1980-12-07

Bayou, Washington, DC, USA

Set List of Show:

Main Set:

  • "11 O'Clock Tick Tock"
  • "I Will Follow"
  • "Touch"
  • "An Cat Dubh"
  • "Into the Heart"
  • "The Electric Co."
Encore:

  • "Out of Control"

Additional Music

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

    "Cry" (U2) /

Show Details:

U2’s second show in North America is in Washington DC. They are playing the famous Bayou nightclub in Georgetown, opening for a local band called the Slickee Boys. The venue is located at 3135 K Street NW, tucked in under the Whitehurst Freeway. WAVA-FM was present at the show to broadcast the Slickee Boys set. It is not known if they recorded the U2 set but it seems unlikely,

Sound check was done in the afternoon, and both bands were present. The boys from the Slickee Boys invited U2 to go for gyros, and Larry and the Edge took them up on the offer. Conversation ranged from U2’s bus they were using to tour, the fact that U2 were renting drums and amps at each venue, and that the tour was a test tour, and they’d be returning if all went well, as well as obscure Irish bands.

Dan from the Slickee Boys recalls the show itself as well, “U2 played with a sparse set up, but it was raw and exciting. I remember being impressed by their originality. Larry played marching drumbeats that I had played in high school band, but never heard that much in rock ‘n’ roll except in novelty songs and such. Edge played percussive guitar that accented the drums and had a style of his own, as if he learned to play in a vacuum. Bono had a great voice and a confidence and charisma about him that all the great ones have. He wore riding boots and had one foot on the monitor as he poured out his soul. I thought they were great! They must have liked us, too, because they came back to the Bayou months later for a Warner Brothers showcase for the LP “Boy” and they requested that the Slickee Boys be on the show.”

Mark, the singer with the band related, “I thought they were really good. Then we got to hang out with them backstage, and I’ll tell you, I couldn’t understand a word these guys were saying.”

The written set list for the night included “Cry” listed as a separate song from “The Electric Co.” but it was likely the two were played together. U2 got a short encore after “The Electric Co.” and returned to the stage to do “Out of Control.” This was preplanned and on the written set. Our list of songs performed are taken from the written set list.

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