U2, at 50, has rocked Long Island many times
U2 brought its Experience + Innocence Tour to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2018. Credit: Chad Batka
Has it really been 50 years since Irish rock legends U2 strummed their first chords?
In late September of 1976, according to the BBC, drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. went to the noticeboard of his Dublin secondary school and pinned up a handwritten note: "Drummer seeks musicians to form band." Auditions were held at his family home a couple of days later, on Sept. 25, marking the first-ever gathering of Mullen, bassist Adam Clayton, guitarist David Howell Evans — aka The Edge — and singer Paul Hewson, soon to be known as Bono.
'This odd group of people convened in my kitchen," Mullen said according to the band’s website. "And that's where it started."
Thanks in part to the taste-making FM radio station WLIR, the Dublin band found a massive fan base on Long Island. Here’s a brief timeline of U2’s rise from cult heroes to global superstars, seen through the band’s local appearances.
WHEN Dec. 13, 1981
WHERE Malibu Night Club in Lido Beach, a show sponsored by WLIR, according to information at the internet Archive.
THE SHOW A recording of the concert captures an enthusiastic crowd and a band eager to show off its already identifiable sound: raw but resonant. The 15-song set, which draws from the band’s two albums "Boy" and "October," begins with "Gloria" and covers such soon-to-be classics as "I Will Follow" and "11 O’Clock Tick Tock."
Following a ragged but powerful rendition of "I Threw a Brick," Bono jokes: "This is where it all breaks down. This where all the professionalism and years of touring just leave you lying there. What can I say."
WHEN March 19, 1982
WHERE Nassau Community College in Garden City, according to U2Tours.com
THE SHOW A picture of what appears to be a handwritten flyer for the show — "Rock dance! Don’t miss it!" — was posted in 2024 to a Facebook group for former employees of radio stations WDRE and WLIR, but little other evidence of this gig is readily available. (One fan replied to the post: "I tried to sneak in but got kicked out.")
WHEN April 3, 1985
WHERE Nassau Coliseum
THE SHOW Thanks in part to the grandiose sound of their new album "The Unforgettable Fire," produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, U2 is now one of the biggest bands in rock. This date marks their first concert at the Coliseum, according to Setlist.fm. At one point Bono wrapped himself in an Irish flag tossed on stage, and at another he slow-danced with a female fan while the band played "October." According to Newsday’s review: "Then he kissed both her cheeks, kissed her hands and walked with her, hand in hand, off the stage."
WHEN Sept. 10-11, 1987
WHERE Nassau Coliseum
THE SHOW The second of the band’s two-night stand at the Coliseum earned a glowing review from Newsday critic Wayne Robins, who called it "triumphant." By now the band had five albums to draw from, including its latest, "The Joshua Tree." The show opened with a rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner," followed by the ultra-dramatic anthems "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Where the Streets Have No Name," according to Setlist.fm.
Robins praised the band’s musicianship and added: "But it’s not just increased competence that makes U2 so formidable in concert. It’s the emotional connections that they’re able to make."
WHEN March 9, 1992
WHERE Nassau Coliseum
Bono, donning his wraparound sunglasses, performs at Nassau Coliseum in 1992. Credit: Newsday/Ari Mintz
THE SHOW This stop was part of U2's polarizing Zoo TV Tour, which finds Bono wearing his famous wrap-around sunglasses as part of a persona named The Fly (after a track from the album "Achtung Baby"). The elaborate production features big-screen television sets with cryptic slogans such as "Ambition Bites the Nail of Success" that seem to satirize the entertainment industry and the band’s own self-serious image. Not all critics take kindly to the concept, but Newsday calls this show "a high-spirited, self-deprecating funfest."
WHEN June 9, 2018
WHERE NYCB LIVE at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
THE SHOW U2 makes its first appearance on Long Island in 26 years with the Experience + Innocence Tour, which is decidedly high-tech, featuring a 100-foot cage with giant screens and a Bono-hologram that concertgoers can see using an app.
According to Newsday critic Glenn Gamboa, however, none of that matched classic songs such as "The Electric Co.," a deep cut from the "Boy" album, that got the crowd "jumping and screaming from sheer joy and rage."
