Watch U2 Play “Dirty Day” For The First Time In 25 Years
U2 have been on the road a lot over the past couple of years, but they still manage to pack some surprises into their setlists. On the first night of their current Experience + Innocence world tour, which wraps up in Berlin next week, they played Achtung Baby’s “Acrobat” live for the first time ever. Last month in Copenhagen, they played the Zooropa cut “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” with a full band for the first time in 25 years. And last night, at their hometown show in Dublin, U2 treated the audience to the first performance of another Zooropa deep cut, “Dirty Day,” since the ZOO TV tour 25 years ago.
Before beginning the song, Bono told the audience about the band’s childhood growing up on the north side of Dublin in the ’70s. “Sons taking on fathers. So much to prove,” he said. “U2 was our way of getting out from their shadow. To be different to them. Our way of telling our fathers, ‘I’m not like you.'” After images of all four U2 members’ fathers showed up on a screen, Bono continued. “My father Bob, he didn’t take me too seriously,” he said. “He could see I was doing a great job of that myself. He did give me a lot of advice. You know, I can still hear his voice when I sing.”
The band then launched into “Dirty Day.” Watch their performance below.