U2 review: Unforgettable fire in Sheffield - SLIDESHOW
NOT since the vast furnaces of Brown Bayley's roared had the heart of Attercliffe witnessed energy consumption on such a scale.
Then rarely does South Yorkshire host rock stars of the global calibre of U2.
Click here to watch our slideshow - featuring fans and then the band on stage.
Buy the fan photos from The Star shop in York Street.
READ MORE: U2 Bono's Sheffield dash to celebrity wedding.
Some 25 years after steel production ceased on the site of Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield's S9 district once again shook, this time with the product of heavy music industry.
Long-time U2 show director Willie Williams will remember the night Bono's boys returned to his hometown.
Having again worked his magic alongside one of music's most innovative set designers, he looked on as the frontman led the 50,000-plus crowd in singing happy birthday to him.
There were other public messages too, not least from South African activist Desmond Tutu ahead of an encore of rousing hit One.
Strip away the politics and worthy causes, though, and most spectators were here to witness a rock colossus that refuses to diminish.
The vastness of the 360 Tour stage – a cross between the oceanic Bond-baddies' base in The Spy Who Loved Me and a garish octopus – gave everyone a view, but robbed some of the immediacy and impact of an act with anthems to burn.
Having established a Sheffield theme via support band The Hours – featuring locally-born singer Ant Genn, whose elderly aunt Margaret earned a name check from Bono – and piped tunes from the Arctic Monkeys and Human League, U2 emerged amid smoke that wafted into a clear night.
A subdued start, drawing on latest album No Line On The Horizon, was brushed aside by the euphoria of Beautiful Day and Elevation before Bono touched on the subject of the day's A level results.
"Take courage because you will have done better than any of us on this stage!" he told teenagers in the audience.
Further proof that exam results don't necessarily rock gods make
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
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