U2 online concert series 'The Virtual Road' to premiere St. Patty's Day on YouTube with 2001 Ireland show | 97.7 The River
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U2 online concert series 'The Virtual Road' to premiere St. Patty's Day on YouTube with 2001 Ireland show

Courtesy of U2

Courtesy of U2U2 are unable to tour because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so instead, the Irish rock legends are planning to treat fans to an archival concert series, broadcast over the next four weeks exclusively on their official YouTube channel.

The U2: The Virtual Road series will feature shows that the group played at Ireland’s Slane Castle in 2001; at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, in 1983; in Mexico City in 1997; and in Paris in 2015. All four concerts will be viewable for just 48 hours.

The series kicks off this Wednesday, St. Patrick’s Day, with U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, which documents a September 2001 concert at the Irish landmark during the group’s Elevation Tour.

The second show, premiering on Thursday, March 25, will be U2: Live at Red Rocks, capturing the band’s memorable June 1983 performance at the scenic Denver-area venue during the War Tour.

Concert number three, which debuts on Thursday, April 1, is Popmart: Live from Mexico City, documenting a December 1997 concert at the Foro Sol Stadium.

The series wraps up on Saturday, April 10, with iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE: Live in Paris, which was filmed at a December 2015 show less than a month after the brutal terrorist attacks that rocked the French capital.

Each show will be preceded by a new or recently recorded performance by a different opening act: Irish singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy on March 17; Dublin band Fontaines D.C. on March 25; Mexican indie-pop artist Carla Morrison on April 1; and French band Feu! Chatterton on April 10.

“Every show is memorable for us, but these four particularly so,” U2 says in a joint statement. “It’s exciting to be on the road again…Embracing all the wonder of the virtual road.”

By Matt Friedlander
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