Curiosities

  • 1985: The Unforgettable Fire tour was the 18th highest grossing tour of the year, covering 30 cities.
  • 1987: The Joshua Tree tour was the top grossing tour with 79 shows in 50 cities.
  • 1992: Zoo TV was the top grossing tour with 73 shows in 61 cities.
  • 1997: PopMart was the second highest grossing tour in the U.S. at $79.9 million with 46 shows in 37 cities. A total of 1.7 million tickets were sold in the U.S.
  • 2001: The Elevation Tour was reported as a sell out at all 113 shows throughout three legs in North America and Europe. The tour grossed $109.7 million USD in North America, making it the highest-grossing tour of 2001 and the second highest of all time, behind only the Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge Tour of 1994.
  • 2005: The Vertigo Tour was reported as a sellout through all 60 shows of the first two legs in North America and Europe. The tour grossed more than $204 million over those two legs.
  • Adam was absent from a Zoo TV show in Sydney, Australia on November 26, 1993. The show could not be cancelled as the director and cameramen needed the show to prepare for the live pay per view broadcast the following night, which also became the Zoo TV Live from Sydney video. Adam's bass technician, Stuart Morgan filled in the first night, and did an admirable job, although his nervousness was evident during the first couple of songs. Bono explained that Adam was ill to the fans that night. Later accounts of that evening in both books and media interviews, confirm Adam was "ill" with an awful hangover. Adam told Hot press in the mid-90s that he had been on an alcoholic binge. [M2, AC, AS]
  • U2 has played most of their officially released album tracks in concert at one point or another in their career. The following is a list of songs, organized by album, that have never been played during a live performance:
Boy: all have been played
October: Stranger In a Strange Land, Is That All?
War: Drowning Man, The Refugee, Red Light
The Unforgettable Fire: Promenade, 4th of July, Elvis Presley & America
Wide Awake in America: The Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling
The Joshua Tree: Red Hill Mining Town
Rattle and Hum: Heartland
Achtung Baby: Acrobat (was performed only in soundchecks and rehearsals for Zoo TV, but never in an actual concert)
Zooropa: Some Days Are Better Than Others
Pop: The Playboy Mansion (snippets were sung after "Streets" at some PopMart shows, but never the full song)
Best of 1980-1990: all have been played
All That You Can't Leave Behind: Peace On Earth (never the full song), When I Look at the World (never the full song), Grace
Best of 1980-1990: Electrical Storm
How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: One Step Closer
Although never performed live, "4th of July" was used as intro music before several Unforgettable Fire Tour concerts. It was played over the PA system as the band were taking the stage.
  • Bono has two German Shepards, their names are Fanny and Angel. Edge had a dog called Fleetwood, but it ran away. He actually showed a picture of the dog on TV during an interview, to try and get the dog back. Larry dog J.J.died, as evidenced by the "J.J. (R.I.P.)" message in the liner notes of Pop. He also has a pet named Missy. Adam has a dog named Colin. [PC, CB, M2, MTD]
  • Yes, Larry Mullen has a tattoo on his left shoulder. The tattoo is a circular shape and is red and green in colour. It appears to be a sunburst like pattern, or arrows shooting out from a central point. It can be seen in the "Staring at the Sun" video and the "Walk On" (Brazilian version) video.
U2's soundman Joe O'Herlihy used the phrase "achtung baby" often during the work on the album in Berlin. The phrase is used first in the Mel Brooks film The Producers, about the making of a musical called "Springtime for Hitler", a guaranteed Broadway bomb. The name was chosen so that it could not be taken seriously, deflecting focus from the serious lyrics on the album and thus protecting U2 from further critical attacks like they received with Rattle and Hum. "Achtung" is the German word for "attention", so the title translates to "Attention, Baby!" - an utterance of warning. Bono actually says "achtung baby" in the album, during "The Fly" - it's about two minutes into the song. This is clearer on its live versions: Bono shouts "achtung, baby!" right before the Zoo TV screens flood the audience with images and cheap philosophy. Adam also joked that he tried to convince the band to name the album "Adam", but then went on to say they had tossed the idea around of naming it "Man" -- clearly meant to contrast with the band's first album's title.