U2 talk about Live 8 collaboration

U2 is among the bands featured on the Live 8 DVD which has just been released. In addition to the group's own set, the DVD begins with U2's version of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with Paul McCartney in London's Hyde Park. Guitarist The Edge told us it was a thrilling moment for the band:
[ click here to listen if you have a Backstage Pass] "It was great. I mean, to play with Paul McCartney, to play with a Beatle, was just mind-blowing. It was a kind of 'Can this really be happening?' kind of experience. And 'Sgt. Pepper,' he hasn't ever performed that version. He did the end of the Pepper album a couple of times on different tours, but the opening rendition he'd never done before since it was recorded."

U2 and McCartney performed "Sgt. Pepper's" because the opening lyric, "It was 20 years ago today...," referenced the fact that it had been 20 years since the Live Aid concerts.

The Live 8 DVD also includes U2's performances of "Beautiful Day," "Vertigo," and "One."

It's not U2's only DVD release this month. The group comes out with Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago, filmed on the first leg of its North American Vertigo tour, on November 15th.