How popular are U2 in Ireland?

[65980]

I would be interested to have a discussion about how popular U2 are/have been in the Republic of Ireland. Obviously, they broke out of Ireland in the first place, and, just as obvious, they are huge there. Still, I'm curious to hear some perspectives, particularly from Irish people who might have followed them for years, on how their popular currency has fared on the emerald island.

In particular, any of these Qs would be interesting to discuss:

1) When did U2 get "big" in Ireland? For example, how popular was Boy? (I remember reading an Irish book once which referred to the "masterly October album".) At what point did they become the biggest band in Ireland?

2) How was Rattle & Hum received there?

3) Did U2 suffer any loss of relevance/popularity at the time of Pop?

4) Do Irish fans ever feel that U2 have 'sold out' or forsaken their roots for international and/or American success?

It's interesting that the following songs have all been #1 on the Irish singles chart (based entirely on sales):

1) The Unforgettable Fire
2) With Or Without You
3) I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
4) Where The Streets Have No Name
5) Desire
6) When Love Comes To Town
7) All I Want Is You
8) The Fly
9) Mysterious Ways
10) One
11) Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
12) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
13) Discotheque
14) Sweetest Thing
15) Beautiful Day
16) Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
17) Elevation
18) Vertigo
19) The Saints Are Coming

(This amounts to 6 more #1 hits than any other artist!)

 

[Marien]

I'm not Irish, so I can't give you the perspective you are looking for, but in recent years I've been travelling there for job reasons very often, three, four times a year and staying for one to three months every time, what I see is that they use U2 image in quite an abussive way, especially Bono's, you can see huge pics of him when you enter a shopping centre, on a tourist bus or you'll find the first thing you see when getting into Dublin from the airport if you take the new underground road is a massive picture of U2:

Dubliners seem to be quite dissapointed by the band's decision of moving the recording business to Holland and about The Clarence Hotel rebuilding, they make lots of jokes on the guys, using irony, but they don't like foreigners to do the same (at least my friends), their music sounds everywhere, even last spring and last summer, so long ago from their last release, and if your ring tone is from one of their songs you get a big smile by anyone near you. One thing that shocks me is that even serious newspapers have to write something about them everyday, if only a little sarcastic comment, and that anything they say (again especially Bono) is treated by the press as if he were the leader of a political party.
I can't give you a perspective over the years, I was studying there for a year during the Elevation tour and they were huge, really huge and everybody was so moved about Bono's father illness, like if he were a relative in each house.

 

[last unicorn]

Of couse, local idols do always generate love and hate in their homecoountries, especially if they are internationally huge like U2.

 

[Marien]

I haven't found hate towards them, just a feeling that we, foreigners, shouldn't think they are the only important people they have, of course my friends know I'm a fan, but I don't think that's the reason, I think they are proud of them, but they don't want to show it so much in order not to look ridiculous.

 

[last unicorn]

Bono has often said Irish people don't care about celebrities, that they are generally not impressed with fame.

 

[DevilsShoes]

I think in terms of the media, the guys live a pretty 'under the radar' existence in Ireland, their personal lives aren't deemed to be of the greatest interest.

Bono did say once that if he were a football star, the public and media interest in him would be far more intrusive. Sports stars are very often considered far more impressive and heroic than rock stars.

 

[Morgoth321]

I'm from Northern Ireland, which isn't quite the target demographic you're looking for, but I would like to make a few general points:

- U2 are a major Dublin tourist attraction, as far as a group of individuals can be classed as such. Locations connected with them (such as the Clarence) are always pointed out on the open bus tour commentaries, for example. I can remember at least one occasion when a driver also indicated the filming location for the 'Sweetest Thing' video too.

