U2 Return to Dublin School Where It All Began 50 Years Ago

U2 performed a career-spanning set in the playground of Mount Temple High School in Dublin this afternoon, fifty years to the week after Larry Mullen Jr pinned his famous "drummer seeks musicians" note to the school's noticeboard.

The band walked on stage shortly after 2 p.m. to the strains of Alice Cooper's "School's Out," playing for an audience of current students that included Sophie Shirley, the band's former religious education teacher.

They opened with "I Will Follow" and went straight into a run of hits: "Vertigo," "Beautiful Day," and a particularly early track, 1979's "Out Of Control," from their debut EP U2 3.

Bono hailed Mullen Jr as "the man who pinned the note on the noticeboard." Bassist Adam Clayton received a joking introduction as "the streaker of the green corridor."

The gig also hosted the first live performance of the band's new single "Silencio," from the recently announced album Carnaval De Luz. An emotional rendition of "One" brought the band together with a group of teenage harpists, violinists and viola players who learned their instruments through Music Generation, a program U2 co-funds.

Speaking to Rolling Stone UK earlier this week, the Edge admitted it had been an "amazing" experience to return to the school ahead of the performance.

Bono shared that sentiment on the day. He thanked the school for the group's formative education and paid tribute to the Reverend Jack Heaslip, who worked at Mount Temple before becoming U2's chaplain and spiritual advisor on tour. "He travelled the world with us," Bono said, before acknowledging other former teachers in the audience.

Addressing the students, he added: "Thanks for showing up. I suppose you'd nowhere else to go."

The concert comes as U2 prepare to release Carnaval de Luz, their first album of new songs in nine years, on November 13. Garret "Jacknife" Lee produced the 12-track record; he has worked with U2 since 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The album closes with "Torn," which features the final vocal performance from Dolly Parton, who died last month.

"It's an extraordinary collection of songs," Clayton told Rolling Stone UK in interviews for an upcoming feature, "and it's the culmination of the work that everyone has been doing for 50 years."

With a new album two weeks away and a schoolyard gig already under their belts, U2 have turned a half-century milestone into the opening note of their next chapter.