U2 returned to their former high school and played a surprise gig from Dublin’s 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.
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. – who played his first live concert since undergoing neck and back surgery in 2023 – performed in front of 1,000 pupils and staff above Mount Temple Comprehensive’s school playground, half a century after their sticksman first posted the handwritten note: “Drummer seeks musicians to form band”.
Falando antes do show no playground, a ex‑professora de RE da banda, Sophie Shirley, agora 80, contou ao NME sobre ter visto a nota pela primeira vez.
She continued: “I had to walk past the noticeboard to go to the staff room so when I saw the notice for the first time, I thought, ‘Oh Larry’s doing something about it’, but I never thought it was going to go anywhere.
I never thought I’d see them come back to the school like this today, not even when I saw the note.”.
A banda tocou pela primeira vez na cozinha dos pais de Mullen Jr. exatamente 50 anos atrás e, em seguida, se apresentou em seu primeiro show no mesmo palco exato, em um concurso de talentos escolar, executando covers.
Yesterday, U2 returned to perform a seven song set which included the first live performance of their new single ‘Silencio’, released the day before.
Inicialmente, parecia que a banda estava de volta aos seus instrumentos escolares, enquanto o microfone de Bono cortava completamente por um instante, enquanto o quartetto lançava o single “I Will Follow”.
They went on to blast through ‘Vertigo’, a spine-tingling ‘Beautiful Day’ which saw Bono slip in lyrics from Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’, debut single ‘Out Of Control’ and a poignant rendition of ‘One’.
Para o último, U2 foram acompanhados em cordas por 32 estudantes do Music Generation, programa de educação musical da Irlanda, financiado e criado pela banda há 15 anos.
With the pupils chanting “one more song” as they left the stage, U2 soon returned to end the show with classic hit ‘With Or Without You’.
Later in the evening, they packed out Grafton Street for a surprise set from the balcony of Bewley’s Cafe.
Ahead of the show, NME was treated to a playback of four tracks from their new album ‘Carnaval De Luz’ at former music venue McGonagles, where U2 played many of their early shows in the late 70s.
Junto com o novo single “Silencio”, a faixa do álbum “The Greatest Show On Earth” teve sua primeira exibição. A música começa com um ritmo de bateria sobre uma guitarra sinistra e uma linha de baixo pulsante antes de se abrir em um hino que se ergue como arranha‑céus semelhante a “Get Out Of Your Own Way” e “City Of Blinding Lights”.
Fechamento do álbum, “Torn”, apresentando a última performance vocal gravada de Dolly Parton, também foi exibido.
A balada delicada documenta os dois filhos dela brigando por suas diferenças enquanto ela canta suavemente: “I love you both but I feel so torn” no verso de abertura antes de trocar de voz com Bono no refrão.
U2’s 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.
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. “One man who will never be silenced, silencioed, never could, never would was Glen Hansard,” the frontman recalled.
The band then performed a stirring rendition of ‘All I Want Is You’ before following it up with the late musician’s Oscar winning folk song ‘Falling Slowly’, with The Edge on vocals.
This comes after Bono spoke and performed at the late Frames frontman’s funeral.
As they wrapped up their show, the crowd chanted for “one more tune” and started singing the words to ‘War’ classic ‘40’.
Falando sobre o show, o fã de longa data do U2 Cormse Jones, de Dublin, disse ao NME: “Foi brilhante. Todos foram sucessos e não houve falhas. O som também foi incrível para um show de rua e Bono foi incrível.”.
U2 release their “messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs” with new album ‘Carnaval De Luz’ arriving on November 13. Produced by Jacknife Lee, 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: ‘Days Of Ash’ and ‘Easter Lily’.
A voz definidora do mundo em música e cultura pop: revelando o que há de novo e o que vem por aí desde 1952.
When you purchase through affiliate links on NME.com, you may contribute to our site through commissions. Learn More.
NME Networks, a part of Caldecott Music Group. All rights reserved.
Comentários
Participe da conversa. Comentários passam por moderação antes de aparecer.
Carregando comentários…