U2 will play stadiums around the world next year, the group announced Thursday, with a tour called “Carnaval De Luz Presents: The Greatest Show On Earth” kicking off Feb. 23 in Mexico City and expected to continue through 2027 “and beyond.”
Only the first six dates of the Live Nation-produced tour were revealed as part of the announcement, all in Latin America, with the promise that North American and European concerts will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The first dates will take place at the Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City on February 23 and 26, 2027; Sao Paulo, Estádio MorumBIS in Brazil, March 10 and 12, and Buenos Aires, Estadio River Plate in Argentina, March 23 and 25.
Beck will be the opening act, at least for these first few shows.
Along with Thursday’s announcement comes the release of the group’s latest single, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” from the group’s upcoming album, “Carnaval De Luz,” which will be released on November 13. The Anton Corbijn-directed video and song are described as “a story of lovers struggling to keep faith in each other – and faith itself”, with the video “satirizing the band as a religious cult where women do all the heavy lifting”.
The new track is more moody for U2, in comparison to some of their more downright anthemic albums, with lyrics that take a more ironic approach to the concept of “the greatest show on earth” than what it uses as the name of the tour might suggest: “Is this a church of love or fear? Have we made God feel like a stranger here? …/ Light scatters can make things worse / These dark materials of the universe / Couldn’t compete with we/We were once the greatest show on earth.
Bono said in a statement: ““The Greatest Show on Earth? Now it’s a failure. It’s a challenge, for us as for everyone, to try to have the best night of someone’s life. A little bit of showman, a little bit of shaman, a riot of color, crazy guitar, bass and drums, and tunes you can hang on to. Because if people are going to show up, we definitely will.
Tickets for THE the tour will first be available via U2.com. A subscriber pre-sale for all six dates will begin Monday at 10 a.m. local time, with remaining tickets available October 22 at U2.com.
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