U2 have announced that they will post some of their concerts online for first time ever as part of a new virtual series.
U2: The Virtual Road will see the band team up with YouTube to broadcast a series of four gigs – Slane Castle (2001), Red Rocks (1983), Mexico City (1997) and Paris (2015) – exclusively on their own channel.
The series marks the first time that three of these concerts – Slane, Red Rocks and Mexico City – have been made available digitally.
Kicking off on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), the first concert to be streamed will beU2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle. The gig celebrates the band’s return to the legendary Irish concert site on September 1, 2001 for their first performance on the banks of the River Boyne in over 20 years. Dermot Kennedy will open the show with an exclusive solo performance recorded earlier this month outside Los Angeles.
Next up,U2: Live At Red Rocks will follow on March 25. Recorded on June 5, 1983 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado as part of the band’s War Tour, the career-defining show helped establish U2’s reputation as one of the world’s best live acts. Fontaines D.C. will open the show with a performance recorded in their hometown last year.
On April 1, U2’s Mexico City performance at Foro Sol Stadium from their PopMart Tour in 1997 will be broadcast as Popmart: Live From Mexico City. It will be preceded by a special one-off performance by Carla Morrison.
Finally,iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE: Live in Paris will be aired on April 10. U2 returned to the French capital less than a month after the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks on the city for two rescheduled shows. It includes an emotional performance of Patti Smith’s ‘People Have The Power’. French band Feu! Chatterton will be on support duties.
“Every show is memorable for us but these four particularly so… It’s exciting to be on the road again… Embracing all the wonder of the virtual road,” the band said in a statement. “And especially exciting to be joined by such a brilliant line-up of fellow travellers in Dermot Kennedy, Fontaines D.C., Carla Morrison and Feu! Chatterton.”
The news comes after YouTube, Island Records, Interscope, UMe and UMC announced in September the relaunch of U2’s Official YouTube channel, with weekly releases of the band’s most iconic music videos and never-before-seen content on YouTube, all remastered.
Meanwhile,DMX has revealed that he has a collaboration on the way with U2’s Bono called ‘Skyscrapers’.