"Hello!, Hello!," screamed Bono , lead singer with the greatest band of the century as they blazed on stage to rapturous adoration just before 9pm last night. "Uno, dos, tres, quatro!" And they were off.
Though the pitch in Croke Park wasn't full the screams filled the stadium 10 times over.
The set opened with the enormous hit Vertigo from the band's most recent album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
They went straight then into the old stuff, kicking off with I will follow, during which Bono and The Edge embraced to belt out the chorus.
They were joined by an adoring 80,000 voices, "If you walk away, walk away, walk away, I will follow." And the crowd thumped the air in unison to confirm every sentiment of every syllable.
The last time the band had played at Croke Park, said Bono, had been for the Special Olympics two years ago. "That was a time when we were all excited about the future and not thinking about the past," he said. He went on to dedicate the 10th song of the set, Miracle Drug, "to the doctors, nurses and scientists, of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, who keep us alive for the future". The crowd screamed their approval.
He went on to thank the crowd. "I want to thank you people," he said, "because we are not broke". Before the band went on stage the Belfast band Snow Patrol played a short 30-minute support set.
As lead vocalist Gary Lightbody launched into their crowd-pleasing stomper, Run, just before 8pm, he threw his head back in delight. "Enjoy U2!" he demanded, and the crowd began clapping in rhythmn - an effective chant demanding that the boys from Ballymun - or the gasúns from Glasnevin - make their way to the stage. There was a series of impromptu Mexican waves through the stands and much cavorting and good humoured cart wheeling on the pitch as the crowd waited for the main attraction to arrive on stage.
The band's set closed with the enormous One hit from the Achtung Baby album during which tens of thousands of illuminated mobile phones were held aloft in the summer dusk by the crowd - a 21st century replacement for the cigarette lighter. Two encores followed which included With or Without You and closed with a rousing belting out of Vertigo sending the crowd home wishing they had tickets for tonight's show.
By 10pm there had been no arrests within the grounds of Croke Park in what Sgt Séamus Finn described as one of the best-humoured concerts he had ever had to police. Asked to comment on the fact that the venue did not seem to be full, he agreed.
"When we were briefed we were told there would be a capacity crowd of up to 82,000 , but 82,000 do not seem to have shown up."
