Published: September 26, 2026 · 3:37 AM EDT
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. returned to Mount Temple Comprehensive School exactly 50 years after the band’s first rehearsal and performed a seven-song set for around 1,000 students
U2 celebrated their 50th anniversary by returning to the Dublin school where their story began, performing a surprise concert at Mount Temple Comprehensive School on September 25, exactly five decades after the musicians first rehearsed together in 1976.
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. played for approximately 1,000 current students in the schoolyard, revisiting songs from across their career while also giving the first live performance of their new single “Silencio.”
The anniversary traces back to drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who was 14 when he placed a notice on the Mount Temple school bulletin board seeking musicians for a band. The musicians who responded ultimately gathered for their first rehearsal at Mullen’s family home in Dublin on September 25, 1976.
The 2026 school performance opened with “I Will Follow” and continued with “Vertigo,” “Beautiful Day,” “Out of Control” and the live debut of “Silencio.” A group of young string musicians joined U2 for “One,” before the band returned to close the show with “With or Without You.”
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U2 – MOUNT TEMPLE COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL, DUBLIN – SEPTEMBER 25, 2026
1. I Will Follow
2. Vertigo
3. Beautiful Day
4. Out of Control
5. Silencio
6. One
7. With or Without You
The performance came one day after U2 formally announced Carnaval De Luz, their 16th studio album and first collection of new material in nine years. The album is scheduled for November 13 through Island Records, with “Silencio” serving as its second released track.
Later the same day, U2 continued the anniversary celebrations with another surprise appearance in central Dublin, performing from the balcony of Bewley’s on Grafton Street.
Watch U2’s official “Silencio” Live Mount Temple 2026, featuring the new song the band performed live for the first time during its 50th anniversary concert in Dublin, below:
Written by Gino Alache – Music Journalist
IMAGE CREDIT: Rich Fury