- It's not that hard to be considered a 'celebrity' in Ireland, connected to the 'big fish in a small pond' syndrome. For example, anyone remember Samantha Mumba? (Many of you will never have heard of her at all, so don't worry.) Her career as a singer/actress/whatever seemed to dry up years ago, yet she still gets her photo taken at premieres and nightclubs etc. It's possible for people to be considered Irish celebrities solely due to a connection with U2. I have no wish to denigrate Gavin Friday or Guggi, but would they really enjoy the high profiles they have in Ireland without their famous friends coming to exhibition openings etc?

- I think that the Irish people, and Dubliners in particular, are proud of U2's achievements on a worldwide scale, but they (correctly) reserve the right to mock them where appropriate. That's a culture and sense of humour thing though - many tourists will never realise that 'the natives' are taking the piss out of them, so subtle is the humour.

- U2 will always be popular at home, although I think that their home fans would welcome more than 2-3 concerts each tour! No matter how big the venues may be, the opportunities to see them on Irish soil are still very limited - especially when so many people are prepared to travel from elsewhere to see them in Ireland. (Another, perhaps slightly off-topic, observation. U2 played 3 Irish concerts on the Vertigo tour, but the setlists held no surprises in the sense of rarities or new songs introduced for the 'home fans'. Correct me if I'm wrong, but everything played over those three shows had already been performed on the tour - although I wish I would've been at the 3rd show and not the 1st one!)

 

[thelaj]

I seem to recall the Irish concerts had spectacular setlists?

 

[Carrie Anderson]

Marien said:

"what I see is that they use U2 image in quite an abussive way, especially Bono's, you can see huge pics of him when you enter a shopping centre, on a tourist bus or you'll find the first thing you see when getting into Dublin from the airport if you take the new underground road is a massive picture of U2:"

Is it just me being thick .... I don't see how using the pics you mentioned is offensive. The massive pic you talk about is outside the Point Depot..... and as for the buses and shopping centres... I have never seen them.

But I don't get your point about "abusive".... Can you explain?

 

[Marien]

Is it just me being thick .... I don't see how using the pics you mentioned is offensive. The massive pic you talk about is outside the Point Depot..... and as for the buses and shopping centres... I have never seen them.

But I don't get your point about "abusive".... Can you explain?

Oh, well, I speak English at work every day, but still I'm not a native, I think I have used a wrong word here, I wanted to say that they overuse U2's image, even in contexts where I can't see any connection with them, for example in shopping centres, I've seen big pics from Bono at one of the entrances of Jervis shopping centre (it's in Henry Street, just near O'Connell Street and the General Post Office) and Bono's and Edge's in St. Stephen's Green upper floor, and some more I can't recall at the moment. It would have been different if their pics were in a record shop inside the shopping centre, I know they use them to attract the tourists, what I think is that it is not fair to use other people's photographs to attract customers to your business, that's all. I'm sorry I made such a silly mistake.

 

[Carrie Anderson]

Oh okay

Understood now Please don't apologise. Your English is fantastic. I just wanted to clarify.

I guess exploitation is understandable. It's natural, I guess, that people use an image in advertising that most people will recognise.

 

[thelaj]

You should come to Liverpool. We exploit The Beatles to a far far greater extent than Dublin exploit U2.

 

[Carek1230]

When I was in Ireland last fall it seemed a mention of U2 was no big deal. I heard U2 music in lifts, shops and pubs tho and lots of the tours will mention hot U2 spots along with those of other famous stars from Ireland. Loads of Dubs would tell stories of having seen the band mates about town, like it was nothing to them. U2 was not the only reason I visited Ireland though.

 

[Morgoth321]

I seem to recall the Irish concerts had spectacular setlists?

