- Title: U2 kicks off European leg of "Joshua Tree" tour in London
- Date: 9th July 2017
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JULY 8, 2017) (REUTERS) CROWD LEAVING STADIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) U2 FAN DAVID FROM THE U.S, SAYING: "They were awesome, they sounded just like they did 30 years ago. I wouldn't know that but he would." (SOUNDBITE) (English) U2 FAN KATE, SAYING: "They played a lot of their old stuff and the start was really good and the end was really good but in between was a bit." (SOUNDBITE) (English) TEACHER AMY, SAYING: "I don't know the album really really well, I know the big hits, they also played some other big songs from other albums, so it was a really good overall show yeah it was great." (SOUNDBITE) (English) RETAIL MANAGER PHIL, SAYING: "Joshua Tree last time was better than this time, because it was more personal, it meant a lot. This time around it is a bit too commercial, it is just like 'we are here to do the job'. But there's a lot of good music in there, it is great, it is good stuff." CROWD LEAVING
- Embargoed: 23rd July 2017 14:23
- Keywords: U2 The Joshua Tree music tour european politics Bono. reaction
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA0036OZVMTJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Irish rock group U2 kicked off the European leg of "The Joshua Tree" tour on Saturday (July 8) by returning to the album that tackled their love-hate relationship with America and propelled them to superstardom when it was released 30 years ago.
The band, led by 57-year-old singer Bono, is playing most of the record to 2.4 million fans on their 2017 tour, including hits "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm looking For".
But they started the London show with early songs "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "New Year's Day", "Bad", and the Martin Luther King Jr-inspired "Pride (In the Name of Love)", which Bono dedicated to the "Rainbow people of London" who took part in the annual Pride LGBT march in the city earlier on Saturday (July 8).
"The Joshua Tree" was played in sequence against a backdrop of video of U.S. landscapes such as Death Valley, and Americans standing in front of the Stars and the Stripes, shot by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn who created the imagery on the original record.
The group's best-selling album was released in 1987 when Ronald Reagan was U.S. President and his ideological soul mate Margaret Thatcher was in power in Britain.
Bono largely let the music speak for itself on Saturday, although a character called "Trump" was called a liar by the "good guy cowboy" in a Western movie-style clip.
"The Joshua Tree", which sold more than 25 million copies, marked the pinnacle of the band tackling social and political issues through rock music.
Seven of their later songs, including "Ultraviolet" and "One", were played as an encore, before Bono invited support act Noel Gallagher back on stage to sing "Don't Look Back in Anger", a song he wrote for his band Oasis.
The track became an anthem for Manchester after 22 people were killed by a suicide bomber in the city in May, and Gallagher also dedicated it to the victims of further attacks and a devastating tower block fire in London in June.
"The Joshua Tree" tour plays seven other European cities including Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam in July finishing in Brussels on August 1st before returning to the United States in September. The tour will arrive in Latin America from October. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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