“U2 are among the most innovative and ambitious live bands in music history.” – IRISH TIMES
“…absolutely amazing.” – ROLLING STONE
“…an inarguable show of force.. still open to variation and rich with the determination to pull it off.” – LA TIMES
“… U2 are back, as big, absurd and thrilling as ever. You’ve never seen anything like the new U2 show.” – DAILY TELEGRAPH
U2’s sold out iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE European Tour 2015 will finish with six home shows, being Belfast on 18th & 19th November and four shows in Dublin on 23rd + 24th, 27th + 28th November 2015.
It is the first time the band will perform songs from their recent album Songs of Innocence to a home crowd. The album released last year, charts the group’s earliest experiences of growing up in Dublin influenced by 70s rock, punk and early 80s electronica and gives insight into how and why U2 came together. With its themes of home and family in songs such as Cedarwood Road, Iris (Hold Me Close) and Raised by Wolves, which deals with the impact of the ‘74 Dublin/Monaghan bombings, Songs of Innocence charts the end of the time of innocence for all four band members and their friends, as teens growing up.
Tickets for the Irish shows go on sale at 9am on Monday 14th September, will be limited to 2 per purchaser and are priced from £30 to £165 for Belfast and from €30 to €185 in Dublin, plus charges. Tickets can be bought at the 3Arena and SSE Arena box offices and online, with floor tickets being sold with the Paperless Ticket system, to ensure fans have access to tickets at face value. A limited number of student-priced floor tickets will be available for sale online. For full details see www.U2.com/tour
€2,000,000 (€2 million) from these concerts will go to Music Generation, Ireland’s National Music Education Programme which currently provides high quality subsidised music tuition to some 26,000 children and young people. Music Generation was originally set up with €5m funding from U2’s Croke Park shows in 2009, along with a further €2m raised by The Ireland Funds.
“In the 18 years that I have worked with U2, the home shows are always very special. These shows promise to be brilliant.” – Arthur Fogel, CEO Global Touring Live Nation Entertainment.
“Finding venues to take this show is actually quite tricky and we’re grateful to our overworked crew who finally cracked the reconfiguring to fit these venues.” – The Edge
The iNNOCENCE + Experience Tour kicked off in May in Vancouver to rave reviews and the US leg saw the band joined onstage by specials guests including Jimmy Fallon, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga, as they performed songs from across their career.
The Dublin and Belfast dates are: Wed, 18th and Thurs, 19th November – Belfast – SSE Arena
Mon 23rd, Tues 24th, Fri 27th & Sat 28th November – Dublin – 3Arena
The U2 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour 2015 powered by Salesforce is produced by Live Nation Global Touring. UPS is the Official Logistics Provider of the tour.
Music Generation:
Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme that transforms the lives of children and young people through access to high quality performance music education. Set up in 2009 Music Generation has been made possible by a €7m philanthropic donation – €5m from U2 and €2m from The Ireland Funds. The donation represents the largest ever philanthropic donation to music education in Ireland in the history of the state.
Access is at the core of Music Generation and it is the key to change. Music Generation is concerned with performance music education – that is vocal and instrumental tuition, encompassing all music genres and all types of instruments and vocal styles which is delivered by skilled professional musicians. Music Generation programmes do not replace the teaching of the mainstream music curriculum within the formal education sector – rather, they complement it, add value to it and provide a different type of engagement that’s concerned with music performance and the interaction of children and young people with professional musicians.
While seed funded by the €7m philanthropic donation from U2 and The Ireland Funds, Music Generation works closely with Government (The Department of Education and Skills – DES) and Local Music Education Partnerships – MEPs. The core objective of Music Generation is to provide access for children and young people – annually the programme now reaches some 26,000 children and young people in 12 areas of the country. Music Generation also provides employment opportunities, especially for musicians – the programme has a workforce now of some 330 people, over 300 of these are musicians.
Ultimately Music Generation wants to achieve a sustainable outcome that would live beyond the term of the €7M gift and not become another arts education project that was only as good as the money lasted – through partnership (with DES & MEPs) a sustainable model has been created.
Music Generation is managed by Music Education Partnerships (MEP’s). The programme is in Carlow, Clare, Cork City, Laois, Louth, Limerick City, Mayo, Offaly/Westmeath, Sligo, South Dublin and Wicklow.
Paperless Ticket
A Paperless Ticket event is when the Credit or Debit Card that was used at the time of booking to purchase tickets is used as the customer’s ticket/entry into the event.
You will not receive physical paper tickets for Paperless Ticket events. Instead of going to the venue’s Box Office, you simply go direct to the door, present a valid photo ID (such as a driver’s license or passport) and swipe the credit card that was used to purchase entry to the event. Your entire party must enter the venue at the same time with the valid credit card and the tickets are non-transferable.
Virtual credit card users: please do not use virtual credit card account numbers for Paperless Ticket purchases as you must present the physical credit card at the time of entry.