Radio 2 Live put U2 inside Tate Modern Museum on Tuesday, Nov. 3, for a secret show that was recorded for the. Bono used the stage to make the point plain: the night belonged to Brian Eno, and the performance will reach viewers later this month.
The Tanks at Tate Modern
The band played in The Tanks, a 400-capacity space under the Blavatnik Building, rather than the Turbine Hall. Entry came only through a ballot win, and phones were locked away, which gave the set the feel of a private preview even as the room was being captured for television and iPlayer.
That setup fits U2’s recent habit of choosing unusual rooms, but this one carried extra weight because it arrived days before the release of the 16th studio album, Carnaval de Luz, next Friday, Nov. 13. The short distance between a sealed performance and a public broadcast is the point: the band gets an intimate launch, while the gets first-run material tied to a new album cycle.
Bono and Brian Eno
Bono said, "We’re here to celebrate the work of Brian tonight," and repeated that tribute through the set. Each of the songs performed on the night was produced by Brian Eno, and his 77 Million Paintings was projected onto the walls, tying the music to a visual signature that was built into the room rather than added afterward.
1987 and 1991 still sat in the background of the night because Brian Eno produced The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, the two records that most clearly frame U2’s long relationship with him. That history gives the tribute real business value for the band: the show was not just a warm-up for Carnaval de Luz, but a public reset that linked the new cycle to the catalogue most closely associated with Eno.
Larry Mullen Jr. returns
Larry Mullen Jr. rejoined Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton after missing the 2023-24 Sphere residency following neck surgery, giving the performance a full-band lineup again. Noel Gallagher and Lily Allen were among the attendees, while fine art students invited from local colleges and schools lounged on beanbags at the foot of the stage, a mix of guests that made the room feel less like a concert hall and more like a controlled reveal.
The will broadcast the Tate Modern Museum performance later this month on television and iPlayer, so the immediate question is simple: which cut of the show do viewers get, and how much of the room’s sealed-off atmosphere survives the edit? For anyone who won the ballot, the point was the one-night access; for everyone else, the real release is the broadcast that follows.
