1981-03-10

Barrymore's, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Set List of Show:

Known Set List:

"The Ocean"

Additional Music

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

Show Details:

U2 are advertised in the local papers as being “from England” which is corrected in advertisements closer to the show. The show is presented by CHEZ-FM, at a club called Barrymore’s. Tickets for the show were priced at $5.00 Canadian.

The contract for the show has surfaced over the years, with the whole thing being valid pending “Immigration and customs clearance”. The band agreed to receive 100% headline billing for the show, and the show was capped at 250 capacity for the night. (Reports say it was sold out.) The contract was signed in February 1981. And the band’s fee was $750US Dollars.

Gord Rhodes who booked the band for the show remembered the call he got introducing them in 2006, “I said, ‘Who the hell is U2? I’ve never heard of them.’ He said, ‘They’re new and they’re going to be big.’ Well, all the agents say that.” According to the article in the Ottawa Citizen: “Rhodes was impressed by the crowd’s response and the “awesome voice” of the lead singer, but Bono was so new to the stage that Rhodes didn’t see much of the showmanship and charisma that now sells out stadiums in seconds. The singer was “just a boy” then, Rhodes recalls, and the autographed photo the band gave him was not so different from the sweet-faced child on the cover of Boy, U2’s debut album.” Rhodes in the article, looking back 25 years, claimed that the show was sold out and had 400 people in attendance, but the contract itself from 1981 specified 250 capacity.

Officially Released Tracks