U2 Tour: Top Five Best U2 Concerts Ever
- Last Updated On
- Mark Apostolou
Some bands play concerts. U2 have spent 50 years turning them into unmissable events that people still talk about decades later, whether that was a rain-soaked amphitheatre in Colorado or a $2.3 billion orb in the Nevada desert.
So what are the best U2 concerts ever? Our pick includes five of the most iconic shows in the band's history, one landmark from every era of the band.
This is the ideal time to take a closer look at the group's astounding past as U2 have just announced their first stadium tour since 2019, with new album Carnaval De Luz arriving on 13 November 2026, so the next chapter of this list is already being written.
Best U2 Concerts Ever: Key Takeaways
- Our five greatest U2 concerts span four decades: Red Rocks (1983), Live Aid at Wembley (1985), Sarajevo (1997), the Rose Bowl (2009) and Sphere in Las Vegas (2023).
- Each show changed something, from making U2 global stars at Live Aid to setting a US attendance record of 97,014 at the Rose Bowl and opening the world’s most talked-about venue.
- The next chance to see U2 live is The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour 2027, which reaches Europe in April and includes four nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and three at Paris’s Stade de France.
The Five Best U2 Concerts Ever at a Glance
Here is our shortlist of the most iconic U2 shows, one from each era of the band’s career.
| Date | Concert + Venue | Tour |
|---|---|---|
| 5 June 1983 | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado | War Tour |
| 13 July 1985 | Live Aid, Wembley Stadium, London | Live Aid |
| 23 September 1997 | Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo | PopMart Tour |
| 25 October 2009 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena | U2 360° Tour |
| 29 September 2023 | Sphere, Las Vegas | U2:UV Achtung Baby Live |
1. U2 at Red Rocks, 1983: The Concert Under a Blood Red Sky
On 5 June 1983, during the War Tour, U2 were booked to play Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver. Torrential rain hit, flash flood warnings were issued and the promoter wanted to cancel.
Manager Paul McGuinness and the band refused, because they had far too much riding on the cameras rolling that night. Only around 5,000 fans braved the weather in a venue that holds roughly 9,000.
What they saw became U2’s first ever video release, Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky. The image of Bono waving a white flag through the mist during “Sunday Bloody Sunday” turned into one of the most famous photographs in rock.
Fun fact for the purists: only two songs on the accompanying live album, “Gloria” and “Party Girl”, were actually recorded at Red Rocks. It didn’t matter, because this was the night U2 showed they had the kind of stadium-sized ambition that had made Bruce Springsteen a legend.
2. U2 at Live Aid, Wembley 1985: The 12 Minutes That Made Them
On 13 July 1985, U2 walked out at Wembley Stadium in front of around 72,000 people, with a global TV audience estimated at well over a billion. They planned three songs and only managed two.
During a 12-minute version of “Bad”, Bono spotted a girl being crushed at the front, jumped down from the stage and pulled her out to dance with him. The rest of the band kept playing with no idea where their singer had gone, and “Pride (In the Name of Love)” never got played.
The band thought they had blown it. Instead, the dance became one of the defining images of Live Aid, a day better known for Queen stealing the show, and every U2 album re-entered the UK chart afterwards.
Four decades on, U2 are heading back to London for four stadium shows at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 18, 19, 22 and 25 June 2027. The third and fourth nights were added after huge demand in the presale.
3. U2 in Sarajevo, 1997: The Most Meaningful U2 Concert Ever
During the siege of Sarajevo in 1993, U2 promised the city they would play there. On 23 September 1997, less than two years after the Bosnian War ended, they kept that promise on the PopMart Tour.
U2 were the first major artist to play Sarajevo after the war. Around 45,000 people filled Koševo Stadium, including at least 5,000 NATO peacekeepers, and public transport was organised for the first time since the conflict began so fans could get there.
The band kept ticket prices low so locals could afford to go. Bono’s voice was shredded, so for much of the night the crowd sang the songs back for him.
The emotional peak was “Miss Sarajevo”, the song written with Brian Eno about a beauty pageant held during the siege. For a few hours, fans from every side of a divided country stood together in a stadium that had itself been damaged by shelling.
4. U2 at the Rose Bowl, 2009: The Biggest U2 Concert in America
The U2 360° Tour was built around “The Claw”, a 164-foot stage that needed 120 trucks to move between cities. On 25 October 2009, it landed at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for the band’s only California date of the tour.
The sold-out crowd of 97,014 broke the US record for a single concert by one headline act, a record U2 already held. The show was also streamed live and free on YouTube, the first time a major artist had done this, with Guinness World Records putting the live online audience at nearly 10 million.
