For its eight-night run at Madison Square Garden, U2 decided to kick off its first performance on Saturday night with a track it hasn't performed live since the "Lovetown" tour in November of 1989: "October." Hailing from its self-titled 1981 LP, the dynamic duo of Bono and Edge launched into the rare track in the middle of their set on the stage.
The early '80s and its bleak ambience inspired Bono to pen "October." "It was a colder time," Bono explained in U2's biography, U2 by U2. "Materialism without any idealism, the sun without any heat, winter. It was after the fall, after harvest. I had the line, 'October, the trees slips bare of all they wear.' The song is a really gentle, meditative piece of work. Edge at the piano coming up with these beautiful ice notes, and this picture of loss of innocence, the fall, the leaves falling from the trees, and you're left exposed."
Toward the start of the gig, Bono reminisced the band's earliest performances in New York. "Welcome to innocence and experience," he said, notes Rolling Stone. "When we first played a club called the Ritz in this great city, we thought of ourselves as a great punk band. We still do. A band of equals with an audience of equals."
In 11 hours: Tune in live tonight from the 'e' stage in NYC... #U2ieTour #meerkat https://t.co/xWsxPKQzHr
— U2 (@U2) July 19, 2015
Salman Rushdie, Jon Bon Jovi, Harry Belafonte, Christy Turlington, Spike Jonze, Mario Batali and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were all in attendance at New York's MSG, notes @U2.
The "Innocence + Experience" tour has brought about live performances of fan-favorite hits including "Gloria" for the first time in more than a decade as well as "In God's Country" for the first time in 14 years. The iconic group recently revealed a short film starring Woody Harrelson in conjunction with their latest track "Song for Someone," and hope to have a new album complete by the end of summertime.
