JULY 31: U2´S HISTORY: at McGonagle´s / white flag / 'Stay' / 'Singing In The Rain' - 'Children of the Revolution' / 'Kite' for Bob Hewson - red shirt #2 / 54th 'VERTIGO' show: The rain was torrential - 'Rain' and 'Singing In The Rain' - '7 Seconds' at the start of 'Yahweh' - Lars Ulrich, Prince Albert of Monaco, Prince Fred of Denmark and Brazilian soccer Ronaldo were in the audience - Bono explains fruit tea, families and friends and beach - Wendy dances with Bono / Bono crowned 'most influential'

"Early Ireland" - july 31, 1978. U2 perform in Dublin at McGonagle's as support for "Revolver". McGuinness, U2's new manager, insists that U2 do not have to perform before the crowd arrives. ****U2: McGonagle's, Dublin - Hot Press, August 17, 1978 - Bill Graham - It's as well Revolver have finally found themselves with competition like U-2 on the up and up. With a passionate lead singer who's not one to ape other's microphone poses and a guitarist who supplies a mild metal additive, U-2 are impressive contenders with the appetite and talent to improve beyond their already creditable status. Standing apart from this year's new bands in their suss and willingness to learn that will soon end any technical faults, U-2 profit from the fact that they've an identity that needs little alteration. Revolver recovered in time but they had better not stand still, U-2 are ready to pass everyone out. Oh, and both bands slew last week's British import, Advertising. Guaranteed Irish, guaranteed quality. © Hot Press, 1978. All Rights Reserved.****

"October" tour - july 31, 1982. U2 perform in Gateshead, England at the International Stadium, as support for "The Police". U2 are rumoured to play every major UK festival in 1982. The Gateshead festival is the only show they perform. Bono grabs a flag from the crowd and climbs a stack of speakers while singing "Electric Co.". Upon reaching the top of the speakers, Bono exclaims, "There is only one flag, the white flag." Bono joins The Police on stage for a performance of "Invisible Sun". The show is filmed by UK rock program "The Tube".

"ZOOTV - Zooropa" tour - july 31, 1993. U2 perform in Stockholm, Sweden at Stockholm Stadion. The introduction to "Bad" as U2 had a satellite hookup with a bunker in Sarajevo, Bono interviewed a woman who's fiance was at the show and she did not know if they would ever see each other again. It was very emotional and she said something to the effect of how we could go on and enjoy a rock concert but they had to live with the war. The crowd was silent and Bono dedicated "Bad" to her and her fiance. Another highlight was Bono introducing "Stay" as a song "about an angel" and that it was the first time they had performed the song live. It was a very amazing rendition. A very great concert.

"POPMart" TOUR - july 31, 1997. U2 perform in Mannheim, Germany. Maimarktgelaende - Die Fantastischen Vier. Edge´s karaoke this night is "Singing In The Rain." U2 does a cover version of "Children of the Revolution" by T-Rex during the encore

"Elevation" tour - july 31, 2001 / Arnhem, The Netherlands - Gelredome - Kelis - Bono sings 'Kite' for his father who is ill, and 'In a Little While' for the late Dutch artist Herman Brood. 'When I Get Home' is a Brood song. During 'Bad', Bono holds a young girl on his shoulders and runs around the heart with her. Edge wears red shirt #2 this night.

