U2 just went back to where it all began. Fifty years ago, a 14-year-old Larry Mullen, Jr. pinned a notice to the board at Dublin's Mount Temple Comprehensive School, and four kids piled into his kitchen for a first practice on September 25, 1976. They were Feedback first, then the Hype, then something bigger. This week the band marked that golden anniversary in style.
Yesterday they announced a new album, Carnaval de Luz. Today they played a secret gig at that very school, closing a loop that stretches back before Boy in 1980 and everything after.
Think about the run: the guitar shimmer of "A Day Without Me," the widescreen anthems, the reinventions on Achtung Baby. Half a century in, and they're still chasing the moment.
A new record, a hometown surprise, a nod to the room where the noise started. That's a band who never forgot the kitchen.
Fifty years down, and the momentum keeps rolling.