Features
U2’s Bono & Edge Perform In Kyiv Subway Station
U2’s Bono and Edge gave a 40-minute surprise concert in Kyiv, May 8, in the Khreshchatyk subway station, which has been repurposed as a bomb shelter.
According to a Tweet sent out by U2 on the day of the concert, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had invited the band to perform in Kyiv “as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so that’s what we’ve come to do.”
‘Last Night Will Stand Out’: Concert For Ukraine Raises $17.5 Million
The setlist included U2 standards such as “With or Without You,” and “Desire.” At one point Bono invited a Ukrainian soldier to sing along to Ben E King’s “Stand By Me,” replacing the word “me” with “Ukraine.”
The soldier turned out to be the frontman of Ukrainian band Antytela, Taras Topolya, who also features on Ed Sheeran’s “2step.”
According to local press, which was on site, the concert will be shown on Ukrainian TV in the coming days.
“The people in Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you are fighting for all of us who love freedom,” Bono told a crowd of up to 100 gathered inside the subway station.
According to a report by the Irish Times, Bono and the Edge were later pictured visiting Bucha and Irpin, two areas where alleged Russian war crimes took place.