaret

Show Details:

The Olympia Theatre was opened in 1879 and was originally called The Star of Erin, taking its current name in 1923, and being sponsored by Three Ireland in 2021. U2 have not performed together on the stage, but Bono, Larry and The Edge joined Johnny Cash and Kris Kristopherson on stage at the Olympia theatre one night in 1993, the day before Cash would join U2 in studio to record “The Wanderer”.

At a capacity of 1240 people, the venue is the smallest venue overall on the entire tour. In advance of the show in Dublin, Ticketmaster confirmed that this show would be filmed in an email to ticket buyers.

The show sees Bono performing songs, reading from his book, and acting out events from the book on stage, accompanied by three Irish musicians. Jacknife Lee, who has worked with U2 as a producer joins Bono on keyboards and drums. Kate Ellis accompanies him on cello and backing vocals, and Gemma Doherty is on harp, keyboards and backing vocals.

Dublin saw Bono in fine shape, with great voice. The set list tonight was the same as previous nights, and included a reading of “Miracle Drug” early in the show and also featured lyrics from “Crumbs from Your Table” after “Where the Streets Have No Name” later in the show. He mentions the lyrics after sharing that Sister Anne, mentioned in the song, is in the audience tonight. Sister Anne Carr has been part of Bono’s work in Africa, and she is mentioned in the memoir in a few locations.

Bono seemed impressed when the crowd responded to “Out of Control” and continued to sing along after the song had stopped. Many of those at the theatre would have been there as part of U2’s story from the early days, and the song, U2’s first single, was well received.

Others in the audience tonight include band mate, Adam Clayton, Bono’s wife Ali, his son John, and both of his brothers, Norman and Scott. Others spotted at the show from the U2 team include Sam O’Sullivan, Larry Mullen’s drum tech, and Guggi and Gavin Friday. Other attendees of note include Glen Hansard of the Frames, Liam Ó Maonlaí of the Hothouse Flowers, and film director Jim Sheridan. Also present, we’re Michael D Higgins, President of Ireland, Micheál Martin, Taoiseach, as well as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. Charlie Bird, a former RTÉ broadcaster received a big cheer from the crowd. Bird recently was gifted the use of U2’s “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” for use in his “Climb for Charlie Campaign.” Dave Fanning, a long time supporter of the band was also present, as was Riverdance founder John Colgan.

Melanie Finn of The Independent shared, “Just when we thought we had seen him in all his guises, Bono took to the stage at the 3Olympia on Monday and proved he really is the master of reinvention. This time around, there were no high-tech props, there was no grandstanding to thousands of fans in an international stadium and not a guitar in sight. Instead, the 62-year-old served up one of his most intimate, raw and emotionally-searing shows as he invited attendees to take a journey into the inner workings of a pop-star’s mind.”

Tickets for the show went on sale on Friday, October 7 at 10am. A special pre-sale for U2.com members happened the day before. All tickets were mobile delivery, and delayed until 72 hours before the show, and all tickets for the show came with a copy of the book, which was shipped to addresses ahead of the performance. Part of the fee for the ticket included a €1.50 restoration, which will be invested in maintaining the theatre. Each ticket came with a copy of Bono’s memoir, and these were shipped out in advance via mail by Easons. Under 14s had to be accompanied by an adult.

Many thanks to Bryan and Patrick for assistance with the information above.

Officially Released Tracks