Its definitely maybe for U2 shows in Dublin before the end of the year. Although just before taking to the stage in Turin on Friday night the band and their management were unable to confirm exact dates or a venue.
U2 were kicking off the European leg of their tour to a packed house in Turin’s Pala Alpitour venue. They play 34 shows in total on this leg of the tour, finishing up in Paris on November 15th. Press reports have it that the band have block-booked rooms in Dublin’s Gibson Hotel, which is adjacent to the 3Arena, from November 25th to November 29th. The 3Arena is free on these nights, as it is over the Christmas-New Year period.
Direct from a few weeks holiday in the south of France, the Euopean Innocence and Experience tour will not differ that drastically from that performed in north American venues.
The band are eager to play Dublin on this run of shows but there is a severe logistical problem in that their stage configuration simply does not fit into the 3Arena.
A massive stage is divided into three sections, the traditional rectangular stage for the “Innocence” part of the show and a smaller “B” stage for the “Experience” part. A connecting walkway runs the length of the venue over which a 96ft doubled-sided video screen hangs.
Venue: 3Arena
It is still unclear if or when they play Dublin shows, how they will present the show given the limited floor space of the 3Arena.
Very much a narrative-driven show, detailing their rise from Northside wannabes to global supergroup, it’s a far more intimate and personal outing that the previous 360 tour.
However, the tour has not been without incident. Just before it began in Vancouver last May the band lost their longtime pastor and spiritual mentor, Jack Heaslip, who had been with them since their Mount Temple school days until he died.
Larry Mullen’s father died just days before the tour began and last May U2 lost their tour manager of 30 years, Dennis Sheehan, who died of a heart attack on the tour.
However, if they decide to do the Dublin shows it is likely that the tour will continue into 2016 and possibly go outdoors in a new configuration.
But for the moment late November-December looks like a definite maybe for the Innocence and Experience leg in Dublin.
