U2 Tour From The Heart May Edition Rolling Stone
U2 Tour From The Heart May Edition Rolling Stone
U2 Tour From The Heart May Edition Rolling Stone

U2 Tour From The Heart, May Edition Rolling Stone

'In the end music is a kind of sacrament; it's not just about airplay or chart positions.'

24 Apr 2001
'In the end music is a kind of sacrament; it's not just about airplay or chart positions.'

'At one point, U2 planned to open shows on their Elevation world tour by immediately barraging the audience with everything they had up their sleeves: all spotlights blazing, four individual screens - one for each band member - showing themselves high above their heads, the video wall rising up behind them.

'Reveal all the firepower,' Bono says in the May issue of Rolling Stone magazine. 'Show how the trick would be done.'

'Then they had a simpler, better idea. On March 24th, at the National Car Rental Center in Fort Lauderdale, U2 casually walked onstage, in what passes as everyday clothes when you're in an Irish rock band, and stood there with the house lights on. The first night, it took them a while to organize themselves - 'Kind of doing the laundry...it felt like an age,' Bono would later reflect - and then they careered into the song Elevation, the lights still up. For so straightforward a gesture, it was unexpectedly moving......'


In a lengthy piece on the opening of Elevation 2001, writer Chris Heath talks to U2 about their thinking behind the current tour. Of the house-lights full-on opening, Edge explains, 'We just thought, 'Let's try it and see what happens. 'It did seem to make a point in a very nice way that the event was going to be somehow more about just the band, so to speak, without the trappings. The music and the people and the venue.'

Of the heart-shaped walkway and stage design, he explains, 'It puts you far closer than you could ever have imagined before to an audience. That's what you thrive on when you're playing live.'

And of Bono's opening night fall from grace - into the arms of the Americans, Edge admits that, general admission controversy notwithstanding, 'It is quite funny, that the only person who was in any danger of getting hurt was Bono.'


Later, catching up with Bono in Atlanta when he has had time to reflect on the opening shows, Bono remarks to Heath at the 'good vibrations' of the tour start.

'I don't know what that is, but it feels like God walking through the room, and it feels like a blessing, and in the end, music is a kind of sacrament; it's not just about airplay or chart positions.'


Read the whole story in the May edition of Rolling Stone.

Check other U2 stories at RollingStone.com

MORE NEWS

ALL NEWS
Carnaval De Luz Indie Record Store Edition
CARNAVAL DE LUZ

Limited Edition Third Man Records Yellow Vinyl of New Album Arrives November 13 at Independent Record Stores

30 SEP 2026
Central Bank Deputy Governor Vasileios Madouros presented the coin to Larry Mullen Jr.
50TH ANNIVERSARY

Central Bank of Ireland launches U2 commemorative coin marking 50 years since the band's formation.

28 SEP 2026
Fifty
50TH ANNIVERSARY

Live in Dublin fifty years on. Pat Carty was there for U2.com.

27 SEP 2026
'CARNAVAL DE LUZ' - New Album In November.
CARNAVAL DE LUZ

The band's first studio album in nine years will be released on November 13th. Silencio, second track from...

24 SEP 2026
It’s Arrived (with a surprise)
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVES

The Days of Ash Propaganda Magazine & EP bundle is here… complete with a bonus Easter Lily edition...

17 SEP 2026
'2027 Persons of the Year'
HEARTS + MINDS

Band to be honoured by Musicares for 'five decades of musical achievement and humanitarian service'

10 SEP 2026
’Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah’
COMPILATIONS

Release of Pogues cover today, Friday, from stellar line up for '20th Century Paddy - The Songs Of...

28 AUG 2026
'Fireflies'
COLLABORATIONS

Out today!  Martin Garrix teams up with U2 on new track 'Fireflies', debuted live with Edge at Tomorrowland...

24 JUL 2026
'In a place called Mexico…'

Behind-the-scenes with band and crew on the shoot for 'Street of Dreams'.

17 JUL 2026
Street Of Dreams - The New Single is Here.
SINGLES

Listen to Street of Dreams, the first single from the band's upcoming studio album.

07 JUL 2026
’BALLROOM BOOM’
TV

'Ballroom Boom' screening at the Galway Film Fleadh this Thursday.

07 JUL 2026
What a wonder. They're calling it "The Obamalisk"
BONO

Bono and Edge performing City of Blinding Lights at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in...

22 JUN 2026
SHOWING 12 OF 4770 STORIES KEEP SCROLLING FOR MORE ↓

LATEST COMMENTS

THE NEW ALBUM
CARNAVAL DE LUZ

The new album. Out 13 November 2026.

PRE-ORDER

SUBSCRIBE TO U2.COM

Special editorial and video, exclusive newsletters and events, 25% coupon for the shop and first access to ticket sales when the band tour.