Superstars take it Nice and Eze after hometown triumph
Bono and Adam Clayton from U2 perform at Croke Park on July 24, 2009 in Dublin. Photo: Getty Images
Wednesday July 29 2009
U2 jetted out of Dublin immediately after their final Irish show on the 360 tour in Croke Park on Monday night. All four band members and their families left on their private jet to Nice, with their bags packed in advance.
Bono, Adam, Larry, The Edge, and manager Paul McGuinness all own holiday homes in Eze-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, and they will spend their time there soaking up the sun and generally unwinding until the next gig in Gothenburg on Friday night.
While many of the the trucks carrying their massive 'Claw' stage missed the ferry yesterday morning after a blockade by residents near Croke Park, there is already another one being completed in the stadium in Gothenburg.
There are in fact three Claws on the road at all times, leap-frogging each other to keep the massive, power-consuming show on the road at all times.
The band will play a total of 11 dates around Europe on the next stage of the tour, finishing up in Cardiff on August 22. After each date they will fly back to their Nice base, although drummer Larry Mullen is dividing his time between there and his home in Sutton, Co Dublin.
An insider revealed: "While they really enjoyed the long weekend in Dublin it was also hard work and a lot of pressure."
Break
After a short break following the Cardiff show, the supergroup will kick off their American tour in Chicago on September 12, playing dates across the United States until October 28.
Bono, wife Ali and their family will be living in their luxury apartment in New York for the duration so they can spend more time with their eldest daughter Jordan, who is currently studying at New York University.
Dublin is the only city on the tour that got the privilege of three shows.
- Richie Taylor