Judge for yourself (and I'm happy to acknowledge the source of these setlists as U2tours.com):

24th June 06 - Main Set: Vertigo, I Will Follow, The Electric Co., Elevation, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day - Rain - Here Comes the Sun, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, City of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Running to Stand Still - Happy Birthday - Walk On, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One - Rain
Encore(s): Zoo Station, The Fly, With or Without You, All Because of You, Yahweh, Vertigo

25th June - Main Set: Vertigo, Out of Control, The Electric Co., Elevation, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day - Blackbird, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, All I Want Is You, City of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Running to Stand Still - Happy Birthday - Walk On, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One
Encore(s): Zoo Station, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Party Girl, All Because of You, Yahweh, Vertigo - Jailbreak

27th June: Main Set: Vertigo, All Because of You, Gloria, Elevation, An Cat Dubh - Into the Heart, Beautiful Day - Blackbird, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Original of the Species, Bad - Dirty Old Town, City of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Running to Stand Still - Happy Birthday - Walk On, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One - Unchained Melody
Encore(s): Zoo Station, The Fly, With or Without You, Vertigo, Yahweh, 40

My point was that, while U2 played some songs for the first time on the European leg of the Vertigo tour, they had performed all of the songs at least once by the time they reached Irish soil. Whether these setlists are 'spectacular' or not is a matter of opinion, but I'd be inclined to agree with you. But was it naive of me to expect them to pull something truly special (like debuting a rarity or a hitherto unperformed HTDAAB album track) out of the bag / vaults / back catalogue for their home fans?

 

[Carrie Anderson]

You should come to Liverpool. We exploit The Beatles to a far far greater extent than Dublin exploit U2.

I have actually been to "The Beatles Story" and thought it was fantastic. I spent hours in there and I have never really considered myself a Beatles fan.

I really wish there was something like that for U2 in Dublin.

 

[Carek1230]

^ SO do I!

 

[nirniva]

I have actually been to "The Beatles Story" and thought it was fantastic. I spent hours in there and I have never really considered myself a Beatles fan.

I take it that this is some sort of Beatles museum? If so, then I'm buying plane tickets.
(Not really. Stupid, expensive plane tickets. )

 

[Bottle Bono]

Whenenver U2 want to crack up popularity at home, they add DIRTY OLD TOWN to their set list.

 

[thelaj]

I take it that this is some sort of Beatles museum? If so, then I'm buying plane tickets.
(Not really. Stupid, expensive plane tickets. )

It is a kind of museum, though sometimes it feels like the whole city is their museum...

 

[Bottle Bono]

"We may well be the future of rock 'n' roll, but so what? When I go back to Dublin, to my girlfriend it's more of a distraction that I'm in a band than any big deal -- and my old man shouts at me for not doing the dishes before I go to bed."
-- Bono, 1982

 

[gareth brown]

hahaha what a quote.

i went to Dublin in May to see the wombats at the academy, and being a huge fan of U2 and having a bit of Irish in me and never being to Ireland it was sort of like a pilgrimage if you like

where I went over the weekend I didn't really see anything U2 related in the way of posters or 'abusing their image' is concerned. my hotel was literally next to the Clarence, but I never saw Bono or Edge stepping out for a cigarette. there was a record shop just down the road for the Clarence round the back streets with loads of u2 stuff but there was one down the road next to the Liffy which really was a treasure trove of U2 singles/albums/posters/anything whereas the other one seemed to have tons of U2 stuff but wasn't shouting it from the rooftops.

As for hearing their music, I heard A Man And A Woman when my girlfriend and I were in a pub, which was pretty cool, love that song... but that was it haha

i didn't want to seem like a nerd and ask anyone in the record shops or anything about it as i'm sure they got it all the time. there was nothing out of the ordinary about dublin where I went where U2 are concered as opposed to Liverpool where my Dad said they just milk it for all it's worth.

 

[DoctorMacPhisto]

Whenenver U2 want to crack up popularity at home, they add DIRTY OLD TOWN to their set list.

LMAO

 

[Bottle Bono]

Good Doctor

The Clarence underground is all about U2. Wait till the next concert at Sland Castle.

 

[quietguy]

Bono once said the Irish look down on celebrities and want to kick the arse of the guy with the mansion on the hill.

...qg