1980-12-22

TV Club, Dublin, Ireland

Set List of Show:

Main Set:

"The Ocean"
"An Cat Dubh"
"Into the Heart"
"11 O'Clock Tick Tock"
"I Will Follow"

Encore:

"Boy / Girl"
"Stories for Boys"
"Out of Control"
"11 O'Clock Tick Tock"

Additional Music

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

Show Details:

U2 play a show at the TV club in Dublin to finish off this leg of the tour before the Christmas holidays begin. The show is £3.50 and due to the growing popularity of the band, tickets are limited to six per person when purchasing. Tickets are sold through Golden Discs and Murrays.

Tony Clayton-Lea looked back at this show in The Irish Times in 2015: “U2 return home from the relative success of their debut US shows, and the critical acclaim bestowed on their debut album, Boy, which was released in October. Another hottest-ticket-in-town gig, the band is exceptional, and a stuffed venue goes bananas. There’s more grandstanding from Bono, but as celebratory homecoming gigs go, his antics seem perfectly reasonable. Adam Clayton’s bass playing is improving.”

Other reports from the show from those that were there speak of how electric this performance was.

Elvera Butler remembers getting Micro Disney the gig opening for this U2 show, “then in December they supported U2. By that stage as well I had asked Paul McGuinness if they could support U2 in the TV Club [The Television Club was a music venue at 46–48 Harcourt St, Dublin and part of Eamonn Andrews Studios], we got that but [laughing] they tried to change it, I think U2 had found somebody else in Dublin, maybe friends or something, I do remember having to stick to my guns and get the boys the gig. So that was a quite a big progression to be playing the TV Club.”

The gig didn’t go well for Micro Disney either, as one of the band members was abrasive on stage and angered the crowd there to see U2, as well as Paul McGuinness. McGuinness paid them half of what they were supposed to get, saying they had to pay for the sound man at the show. The U2 audience also threw bottles at them on stage. The band would later open for U2 in 1987 for two nights at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

A lengthy review by Joe Breen appeared in The Irish Times for this show:

“When Irish bands return from short stays abroad, usually in Britain, we’ve come to expect that they will be a tighter, more professional and altogether more efficient outfit when they come home. U2 displayed all these virtues in the unlikely setting of the TV Club on Monday night, but they had one other, toughness. As their lead singer, Bono, remarked to the packed sweat-soaked audience, they’ve grown up, and how. Straight from the opening notes of “The Ocean” they drove into their material with confidence and assurance. They had the audience in their grip, and even when they faltered they came back with such power that the audience had no choice but to act like a fish caught on a very enticing hook.”

“And indeed it is the hooks, twists and turns of The Edge’s guitar playing that is so crucial to U2’s powerfully distinctive sound. Yet his style is not all fury, for in the quieter passages of the songs it is his atmospheric guitar that sets the tone that gives Bono the room to gently draw the audience closer to him. Behind them Larry Mullen (drums) and Adam Clayton (bass) have developed into a mighty engine room, though there is still space for improvement. But that is the trouble with U2. They are still growing, still searching for new avenues of expression and still learning. The concert on Monday showed that they are well into their stride, and if the odd song tripped a little, that could reasonably be put down to the excitement of the night.”

“And what a night. After a set that produced some great heights, not least in the vocal department, where Bono’s voice is fast losing its choirboy quality in favour of a more soulful sound, they ended with their excellent single “I Will Follow”, from their debut album, “Boy”. They encored with “Boy/Girl”, “Stories for Boys” and “Out of Control” before leaving the stage after a repeat blast of “11 O’Clock Tick Tock”. A memorable night and a worthy home-coming.”

Officially Released Tracks