1979-09-18

Baggot Inn, Dublin, Ireland

Set List of Show:

Additional Music

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

Show Details:

This show was one of a run of U2 shows, often reported as a residency at the Baggot Inn. U2 and The Blades took the stage on multiple nights, over a six week period.

In the biography of The Blades on the MCD promotions site, it shares, “they played a 6 week residency with U2 in the Baggott Inn with the bands swapping headline slots every week as both bands attempted to take their careers to the next level.” The six week figure is reported in The Irish Independent and The Irish Times. The Independent also confirms U2 and the Blades would trade the headline spot at these shows.

Dave Fanning was a resident DJ at the Baggot at that time, and he was there for those shows, remembering, “While U2 were on the up, both bands played a series of four Tuesday nights at Dublin’s Baggot Inn. I introduced the bands and DJed before and after the sets,” and also sharing, “At those Baggot gigs, lots of people came just to see The Blades and left before U2 came on.”

Six weeks? Four shows? Yes, we dug into the discrepancy. U2 definitely played at the Baggot on August 21, and again on October 2, with gig ads showing in the local papers. Both shows had The Blades as an opening act. There’s six weeks between those two dates. But most of the other Tuesdays were booked with other acts. The Atrix (Aug. 28), Sacre Blue (Sep. 4), The Tabs (Sep. 11) and Stepaside (Sep. 25) had most of the Tuesdays booked, and indeed, U2 played the Magnet on Aug. 28.

There is an ad for September 17 (Monday night) which lists The Lookalikes as the headline act. Right below them U2 is listed, and then the next line states the act playing on Wednesday night. U2 didn’t open for The Lookalikes, they were playing the night after The Lookalikes. The Baggot always listed the next couple of nights. The ad for September 18 does list The Blades as the special guest, but no headliner is mentioned. With the comments that The Blades headlined one show, and U2 had been listed to play in the previous day, its obvious that this is likely the show U2 opened for The Blades.

That leaves three shows in total, August 21, September 18 and October 2, over a six week period, where U2 and The Blades took over the Tuesday night slot at The Baggot Inn. We’ve gone through the listings night by night, and there were other acts booked for every evening during this period.

Officially Released Tracks