Sunset at Croke Park last night

It’s a bit of a shock to the system, going from Leonard to Bono within the space of a week. Last Wednesday I was at The O2 to see the wonderful Mr Cohen.  Great seats, great sound and a great performance from a man who, in his 75th year, held the audience in the palm of his hand with a show that took in just about every song I hoped to hear and lasted 3 hours. Elegance and serenity were the order of the evening, with Mr Cohen oozing charisma in his trademark Armani and the largely middle-aged crowd remaining seated throughout -  except when they rose for the many and well-deserved standing ovations.

Cut to last night, and I’m standing in the thick of it all at Croke Park, at the base of one leg of the now-famous U2 claw, not far from the front of the stage at Croke Park.  The great thing about going to a gig like this with teenagers is that you’re not allowed to act middle-aged and sit in your comfortable seat away from the mill. With Teenager Number One still off in the wilds of Borneo, I took his younger brother and his best buddy to the gig. Their priority, as you’d expect at 14, was to get as close to the stage as possible, and I was dragged up there with them.

Like a lot of people who grew up with the band, I’ve seen U2 plenty of times, and hadn’t really considered going to see them on this tour - especially having lashed out such a hefty sum to see Leonard Cohen. But a friend surprised me last week with the offer of free tickets, and I braced myself for what I thought would be something I’d have to endure rather than particularly enjoy. Instead, I had a ball.  And a much better time of it for being right up there at the front, where the option was to die or dance. You’ll hear U2 being slagged off for being all about the show, but they are a stadium band, and putting on a show is what they do best. I’ll never forget the one they put on last night, and I’m sure as hell glad I said “yes” to those tickets.