Bono surprise Snow Patrol performance elevates fans

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Media caption,

Bono appeared at the Snow Patrol concert on Saturday night

With or without him, Snow Patrol's Ward Park 3 concert was a hit with the fans - but the sweetest thing came with the surprise appearance of Bono.

The U2 frontman's performance of the iconic song One, alongside Gary Lightbody and his bandmates, was a surprise to the Bangor crowd on Saturday night.

"No them, there is only us," he sang to the crowd.

Judging by social media reaction, Bono's appearance went down a storm.

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"When you thought it couldn't get any better it got better," Phill Cottam wrote on Twitter.

Stuart Neilly said that he initially thought the song was a "run of the mill cover" before the U2 singer walked on stage.

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Another fan posted: "Snow Patrol were awesome as always, but we got a good bit more than we thought we were going for. My jaw dropped when #Bono walked on stage."

Introducing the song, Gary Lightbody said that he wanted to pay tribute to music that comes from the Republic of Ireland.

Gary Lightbody performing at Snow Patrol's gig in Bangor on 25 MayImage source, Pacemaker

"An awful lot of songs from the Republic of Ireland, but there was only one song that we could think of that said everything that needs to be said in these heady times," he said.

"Just one song. Just one."

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The band began playing their cover version, before Bono brought gasps and cheers from the crowd when he walked on stage for the second verse.

Journalist Rodney Edwards tweeted that the ad-libbed ending, in which Bono and Lightbody repeatedly sang "no them, there is only us" was "in homage to the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland".

Crowd at Snow Patrol's gig in Ward Park, Bangor on 25 JuneImage source, Pacemaker
Image caption,

The crowd in Ward Park saw performances by Two Door Cinema Club, Foy Vance, Ash and Soak

Snow Patrol also paid tribute to the murdered journalist Lyra McKee during their performance of Take Back the City.

Earlier, the crowd had enjoyed performances from Northern Ireland acts including Foy Vance, Two Door Cinema Club, Ash and Soak.