54th 'VERTIGO' show - july 31, 2005 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Parken - The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Razorlight. The rain was torrential / 'Rain' and 'Singing In The Rain' / '7 Seconds' at the start of 'Yahweh' / Lars Ulrich, Prince Albert of Monaco, Prince Fred of Denmark and Brazilian soccer Ronaldo were in the audience / Bono explains fruit tea, families and friends and beach / Wendy dances with Bono! It rains heavily throughout the show, prompting Bono to sing bits of the Beatles' 'Rain' two times and 'Singing in the Rain' once. He also sings a bit of '7 Seconds' by Youssou N'Dour at the start of Yahweh, and is carrying an umbrella during Zoo Station. Football / Soccer star Ronaldo is at the show. **** 'See the Vikings show their souls tonight'...: It was wet, wet, wet in Copenhagen last night, but it takes more than a little storm to dampen Danish enthusiasm for U2. A little bit of rain (well, quite a lot actually) failed to dampen spirits in Copenhagen last night. It was the third of U2's three nights in Scandinavia and it lived up to the heights of the earlier two. But was it wet? Yes it was wet. In fact there was a thunder storm about two hours before the show and it rained pretty heavily during the gig. No wonder Bono changed the lyric in Streets from 'dust clouds' to 'rain clouds'. But, as he also ad-libbed during Beautiful Day, 'The clouds can come, they will soon go away.' Supermodel Helena Christiansen was here tonight, looking elegant in the rain, along with a clutch of other famous faces - princes and footballers and local rock'n roll stars. (Lars Ulrich, Metallica drummer, as you ask, along with Prince Albert of Monaco, Prince Fred of Denmark and Ronaldo, prince of the football pitch.) But perhaps the strangest moment was when Bono invited the photographers from the pit up on to the stage during Electric Co. Turns out they were a little shy! Our time in this city has been 24/7 paparazzi - the band got away to Helena Christiansen's beach house at one point and the papers have been covered in stories of supermodels and rock stars. Very Zoo TV. So considering the snappers have been chasing the band half way round Denmark, they seemed remarkably stage-shy last night! A smidgeon of Boney M ('Brown Girl in the Ring') opened up Elevation with most of Denmark joining in but boy did people really go for it when the lyrics of Beautiful Day got a complete overhaul to reflect tonight's setting. 'See the world in red and white / See the Vikings show their souls tonight / Swimming with Helena and Ali in the sea / On a coast of a beautiful country / See four seasons in one day / The clouds can come they will soon go away / See the bird with the leaf in her mouth / After the flood all the colours come out' The Danish flags were flying proudly all through the audience. 'Well okay, we've really been having a little bit of a good time here in your beautiful city of Copenhagen.' And we were, regardless of this being the wettest night of the tour. Bono took a moment to explain some comments of Edge about the amount of drink he planned to be taking while staying in Denmark. 'The Edge is not one of us,' explained Bono. 'He comes from the future. We've been drinking a lot of your fruit tea. Beautiful friends and families here, that we've known over the years, out swimming in the sea this morning... Beautiful.' City of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes, the night was racing by as Love and Peace arrived with some thoughts about co-existence. 'Not a problem in Copenhagen right? / What about tomorrow? / And next year? / I get the feeling / To CoeXisT might get a little harder...' As a raging Bullet The Blue Sky set pulses racing, it was literally pouring in Copenhagen and by Miss Sarajevo it was, frankly, torrential. The band were getting pretty wet but they looked great! Bono switched to dry tyres for Pride but his new clothes were soon soaking too. Adam, as usual, seemed to be enjoying himself. Bono told him he loved him, which made him smile even more. All the cellphones defied the rain and shone out bright during One, which ended with an appropriate snatch of The Beatle's Rain. You forget what it takes to keep a show like this on the road - particularly one in weather like this - and Bono took time out to thanks the crew for being so professional. More than that, they would have to load out after the show: 'They're amazing!' Hear hear! **** birthday girl Wendy dances with Bono / Bono counts down in Danish: At the start, the audience seem a little timid. A photographer is on the B-stage during Electric Co. During All I Want is You, birthday girl Wendy makes it onto the stage to dance with Bono. It is very, very wet and Bono puts on a rain jacket. During Zoo Station he comes out with an umbrella....Yahweh starts with a snippet of 7 seconds" > Bono counts down Vertigo in Danish, but nobody responds. At the start, the audience seem a little timid - they're frozen by the rain. Bono invites a lot of photographers on stage during Electric Co. and they follow him on the catwalk until Bono tells them to 'fuck off'. But one of them lingers and in the end is manhandled off the stage by security. A very drunk male fan jumps on stage during Streets and makes it within inches of Bono. Local security do nothing, U2's security tackle the guy and roll off the stage with him. Bono's body guard, John, sits on top of him holding him down, while another asks Bono if he is all right. The drunk fan is oblivious and keeps laughing evne when other fans scold him. John eventually drags him away. During All I Want is You, birthday girl Wendy makes it onto the stage to dance with Bono. It is very, very wet and Bono puts on a rain jacket. During Zoo Station he comes out with an umbrella....Lars Ulrich and his father, Neneh Cherry, Helena Christensen, Sean Penn, Ronaldo and actress Louise Iversen, prince Frederik and princess Mary, minister of culture Brian Mikkelsen are all at the show. Snippets: Beautiful Day - Sgt. Peppers, Rain / The Fly - Singing In The Rain / Yahweh starts with a snippet of 7 seconds (Neneh Cherry is at the show) / Vertigo (2) - Enter Sandman" **** Bono on the cover of the journal **** ...Edge's solo sounds like sirens; sirens in a war-torn city...: ...Copenhagen and U2 had a special contact yesterday....the band seemed more relaxed than ever. An example would be Beautiful Day, where Bono added 'See the world in red and white' followed by a whole new verse, especially for Denmark. At the beginning of Miracle Drug, Bono would talk about Edge's decision to 'drink heavily' the night before. 'You must understand - Edge is not like us. He's from the future.' - 'In the future, Edge drinks this fruit tea,' Edge cracks up, and Bono continues, 'some pretty wild shit happens.'...Another thing it rained heavily. But not only did it rain heavily... It began right in the beginning of City Of Blinding Lights. Imagine the lights being shut down as always, suddenly it the huge screen begins lighting up the first drops of the rain... It was like it was meant to be....Miss Sarajevo after Bullet The Blue Sky, especially now that the last parts of Edge's solo sounds like sirens; sirens in a war-torn city....**** ...they did not seem to mind the rain...: It was impressed how the band did not seem to mind the rain. (It did actually rain heavily for almost the entire show...) Bono, Edge and Adam were all frequent visitors on the catwalks...." Some photos on U2-Vertigo-tour and Interference.

Bono crowned 'most influential' - July 31, 2006 - U2 frontman Bono has topped a survey of the most influential pop stars of the last 25 years, commissioned to mark music channel MTV's quarter-centenary. ... More than 4,000 people took part in the Rock Royalty survey. MTV celebrates its 25th anniversary on 1 August with a day of special events and commemorative programming. ... Launched on 1 August 1981, MTV currently broadcasts to 1.3 billion people in 179 countries via 78 different channels. bbc