U2 perform special gig at their former school Mount Temple to mark 50th anniversary

U2 are performing a special gig at their former school, Mount Temple Comprehensive in Clontarf on Dublin’s northside, on Friday afternoon to mark a half century since the band’s formation.Bono, Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton took to the stage in front of students and staff shortly before 2pm, playing songs including as I Will Follow and Beautiful Day.Meanwhile, fans are gathering on Grafton Street after rumours spread online that the band would play there on Friday afternoon.Today marks 50 years since half a dozen or so teenage schoolboys carrying an assortment of musical instruments crowded into a kitchen in Artane on Dublin’s northside, in response to an ad posted by drummer Mullen on the Mount Temple noticeboard, seeking musicians to form a band. READ MOREU2 play "I Will Follow" at a surprise concert at Mt Temple in Dublin where they formed over 50 years ago. This gathering produced a group known first as Feedback, then The Hype and finally U2.The band’s new album, Carnaval De Luz, their first in nine years, is due to be released on November 13th. It features the late country music singer Dolly Parton duetting with Bono on the album’s final song Torn.U2 fan Erik Larsen plays his guitar outside Bewley's in Grafton Street where the band are due to make an appearance later. Photograph: Ronan McGreevy Todd and Lara Garrison-Gebhart flew from Michigan for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the band U2. Photograph: Ronan McGreevy Drummer Seeks Musicians, the Irish Times podcast series published this week, vividly evokes the time and place that shaped them. [ U2’s new album Carnaval De Luz features Dolly Parton and Bono duetOpens in new window ]By the standards of 1970s Dublin they were an unusually mixed group in family and religious background, while their school stood out for its liberal, co-educational and multidenominational ethos.More to follow...[ The Irish Times view on U2 at 50: drummer finds musiciansOpens in new window ]