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U2-3 London Tour 1979

12/01/1979 Moonlight Club - West Hampstead, England
Concentration Cramp, The Dream is Over, Inside Out (Oh No), Shadows and Tall Trees, Boy-Girl, Out of Control
comment: Setlist is incomplete; the above is only known from a review in Sounds. Admission was £1. This is U2's first concert in England, and in fact their first concert outside of Ireland. NME bills U2 as "Capital U2", while Time Out calls them "The UZ's". Edge and Adam were in a car crash at the end of November. While Adam is uninjured, Edge's hand is wrapped in a cast and he is given morphine at the hospital in Liverpool for the pain. He is able to play, albeit with difficulty, and will continue wearing the cast for the next few days.

12/02/1979 Nashville Rooms - London, England
setlist not available
comment: Admission was £1. Attendance was reportedly very low; Dave Fanning is known to have been present and he described the crowd as less than double figures but noted the addition of the soundman's dog to the crowd. Fashion was booked as the second act but dropped out and were replaced by Back To Zero. There was disagreement between U2 and Back To Zero over the drums, as Larry wanted to use his set and Back To Zero did not want to change them between their sets. It is not known who prevailed in the argument.

12/03/1979 101 Club - Clapham, England
setlist not available
comment: U2 are billed as "U.2's" in some promo material for the gig. Admission to the show required a membership costing £1.50.

12/04/1979 Hope & Anchor - Islington, England
setlist not available
comment: U2 are misnamed as "The U2's" in promotional material. Tickets cost £0.75. This is the last show where Edge wore his cast. A significant number of media and record company people are in attendance along with reportedly only nine paying customers, but when Edge breaks a string he leaves the stage in frustration and does not return forcing the end of the concert. Uncut reported "a furious bust-up with their sound man over their Christian beliefs, the first of many such conflicts between heavenly faith and earthly temptation" in the aftermath.

12/05/1979 Rock Garden - Covent Garden, England
Concentration Cramp, Speed of Life, Shadows and Tall Trees, Stories for Boys, The Dream is Over, Another Day, Inside Out (Oh No), In Your Hand, Twilight, Boy-Girl, Out of Control
comment: Promotional material in Melody Maker refers to U2 as "V2". Admission cost £1.50. The cast has been removed from Edge's hand following the previous shows where he needed to wear it.

A report on this show in Record Mirror mentions the set included a song called Boy Meets Man - and although this may initially seem to be a mistaken title for Twilight, Twilight is correctly named in the very same sentence. It is unknown what the reporter was referring to. This is also the first known concert performance of Twilight, though a February 1979 demo session reveals that it had existed for at least ten months before this show and in all likelihood it was played live repeatedly before this date.

12/07/1979 Electric Ballroom - Camden, England
Concentration Cramp, Speed of Life, Shadows and Tall Trees, Stories for Boys, The Dream is Over, Inside Out (Oh No), In Your Hand, Twilight, Boy-Girl
comment: Tickets cost £3. U2 were first act of the night and added very late to the bill so they do not appear on promotional material - OMD were also a late addition, replacing the Human League. They receive a positive reception after they finish their performance. The set may or may not be in the correct order or complete. These concerts supporting Talking Heads would go on to inspire 11 O'Clock Tick Tock.

12/08/1979 Electric Ballroom - Camden, England
Concentration Cramp, Speed of Life, Shadows and Tall Trees, Stories for Boys, The Dream is Over, Inside Out (Oh No), In Your Hand, Twilight, Boy-Girl
comment: Tickets cost £3. Like the previous night, U2 were first act of the night and added very late to the bill so they do not appear on promotional material - OMD were also a late addition, replacing the Human League. They receive a positive reception after they finish their performance. The set may or may not be in the correct order or complete. These concerts supporting Talking Heads would go on to inspire 11 O'Clock Tick Tock.

12/10/1979 Moonlight Club - London, England
setlist not available
comment: Admission was £1. Medium Medium would open for U2 again several times during the 1st leg of the Boy Tour.

12/11/1979 Bridge House - Canning Town, England
Boy-Girl
comment: Promotional material mislabels U2 as "UR" while posters at the venue call them "UT". Tickets cost £0.50. There are 18 paying audience members as well as a few of the pub's regulars.

12/12/1979 Brunel University - Camden, England
setlist not available
comment: U2 misnamed "U2s" in promotional material for the show. This concert was cancelled at the last minute because of throat problems experienced by The Photos' lead singer Wendy Wu. U2 did not support The Photos until 13 July 1980 at The Marquee in London, but they at least schedule a replacement show for themselves on 18 December 1979 in London.

12/14/1979 Dingwalls - Camden, England
setlist not available

12/15/1979 Windsor Castle - Harrow Road, England
setlist not available

12/18/1979 The Venue - Victoria, England
setlist not available
comment: After U2's concert on 12 December 1979 (supporting The Photos) was cancelled, they secured the support slot at this concert as a replacement.



More detailed listings from this tour can be found here.

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