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Why you need to see U2 in concert right now

U2 are the greatest live band in history, and now they're staging the first ever 'intimate' arena tour

As someone who went to almost as many dates on U2's 360º tour as the band themselves - I was writing a book about them at the time - I thought it unlikely that they'd be able to top it. The band thought the same, which is why they haven't tried to. Playing arenas instead of stadiums, using a giant LED screen that bisects the stage - their long-standing crew call it "the divider" - and by deliberately creating a more intimate set, for their current Innocence + Experience tour they have attempted to reinvent the U2 experience by shrinking it, corrupting it and by pulling it inside out.

The result? A resounding success.

There are those, like myself, who think that U2 are the best live act in the world. They understand the audience/band dynamic better than anyone, they write songs to be played in large spaces - "We're very wary of writing 'interesting' material because

'interesting' material doesn't play well in stadiums," Bono once told me - and they put the hours in. (The only performer who gives more bang for your buck is Bruce Springsteen.)

U2 adore punch.

Their gig on 24 September in Berlin was their 48th of the tour and deemed by many of the crew to be one of the best they'd played since the tour started in Vancouver back in May. And they should know (not being the kind of folk to suffer fools or hyperbole gladly).

The show itself is so cleverly orchestrated that it makes you feel as though you're at the theatre - whether you're in the circle or the stalls, you feel as though the band are performing just for you. Also, whereas most performers who are used to playing stadiums have stage mannerisms that connect with those sitting up in the gods, Bono and the band act as though you're sitting right in front of them. Which, due to the way the set is designed, you are.

The show is the macro/micro experience writ large. Or writ small, come to think of it. They've always managed to create an agora, only this time it's more contained. "Some parts of the show are ridiculously intimate," Bono told me before he went on stage. "It's very punk rock in that respect."

Coming to see U2 is a little like going to church, not because of Bono's tendency to sermonise - which I know is one of the reasons why some people take against them - but due to the effort the band makes to include their audience in their journey, delivering messages of hope and redemption among all the flag-waving and pyrotechnics. Some find all this old-fashioned and corny - I call it a great night out.

The set list on this tour has also been designed to encourage inclusivity, as we're treated to a smattering of songs from their early career that don't often get a hearing. As for the new songs, the lacquered ones from Songs Of Innocence have, predictably, started to sound as though they've been around for years, with one, "Every Breaking Wave", already assuming a classic, hymn-like quality which will one day make it as popular as "One" or "With Or Without You".

As we were in Berlin, the digital wall was imbued with extra poignancy, with the images of family, destruction and remembrance adding piquancy to an atmosphere that was already heightened. (In 1990, U2 made the trip to this once-divided city to reinvent themselves after the North American surge of The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum.) Bono made reference to the refugee crisis, something Berliners know more about than most audiences on this tour.

Berlin still feels like a city where reunification happened only a week ago, and this frontier spirit is something it's impossible to ignore here - even more so when you're watching (as we were tonight) an iconic rock band whose history belongs as much to Berlin as it does to Dublin.

Personally, I've often felt that U2 can be too apologetic about what they do, as with their unnecessary apology for automatically adding Song Of Innocence to the libraries of all iTunes users around the world. But there are very few performers who have such a sense of duty to their public, and fewer still who invest so much in their stage shows - emotionally, as well as financially. Frankly, I think it's a privilege to watch a U2 show, and never more so than on this current tour.

It finishes on 3 November, but the plan at present is for the tour to start again in the New Year, possibly with a new album some time in the spring. While you'll probably have to pay for both this time, the tour is something you really don't want to miss. Once again U2 are even better than the real thing.

Rocking all over the world: U2's biggest tours

**Zoo TV

** (1992-93)

Shows: 157

Tickets sold: 5.3m


** (1997-98)

Shows: 93

Tickets sold: 3.9m


** (2001)

Shows: 113

Tickets sold: 2.1m


** (2005-6)

Shows: 131

Tickets sold: 4.6m


** (2009-11)

Shows: 110

Tickets sold: 7.2m

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