U2 fans are fearing the end of the band might be near, following Bono stating that the’re “going away now”.
Over the last couple of years, U2 have been just as busy as ever. Following a global tour to celebrate The Joshua Tree’s 30th anniversary, the group released their 14th record – Songs Of Experience – back in December.
While the accompanying tour was met with a bit of worry after Bono lost his voice in Germany, fans are now anxious the group might be getting ready to call it quits.
Following the completion of the band’s Tuesday night show in Berlin, fan account U2gigs shared some of Bono’s final words to the crowd. “We’ve been on the road for quite some time, just going on 40 years, and this last 4 years have been really something very special for us,” he explained. “We’re going away now…”
Bono: "we've been on the road for quite some time, just going on 40 years, and this last 4 years have been really something very special for us. We're going away now…" #U2eiTour
— U2gigs (@u2gigs) November 13, 2018
Every tour I've covered, right back to Vertigo, every final gig is the same: mass panic that this is the last gig. (Well, OK, not on JT30 since this tour had already been announced.) Ten bucks says I'll be covering another gig with you folks sometime down the track. #U2eiTour
— U2gigs (@u2gigs) November 13, 2018
I will concede that this is the first time the mass panic has at least seemed plausible. But there'll be *something* for Boy at 40 or AB at 30, or a new record. U2 won't sit still and they won't break up, and they've got enough years ahead of them yet to fit in more gigs!
— U2gigs (@u2gigs) November 13, 2018
While some fans instantly began to assume that this signalled the end of the band, U2gigs was quick to assuage fears, explaining that this is a constant worry amongst the group’s followers.
“Every tour I’ve covered, right back to Vertigo, every final gig is the same: mass panic that this is the last gig,” the account explained. “Ten bucks says I’ll be covering another gig with you folks sometime down the track.”
“I will concede that this is the first time the mass panic has at least seemed plausible. But there’ll be *something* for Boy at 40 or AB [Achtung Baby] at 30, or a new record. U2 won’t sit still and they won’t break up, and they’ve got enough years ahead of them yet to fit in more gigs!”
While U2gigs does note that the band will likely celebrate a few major anniversaries over the next few years, guitarist The Edge noted back in May that the band are keen to take a little bit of time off once they wrap up the tour.
“I think there’s been three tours that have been on each other’s heels pretty quickly,” he explained to Rolling Stone. “I would say that we’ll probably take a little bit of a break at the end of this tour and regroup.”
“There’s lots of ideas for the next records, but I think a bit of time off just to listen to music and to really feed our creative instincts is in order.
However, this news does come just a month after Bono revealed that a near-death experience has left him finding it harder to do as much during his touring cycle that he used to be able to.
“On previous tours I could meet a hundred lawmakers in between shows and now I know I can’t do that,” he explained. “This tour is particularly demanding.”
“Whether you have a face-off with your own mortality or somebody close to you does, you are going to get to a point in your life where you ask questions about where you’re going.”
Whether or not U2 are planning on calling it quits, we just hope they’ll be able play their first Aussie dates since 2010 before they do.
Check out U2 performing ‘Dirty Day’ for the first time in 25 years:
