“What’s going on?” asks Hugh Maguire, an older gentleman who happened upon Dublin’s Grafton Street on Friday afternoon.
It was the question of the day.
“U2 are performing to mark their 50th anniversary,” is the answer.
Asked if he would stick around to see the band play from the balcony of Bewley’s, he says he has just come from an art exhibition.
“I’ve had enough culture for today, I think,” he says, though he believes the band are “great”.
“They’ve really made a go of it, to use a silly phrase,” he says, before heading home to Ranelagh at about 4pm.
A large crowd on Grafton Street had been building for hours at that stage, with four large speakers at Bewley’s blowing the cover of this “surprise” gig.
In moments of shared mania, people joined the crowd without knowing what they were actually waiting for.
Some query what was happening minutes after shimmying their way in, and pursed their lips on hearing the answer, seemingly impressed.
“What’s going on?” asks Charlie O’Neill, a 69-year-old street photographer living in Santry, north Dublin.
He’s not sure if he’ll stick around, saying the crowd could become “loopy” once Bono emerges. O’Neill has seen the band play on several occasions, including when he was a student and U2 were “kids”.
He also recalls seeing U2 perform at the very first concert to take place at Slane Castle, when they supported Thin Lizzy.
“I’m very proud that they’re Irish and the way they’ve blazed the trail,” he says.
U2 performing on the balcony of Bewley’s Cafe on Grafton Street in Dublin on Friday. Photograph: Rich Fury/U2/LHP/PA Wire 
U2 celebrate their 50th anniversary with a surprise concert at Bewley’s cafe on Dublin’s Grafton Street. Picture: Enda O’Dowd 
U2 celebrate their 50th anniversary with a surprise concert at Bewley’s cafe on Dublin’s Grafton Street. Picture: Enda O’Dowd 
Thousands turned out to see U2 perform on Dublin’s Grafton Street to mark the band’s 50th anniversary. Picture: Enda O’Dowd
O’Neill had just come from the lower end of Grafton Street, estimating it took him “seven or eight minutes to walk 10 yards”.
The street was quickly becoming impassable, with visibly fuming passersby describing the struggle as a “nightmare”. Mothers and fathers wiped sweat from their brows and exhaled sharply as they attempted to get through a narrow passage that security had attempted to keep clear.
Misinformation was also spreading from the scene, as a teenage girl was heard ringing friends and excitedly telling them “Westlife is playing a surprise concert”.
Members of the Flemish U2 fan club gather in Dublin for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the band
Hundreds of fans from around the world made the rock’n’roll pilgrimage to Dublin for the weekend, many of whom travelled to meet up with like-minded fans.
“When I found out that U2 were going to be 50, I decided to book a hostel for this weekend,” said Tilles Tijmes, a Dutch man living in Denmark who is a member of the Flanders U2 fan club.
“I knew there were people going to be here and we’re all big fans, so there’s going to be a big party anyway.”
Craig Molloy and his wife Stacey from Derbyshire, England, on Grafton Street for the 50th anniversary of U2
Craig Molloy’s love for U2 is only matched by the love for his wife, Stacey. The couple flew over from England for the weekend. He proposed to her during the U2 concert at the 3Arena in 2017.
“It’s the only place he’d ever do it,” says Stacey.
Todd and Lara Garrison-Gebhart, meanwhile, came from Michigan in the United States for the weekend.
They have been fans since the band brought out their first records in the early 1980s.
They came for The Joshua Tree concert in 1987. “U2 is always a good excuse to come to Dublin,” says Todd.
Todd and Lara Garrison-Gebhart flew from Michigan for U2’s 50th anniversary
Around the corner, sections of South Anne Street were being closed off, resulting in chaos for delivery riders attempting to collect orders from Xi’an Street Food.
Eventually, an almost uninterrupted stream of spice bags was being handed over the barricades, while shop entrances surrounding Bewley’s were blocked.
Amid all of this, Emer Bolger was seen excitedly asking her six-year-old son how many songs he believed U2 might play.
“I think it will be five,” she says, hugging him in excitement as he sat on a bin with a bird’s-eye view of Bewley’s.
From Tullow, Co Carlow, Bolger says she came to Dublin “for this”.
“I’ve been a fan since 1985,” she says. “The only tour I missed since 1987 was the Zoo TV tour. I’ve been to everything else.”
Emer Bolger, who travelled from Co Carlow with her son Senan, says she has been an avid U2 fan since 1985
She remembers sitting in front of her TV in 1986 when Self Aid aired, saying she recorded the concert and “played it back and played it back”.
“I knew all the words off by heart,” she says, before momentary panic sets in. Her eyes shift to Bewley’s as the crowd cheers, but it’s a false alarm.
“We have an Edge character in our house,” says Senan. His mother explains that it is a figurine bought in Las Vegas, when she saw them in the Sphere.
It was another two hours before the band emerged shortly before 7pm, though Bolger and Senan presumably waited it out.
The crowd only grew larger and larger, with most of Grafton Street impassable once U2 emerged. The resulting cheers and applause were akin to a response expected at Croke Park.
Suddenly, the vast crowds started to dance, jump, sing and throw young children on to their shoulders as U2 opened with I Will Follow.
Speaking briefly at one point, Bono was almost inaudible due to the chorus of screams, but could be heard mentioning “50 years”.