RECAP: U2’s Free Gig in London’s Trafalgar Square
U2 did double duty during its free weekend show in London.
The group performed Saturday (November 11) in Trafalgar Square ahead of the MTV EMA Awards the following day and used the gig to also film a performance video for its new single “Get Out Of Your Own Way.”
The group performed the song twice, with frontman Bono telling the crowd that, “We have a video we have to shoot.” Fans were handed square signs to hold up that included slogans such as “Fight Back,” “Refugees Welcome” and “Resistance,” and Bono explained that, “This Square is a Square of protest so we’re handing out slogans. Some signs go back to the Suffragette movement. Protesting, in the end, works. It gets things done, slowly and surely.”
There’s no word yet on when the video will be released.
The song is the first official single from U2’s next album, Songs Of Experience, that’s due out December 1. The concert also included a performance of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” with the names of the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena bombing shown behind the band. On Sunday (November 12) U2 received the Global Icon Award at the EMAs.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
