During 1977 U2 started playing to live audiences using their name they were known as at the time, The Hype. These were mainly concerts in church halls, schools etc in the Sutton, Howth area of Dublin. Their first major gigs in the city centre of Dublin would not take place until February 1978 supporting The Vipers at McGonagle’s.
09/10/1976 Music Room, Mount Temple Comprehensive, Dublin, Ireland
The dates are known via Ivan McCormick’s diary. I spoke to Ivan a few years ago, “A couple of weeks after that first get together, we rehearsed at school in Mount Temple. I have another entry in my diary: Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th of October: ‘Rehearsed all day in the music room at school’. We wanted to get this band off the ground. I think we had a hi-fi amp from an old stereo and Bono had this little pencil microphone thing that you see in old Top of The Pops videos.” I’ve also spoken to Frank Kearns, he confirms the first couple of rehearsals took place on the weekend, before they moved to Wednesday afternoon as the school was closed then. ” A few of us used to sit in on the rehearsals, we would sit on tables with our legs swaying to the music”.
