{"id":783167,"date":"2026-09-26T11:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T11:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/783167\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T11:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T11:22:14","slug":"u2-celebrate-50th-anniversary-with-concerts-in-dublin-and-former-high-school-and-pay-tribute-to-king-busker-glen-hansard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/783167\/","title":{"rendered":"U2 celebrate 50th anniversary with concerts in Dublin and former high school, and pay tribute to \u201cking busker\u201d Glen Hansard"},"content":{"rendered":"

U2<\/a> returned to their former high school and played a surprise gig from Dublin\u2019s Grafton Street yesterday (September 25) for special concerts to mark their 50th anniversary as a band. Check out photos, footage and more from what went down below.<\/p>\n

Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. \u2013 who played his first live concert since undergoing neck and back surgery in 2023 \u2013 <\/a>performed in front of 1,000 pupils and staff above Mount Temple Comprehensive\u2019s school playground, half a century after their sticksman first posted the handwritten note: \u201cDrummer seeks musicians to form band\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of the show on the playground, the band\u2019s former RE teacher Sophie Shirley, now 80, told NME about seeing the note for the first time.<\/p>\n

\"U2U2 performing at Mount Temple in 1977. Credit: Press\/supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember it well,\u201d she said. \u201cOne day I happened to mention \u2018God has a particular purpose for each individual\u2019 and Larry\u2019s hand went up and he said: \u2018Miss I want to be a drummer in a band\u2019. I\u2019d never seen Larry speak with such emphasis and he never spoke up so much like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cI had to walk past the noticeboard to go to the staff room so when I saw the notice for the first time, I thought, \u2018Oh Larry\u2019s doing something about it\u2019, but I never thought it was going to go anywhere. I never thought I\u2019d see them come back to the school like this today, not even when I saw the note.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band played for the first time in Mullen Jr.\u2019s parents\u2019 kitchen 50 years to the day and went on to play their first gig on the exact same stage in a school talent contest, performing covers.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, U2 returned to perform a seven song set which included the first live performance of their new single \u2018Silencio\u2019, released the day before.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve escaped the lab,\u201d Bono declared as the four-piece arrived onstage. \u201cHow\u2019s the experiment working for you?\u201d he added as pupils waved signs saying \u201cI love U2\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful day \u2013 no school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U2U2 live at Mount Temple in Dublin, 2026. Credit: Rich Fury<\/p>\n

Initially, it felt like the band were back on their school instruments as Bono\u2019s mic momentarily completely cut out as the four-piece kicked off early single \u2018I Will Follow\u2019.<\/p>\n

They went on to blast through \u2018Vertigo\u2019, a spine-tingling \u2018Beautiful Day\u2019 which saw Bono slip in lyrics from Elbow<\/a>\u2019s \u2018One Day Like This\u2019, debut single \u2018Out Of Control\u2019 and a poignant rendition of \u2018One\u2019.<\/p>\n

For the latter, U2 were backed on strings by 32 students from Music Generation, Ireland\u2019s music education programme, funded and established by the band 15 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis island is full of song and music and mischief and we\u2019re so proud to be Irish,\u201d Bono told the crowd before they performed their iconic single.<\/p>\n

With the pupils chanting \u201cone more song\u201d as they left the stage, U2 soon returned to end the show with classic hit \u2018With Or Without You\u2019.<\/p>\n

Later in the evening, they packed out Grafton Street for a surprise set from the balcony of Bewley\u2019s Cafe.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the show, NME was treated to a playback of four tracks from their new album \u2018Carnaval De Luz<\/a>\u2019 at former music venue McGonagles, where U2 played many of their early shows in the late 70s.<\/p>\n

Along with new single \u2018Silencio\u2019, album track \u2018The Greatest Show On Earth\u2019 got its first airing. The song begins with a rhythmic drum beat over an eerie guitar and thudding bass line before it opens up into a skyscraping anthem much like \u2018Get Out Of Your Own Way\u2019 and \u2018City Of Blinding Lights\u2019.<\/p>\n

Album closer, \u2018Torn\u2019, featuring Dolly Parton\u2019s last recorded vocal performance<\/a>, was also showcased.<\/p>\n

The tender ballad documents her two sons squabbling over their differences as she gently sings: \u201cI love you both but I feel so torn\u201d on the opening verse before she trades vocals with Bono on the chorus.<\/p>\n

U2\u2019s show on Grafton Street featured a similar set to their earlier performance at their former high school, only this time they paid tribute to Glen Hansard, who died in a motorcyle accident back in July.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Oscar winner regularly used to busk on the same street and Bono paid tribute to his late friend, pointing out the spot where he used to perform. \u201cOne man who will never be silenced, silencioed, never could, never would was Glen Hansard,\u201d the frontman recalled. \u201cHe was the king busker, king of Grafton Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band then performed a stirring rendition of \u2018All I Want Is You\u2019 before following it up with the late musician\u2019s Oscar winning folk song \u2018Falling Slowly\u2019, with The Edge on vocals. This comes after Bono spoke and performed at the late Frames frontman\u2019s funeral<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As they wrapped up their show, the crowd chanted for \u201cone more tune\u201d and started singing the words to \u2018War\u2019 classic \u201840\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"U2U2 live at Grafton Street, Dublin. Credit: Rich Fury
\n\"U2U2 live at Grafton Street, Dublin. Credit: Rich Fury<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a really good suggestion from the jukebox jury,\u201d Bono said to the crowd as The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton swapped instruments to perform the song which often ended their shows during their earlier tours.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the gig, longtime U2 fan Cormse Jones from Dublin told NME: \u201cIt was brilliant. They were all bangers and no clangers. The sound was also incredible for a street gig and Bono was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

U2 release their \u201cmessy, provocative, sacred collection of songs\u201d with new album \u2018Carnaval De Luz<\/a>\u2019 arriving on November 13. Produced by Jacknife Lee<\/a>, the 12-song collection tackles themes of spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance, and comes on the heels of the group surprise releasing two six-track EPs earlier this year: \u2018Days Of Ash\u2019<\/a>\u00a0and \u2018Easter Lily\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U2 returned to their former high school and played a surprise gig from Dublin\u2019s Grafton Street yesterday (September…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,3584,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-783167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}