The Edge Talks eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE

It's not every day you have your dinner interupted by one of the biggest rocks stars in the world, but then we are in Tulsa, where U2 are about to kick off their latest world wide jaunt, so we'll allow it. Details about the show, the follow up to the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour rather than last year's Joshua Tree celebrating runaround, have been a bit sketchy, but according to The Edge, it's a continuation rather than a complete rebuild:

"It is not a completely new show. It is still part of the Innocence and Experience two album series. The shows relate to each other so there is some stuff common to both. As you might expect, the new album features heavily."

Technology, as always, plays a big part. The band have made a U2eXPERIENCE app available to download. Users have already seen an augmented reality version of Bono spring from the recent album cover, and the AR, on a larger scale, forms part of the show. So, while other acts are trying to discourage the use of phones at a gig, U2 are embracing it?

"It would seem a bit mad for us to do that and go the other direction, but I don’t really mind the phones. Holding up cameras and small items are fine. It's when it is a laptop or a giant iPad you start to think that’s a bit mad. Our attitude is that it is happening anyway and we may as well incorporate it into the show."

"That being said, everything can change at the last minute. That’s always the way with us. We have been here in Tulsa for the past five days. The longest I have been out doors is the walk from the car to here tonight. We are going from hotel to the venue and back again."

Are you feeling confident then, ahead of the opening night?

"It’s funny about playing songs, after a certain point they are sort of engrained in your body, you know them so well, you don’t even have to think about it. That is not true at this point of this tour! You are still learning how to play these songs and how the show goes. I’m singing, playing and working foot pedals, there’s a lot to do. If some things went wrong, no one would notice, but other things, it would be very obvious. I hope I don’t fuck it up!"

That seems unlikely.