U2 showcased songs from their new album ‘Carnaval De Luz’ along with a host of classic tracks at a surprise concert in London in collaboration with the BBC. Check out photos, the setlist and what went down below.
The one-off show was held and recorded at an intimate gig in the underbelly of the Tate Modern Museum inside The South Tank last Tuesday (November 3). The select audience of fans and celebrities included Noel Gallagher, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and rom-com director Richard Curtis, alongside art students from the Royal College of Art, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, Slade School of Fine Art, Norwich University of the Arts, plus young artists and creatives from both the Tate Collective and BBC Music Introducing and winners of Jo Whiley’s Radio 2 audience ballot.
Set against a 360 degree backdrop of the artwork ‘77 Million Paintings’ by long-time U2 producer and musician Brian Eno, who was also in the audience, the one-off show followed their recent 50 year anniversary celebration gigs in Dublin in September.
Introduced by Jo Whiley to a pre-recorded version of ‘Zooropa’, Bono gave a shout out to a group of fans at the front sat on beanbags before launching into ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ for its first airing since 2018. They followed it up with the classic fan favourite ‘Bad’, which featured on the same 1984 LP, and much like their legendary performance at Live Aid in 1985, Bono threw in the lyrics to The Rolling Stones‘ ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and ‘Sympathy For The Devil’.
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Bono told the crowd “what a privilege it was” to play at the venue and pointed out that late French-American artist Louise Bourgeois was the first person to open “this incredible place” in 2000 with a giant spider sculpture.
They then debuted new track ‘Can’t Stop Us Now’ from ‘Carnaval De Luz’ ahead of its release on November 13. The rocky number features an upbeat chorus, which finds Bono and guitarist The Edge swapping vocals towards the end.
Ahead of a gentle rendition of ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ track ‘MLK’, Bono recalled how he once went to Bourgeois’ house in Chelsea with some Irish whiskey and explained that “it made him want to sing songs that I don’t know the words to” like the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, which he sang to her.
