U2

U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Ireland

The first full-length concert video of U2 performing on their home turf, U2 Go Home captures the band at their best during one of their most historic and uplifting concerts.

Each year, the Earl of Mount Charles hosts 80,000 guests for an all-day music festival on the "back yard" of Slane Castle. It's roughly the equivalent of holding a Woodstock on an annual basis in a quiet village that 364 days out of the year has a population of 680.

U2 Go Home marks the 20th anniversary of the first Slane festival, which featured a new band from the north side of Dublin, U2, opening for Thin Lizzy. Two decades later, and now the biggest band in the world, U2's first Slane Castle gig as headliners, held on August 25, 2001, sold out all 80,000 tickets in 45 minutes. After petitioning the County Meath government to permit a previously unheard of second gig the following weekend, tickets for the second show were put on sale without fanfare and sold out in 90 minutes.

As part of their Elevation Tour, the Slane Castle shows caught U2 at their most down-to-earth and personal. The day before the first show, Bono buried his father, who died of cancer. The local hero and his mates performed like troopers that first night and by the second show, they were once again the world-renowned fun-loving – and politically charged – band with big ideas performing in front of their own tribe.

Originally filmed as a personal memento for the band mates, a portion of the concert was televised as U2's Beautiful Day and fan clamor finally resulted in the release of this DVD. Lacking the gloss and technical choreography of U2 Live from Boston, also from the Elevation Tour, the Slane Castle DVD presents Bono running on full strength and shows the band at their most playful, from Bono draping himself in the Irish flag to repeatedly glorying in Ireland's "beautiful goal" during the national soccer team's match, broadcast at the field earlier in the day.

In addition to the concert, the DVD also features DVD-ROM supplements, including a 360-degree spin cam for three of the tunes.

• Originally published as part of a holiday DVD wrapup at MovieHabit.com.