The 360° Tour went on to become the highest-grossing tour of all time, a record it held for most of the next decade. Read how Coldplay have since raised the bar in our piece on the highest-grossing rock tour of all time.
5. U2 at Sphere Las Vegas, 2023: The Night U2 Reinvented the Concert
On 29 September 2023, U2 opened Sphere, the $2.3 billion venue just off the Las Vegas Strip, with U2:UV Achtung Baby Live. It was their first live show since 2019, with the band playing their 1991 masterpiece Achtung Baby in full surrounded by a wraparound wall of LED screen.
Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. sat the residency out to recover from surgery, with Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg stepping in. Originally planned as 25 shows, demand pushed it to 40 nights, closing on 2 March 2024.
The residency grossed $244.5 million from 663,000 tickets, making it one of the most successful residencies in history. It also opened the door for acts like the Eagles and Dead & Company to follow them into the orb.
If you are planning a trip to Vegas, keep an eye on our U2 Las Vegas tickets page for any future dates in the city.
Best U2 Concerts: Honourable Mentions From Every Era
Narrowing U2 down to five shows means leaving out some huge nights. Slane Castle on 1 September 2001 was an emotional homecoming, played less than a fortnight after Bono’s father died, and was released as the film U2 Go Home.
Weeks after 9/11, the band’s shows at Madison Square Garden became a moment of collective grief and healing for New York. Fans heading to the Big Apple can find future dates on our U2 New York tickets page.
Can’t wait until 2027? Tribute acts like Achtung Babies and The U2 Concert Experience keep the classics alive in the meantime.
U2 Tour 2027: Where to See The Greatest Show On Earth
U2’s next great concert could be just around the corner. Carnaval De Luz Presents: The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour now has 35 confirmed shows, all in stadiums.
North American dates are still to be announced. The band have also confirmed the tour will run into 2028 and finish with a homecoming in Ireland.
U2 2027 Latin America Tour Dates
The tour opens in Mexico City on 23 February 2027, with Beck supporting all 11 Latin American shows.
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 23, 26 & 28 February, 2 March 2027 | Mexico City | Estadio GNP Seguros |
| 10, 12, 14 & 16 March 2027 | São Paulo | Estádio MorumBIS |
| 23, 25 & 27 March 2027 | Buenos Aires | Estadio River Plate |
U2 2027 UK and Europe Tour Dates
Wolf Alice open the 24-date European leg, which begins in Stockholm on 26 April 2027 and wraps up in Milan on 9 July.
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 26, 28 & 30 April 2027 | Stockholm | Strawberry Arena |
| 5, 8 & 9 May 2027 | Paris | Stade de France |
| 13 & 15 May 2027 | Barcelona | Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys |
| 22 May 2027 | Seville | Estadio La Cartuja |
| 27 & 28 May 2027 | Lisbon | Estádio da Luz |
| 5, 6, 9 & 11 June 2027 | Amsterdam | Johan Cruijff ArenA |
| 18, 19, 22 & 25 June 2027 | London | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |
| 30 June & 1 July 2027 | Berlin | Olympiastadion |
| 5, 6 & 9 July 2027 | Milan | Stadio San Siro |
Demand has been huge. Since the European leg was announced, U2 have added extra nights in every city except Barcelona and Seville, with London and Amsterdam now up to four shows each.
Paris is the first big Western European stop, with three nights at the Stade de France in early May.
How to Get U2 Tickets for the 2027 World Tour
With U2 back in stadiums for the first time in eight years and the 50th anniversary hype in full swing, many 2027 dates will be hard to get through the primary sale. That is where SeatPick comes in.
We pull listings from trusted resellers into one search, so you can compare prices and seats side by side rather than hopping between sites. Built by fans for fans, it is the easiest way to track down a seat for the next show that might just make this list.
Best U2 Concerts Ever Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Most Famous U2 Concert?
U2’s Live Aid set at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1985 is the most famous, thanks to Bono leaving the stage during “Bad” in front of a global TV audience. The Red Rocks show from 1983 runs it close as the band’s most iconic filmed concert.
What Was the Biggest U2 Concert Ever in the US?
U2’s show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on 25 October 2009 drew a sold-out crowd of 97,014. That set the US record for a single concert by one headline act.
Is U2 Going on Tour in 2027?
Yes. The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour has 35 shows confirmed so far, starting in Mexico City on 23 February 2027 and including four nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 18, 19, 22 and 25 June. North American dates are expected soon, with the tour finishing in Ireland in 2028.
When Is the New U2 Album Released?
U2’s 16th studio album, Carnaval De Luz, is released on 13 November 2026. It is the band’s first album of new original material since Songs of Experience in 2017.
