Check The Calendar Before Leaving

They did it once before, in Los Angeles, back in 1987. U2 even filmed their impromptu concert, from start to abrupt finish when the LA police shut them down.

The crowd was unmanageable back then, milling around the liquor store while U2 did a few numbers on the roof. That was twenty years ago. Imagine what such a concert would be like now.

Thanks to some merry pranksters at Red FM, a crowd of U2 fans rushed to the Blackpool Shopping Centre when word got out that the band had just popped in out of the blue, with instruments and sound equipment.

How brilliant would it be, to be one of the few to take part in a unique experience? Isn't it every U2 fan's dream to see them up close and informal? About 500 fell for the April Fool's joke, and 500 people were less than happy to discover that it was actually a U2 tribute band that was performing live. Not quite the same, is it?

The Cork fire brigade and the local gardai had nothing better to do so they went along with the joke. Sure and we've ordered them to stop, they said, for safety reasons, just like that time in Los Angeles. Ha ha. We're off to the roof in these cranes to tell them that very thing, to pull the plug. Sure it's L.A. all over again, right here in Cork.

Not everyone believed it was make-believe, but if you drove thirty miles, you'd not want to think you'd been had.

For the record, U2 is not playing in Cork on this upcoming tour, not now, not on the First of April.

Go on back to your shopping. The economy desperately needs it.

And if you want to see U2 in concert, their third Dublin date didn't sell out. If you have any money left, assuming you're one of the lucky ones to still have a job, you can probably get your hands on an authentic ticket.