1978-03-15

Celebrity Club, Abbey Street, Dublin, Ireland

Set List of Show:

Known Songs (Incomplete):

"2-4-6-8 Motorway"
"Anarchy in the UK"

Additional Music

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

Show Details:

U2 open for Revolver at the Celebrity Club, and both bands play two sets in the evening. Only Revolver is mentioned in media ads for the show. Although originally believed to have played as The Hype for this show, newer information suggests the change to U2 happened on March 4, 1978. There was evidence that they played prior to the St. Patrick’s Day battle of the bands as U2 on a number of occasions, even being advertised under that name for a show at the Project Arts Centre. It is likely they would have used the name U2 for this show.

What is known about the U2 show at the Celebrity Club is that they performed as an opening act prior to Revolver. What is known about the show is drawn from the memoires of Dick Purdy, who was a member of the Dublin band, the Skank Mooks.

Purdy recalls seeing U2 “the Wednesday or Thursday the week before U2 went to Limerick” opening for Revolver at the Celebrity Club. This has lead to some guesses that the show happened on March 8, and others that the show happened the same week as the famous talent show, on March 15. We have been able to find a gig advertisement for Revolver at the Celebrity Club on the 15th, which matches the date Purdy discusses, so we have chosen to list just the one show.

Purdy recalls that the band played two songs during the show at the Celebrity Club, “2, 4, 6, 8 Motorway” and “Anarchy in the UK”. It is not known whether it was the early or the late show where these songs were performed. The show had opened at 8pm, but so few people turned up for the early set by U2 and Revolver, that they played a second set each starting at 11pm when the usual crowd was there.

Purdy recalls that Larry Mullen had to phone home to get permission to stay out later for the show. Phil Byrne from Revolver shares a story that he spoke with Mullen’s parents to clear the later show, and promised his mother to put Larry in a taxi home after the show.

The venue was a showband venue trying to appeal to a new crowd, but unfortunately had drawn the attention of the boot boys who were rowdy and causing havoc in establishments in Dublin. The venue did not host rock concerts for long.

We believe all of the dates for the Celebrity Club are likely just a reference to this one show, and guesses made on the actual date, have lead to the confusion on dates. We’ve removed the other dates from our archive, and believe this is the only date that U2 performed.

Officially Released Tracks