Five decades after forming as teenagers, U2 returned to Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin on Friday 25 September for a performance in its playground.
For the pupils, it was an unexpected school day. For Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr, it was a return to the place where their story began.
The band played songs from across their career, including I Will Follow, Vertigo and With Or Without You, alongside new track Silencio. Young musicians from Music Generation joined them for an orchestral performance of One.
The anniversary marks the day in September 1976 when Mullen brought aspiring musicians together after putting a notice on the school board seeking bandmates. The group first played under the name Feedback, later became The Hype, and eventually found the name that would travel around the world: U2.
There is something fitting about celebrating that journey in a school playground. U2 have built shows on a scale few bands could imagine as teenagers, but Friday’s audience brought them back to the beginning. Bono thanked Mount Temple for giving the young musicians room to develop and paid tribute to former school counsellor Jack Heaslip, who remained close to the band in later years.
New album announced
The homecoming came as U2 announced their 16th studio album, Carnaval de Luz, for release on 13 November 2026. Its 12 tracks include Silencio and Torn, a collaboration with Dolly Parton. U2 say Torn was Parton’s final recorded vocal performance.
For the pupils at Mount Temple, U2’s global success is history. On Friday, that history stood in front of them: four former students playing together, 50 years after answering a notice on the school board.
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