U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Ireland

Background

The Elevation Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, launched in support of the group's 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind. The tour was designed by Willie Williams and Mark Fisher, designers of a number of U2's tours.

The key feature was the stage, which included a large heart-shaped ramp which jutted halfway out onto the arena floor, creating a glorified catwalk. Some general admission ticket-holders were placed inside the heart, on which band members could walk, getting closer to the audience on both sides. Visual images were presented on scrims mounted high among the lighting rigs, sometimes in dynamic swirling fashion such as for "Kite", and even on the entire indoor surface.

Williams would win Live Design magazine's 2001 EDDY Award for his work on the tour; the award stated, "While U2's current Elevation tour is striking in its simplicity, Williams created an almost complete amalgamation of lighting and video by using the entire space of each arena as a projection surface."

Filming

The film features the band playing Slane to more than 180,000 people, the second of two concerts played at Slane Castle on the Elevation Tour. The performances were the band's first at Slane since 1981 when they opened for Thin Lizzy. Bob Hewson, the father of lead singer Bono, died of cancer several days before the first concert.

U2's first night at Slane was on 25 August, a day after Bono's father was buried. He dedicated the song "Kite" to his father. U2 Go Home was filmed on Saturday, 1 September 2001 the same day the Republic of Ireland beat the Netherlands to secure a place in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Intercontinental Play-off where Ireland would go on to defeat Iran. The match was shown to the crowd at Slane Castle prior to the concert, adding to the already festive air. During the bridge in "New Year's Day", Bono drapes himself in the Irish flag and tells the crowd "close your eyes and imagine, it's Jason McAteer", who scored the decisive goal during the match.

Release

The DVD includes a documentary of the making of the album The Unforgettable Fire (part of which was recorded in the castle's ballroom) and a bonus track, "Mysterious Ways" (left out of the setlist on the DVD). It was performed between "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)". All songs performed that night (except "Mysterious Ways") appear unabridged and in order. The DVD features the concert in the PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1 audio formats.

Track listing

1. "Elevation"
2. "Beautiful Day"
3. "Until the End of the World"
4. "New Year's Day"
5. "Out of Control"
6. "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
7. "Wake Up Dead Man"
8. "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
9. "Kite"
10. "Angel of Harlem"
11. "Desire"
12. "Staring at the Sun"
13. "All I Want Is You"
14. "Where the Streets Have No Name"
15. "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
16. "Bullet the Blue Sky"
17. "With or Without You"
18. "One"
19. "Walk On"

1. "Mysterious Ways"
2. The Making of The Unforgettable Fire