U2 marks 50th anniversary with surprise concerts at Dublin school and Bewley's balcony

Return to Mount Temple

On Friday, 25 September 2026, Irish rock band U2 returned to Mount Temple Comprehensive School on Malahide Road in north Dublin to mark 50 years since their formation. Shortly after 2:00 PM, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr walked out onto a temporary stage in the schoolyard to the soundtrack of Alice Cooper's "School's Out". A crowd of 900 students, teachers, journalists and former manager Paul McGuinness gathered in the courtyard, where the band had last performed in 1978. The musicians set up in their original 1976 stage alignment, with Clayton standing to Bono's right and The Edge to his left. Bono introduced his bandmates by citing their original school class sections, naming Mullen in 2I, The Edge in 3U and Clayton in 5D.

Addressing the pupils gathered in the courtyard, Bono reflected on the band's beginnings at the institution.

Remember that the most humble and difficult lesson the four of us had to learn started right here. That feeling that perhaps everything we needed was right around us, right under our feet, if only we were able to see it in our friends, in our schoolmates, in our community and in the wider community that would then help us face the next fifty years.

Schoolyard setlist and student collaboration

The seven-song set opened with "I Will Follow", the lead track from their 1980 debut album Boy, before moving into "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day". During "Vertigo", Bono joked with the crowd about his Spanish count-in, advising students not to take Spanish lessons from him. The group also played "Out of Control", the A-side from their 1979 debut EP U2 3, followed by the first live performance of their new single "Silencio". For a performance of "One", the band was accompanied by 32 teenage harpists, violinists and viola players from Music Generation, a state education program co-funded by U2. The school concert concluded with an encore performance of a reworked version of "With or Without You".

Grafton Street balcony concert

Hours after the school appearance, U2 performed a second unannounced concert from the balcony of Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street in central Dublin. Thousands of spectators filled the street below as the band played a set featuring "I Will Follow", "Out of Control", "One", "Where the Streets Have No Name", "Beautiful Day" and "With or Without You". The band also performed a rendition of "Falling Slowly", paying tribute to musician Glen Hansard, who died in a motorcycle crash in July 2026. Hansard, who co-wrote the song for the film Once, had a decades-long connection to Grafton Street through annual Christmas Eve charity busking sessions. Fans from several countries, including the United States, England, Italy and the Netherlands, travelled to Dublin for the anniversary gatherings.

Upcoming album release and milestone timeline

The anniversary concerts coincided with promotional preparations for Carnaval de Luz, U2's first full-length studio album of new material in nine years. Scheduled for release on 13 November 2026, the 12-track record was produced by Garret "Jacknife" Lee, who previously worked on the group's 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The new album concludes with the track "Torn", featuring vocal contributions from country singer Dolly Parton recorded before her death in August 2026. The band previously issued two related EPs in spring 2026, titled Days of Ash and Easter Lily.

It's an extraordinary collection of songs, and it's the culmination of the work that everyone has been doing for 50 years.