WHAT WENT DOWN
U2 played an unannounced set at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin on Sept. 25, 2026 — 50 years to the day since their first rehearsal in Larry Mullen Jr.'s kitchen *, †. It was their first performance at the school since 1978 †.
THE DETAILS
- About a thousand current Mount Temple students made up the bulk of the crowd *. Alice Cooper's "School's Out" played them on †.
- Seven songs: "I Will Follow," "Vertigo," "Beautiful Day," "Out of Control," "Silencio," "One" and "With or Without You" *.
- "Silencio" got its first live airing; "Out of Control" hadn't been played since 2018 *, †.
- Young string players from Music Generation, a program U2 helps fund, joined them on "One" *.
- Bono: "Thanks for showing up. I suppose you'd nowhere else to go." †
- Former manager Paul McGuinness and broadcaster Dave Fanning were both there *.
- New album Carnaval De Luz was announced days earlier *, †.
THE TAKE
A stadium band playing a school hall for teenagers who weren't born when "Vertigo" charted is a specific kind of flex. Mullen pinned the original noticeboard ad at 14 †.
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