U2 play surprise free show on Dublin's Grafton Street

U2 played an unannounced, free concert on Grafton Street, Dublin's main pedestrian shopping street, in late September 2026. The band appeared on the balcony of Bewley's Café, a well-known city-centre landmark, and the street quickly filled with onlookers. Reports put the crowd at somewhere between more than a thousand and several thousand people.

The show came hours after an earlier surprise performance at Mount Temple, the Dublin school where the band formed. Both gigs were part of celebrations marking the band's 50th anniversary. At the school, the crowd's calls for "one more tune" were answered with an encore of "With or Without You".

The performances also served as promotion for the band's new album, Carnaval de Luz, due for release on 13 November 2026. U2 played a new song from the record, "Silencio", on Grafton Street. The gigs mattered as a return to the band's home city and its roots, and as the opening of the campaign for their first album of new songs in several years. The street has a history of impromptu performances by Bono and friends.