U2 have shared a first look at the stage production for their ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’ stadium tour, which Bono describes as a “little play on shamanism and showbusiness”.
The Irish rock icons are set to hit the road in 2027 for a huge run of shows celebrating the release of their long-awaited 16th album ‘Carnaval De Luz‘.
Dates in South America were announced first, before the band added extra shows in Mexico City, São Paulo and Buenos Aires due to popular demand. They then went on to confirm tour dates in the UK and Europe, taking place in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Berlin, Lisbon, Milan, and London. Support for those dates comes from Wolf Alice, and U2 also assured fans that dates in Ireland, Spain and North America will be announced “soon”.
Details about the massive shows have remained largely under wraps, with the band sharing at the end of last month that they would be aiming to make it “the best night of anybody’s life”. “A bit of showman, a bit of shaman, a riot of colour, unreasonable guitar, bass and drums, and tunes you can hold onto,” they added. “Because if people are gonna show up, we certainly are.”
Now, the band have shared a first-look at the production they have in mind – sharing renders of how the stage and the lighting will look.
They unveiled the images during an interview with iHeartRadio, quipping that they hadn’t asked their creative director nor any of the “grownups” on their team for permission.
In the first image, an overhead view of the venue was shown, with the stage being largely covered by a huge red curtain, two walkways extending out into the crowd, and a large gold moon displayed overhead on the left side of the stage while a sun sits on the right.
“We can’t tell you what’s behind the curtain, because then we would have to kill you,” Bono joked. “But a lot is going to go on behind the curtain. We’re playing with this idea of show business. We never thought we were in show business. For us, we’re making art. So it’s a little play on shamanism and show business.”
He also said that they plan to have the “the widest set of red curtains” that they can on the stage, adding: “Pink Floyd had ‘The Wall’, we’ve got the red curtains.”
In another image, rows of yellow lightbulbs are depicted as draped from the ceiling, while others form a sphere around the standing area. The ‘Carnaval de Luz’ display at the top centre of the stage is also set to be installed backwards to give the feeling that “everyone in the audience is backstage”.
The band are already underway with rehearsals for the tour, and will be rejoined by drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who took a live hiatus from the band after undergoing neck and back surgery in 2023. He also sat out of U2’s residency shows at the Las Vegas Sphere, but rejoined his bandmates for two surprise homecoming gigs in Dublin celebrating their 50th anniversary, as well as an intimate London gig for the BBC with Brian Eno.
Speaking to NME recently, both Bono and guitarist The Edge said that they would be aspiring to create ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’ once again by integrating “the history of showbusiness and shamanism,” into the set.
Explaining the carnival motif, the band shared how the marriage of escapism, partying and politics has always been at the heart of U2. “A lot of carnival was taking the piss out of the landed gentry and the royals. They would mock their costumes and their dancing,” added Bono, pointing to times in history when the celebrations were banned in certain Catholic countries. “Isn’t that amazing? That these big autocrats are frightened of carnival, of freedom? That’s fascism really.”
He also explained why Wolf Alice were chosen to join them on the tour, praising them as “another extraordinary band that won’t stay in their lane”.
Check out the full NME interview here, where they also opened up about the secret to survival after 50 years, the “defiant joy” of new album ‘Carnaval de Luz’, America finally “waking up”, and how their love of Geese, Fontaines D.C. and Lambrini Girls keeps them on their toesl
U2 release ‘Carnaval De Luz’ tomorrow (Friday November 13). It is produced by Jacknife Lee and features the late, great Dolly Parton’s last ever recorded vocal on ‘Torn’, as well as ‘The Mirror Maker’ written in tribute to Rosalía.
The record was given a three-star review from NME, and described as seeing the Irish rock giants being “more playful than preachy for the first time in a long time”.
“None of this is atypical of latter-day U2, where uninspiring instrumentals and platitudinous turns of phrase often leave their records feeling bombastic and hollow,” it read, “but ‘Carnaval De Luz’ feels like a left turn, summoning a joy that both reinvigorates their songwriting and serves as a riposte to an ever-bleaker global picture.”