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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
Entertainment
Aakanksha Surve

Never-before seen footage of U2's surprise 1982 Sheriff Street gig released

Never before seen video of a 1982 surprise gig by Dublin rock superstars U2 in the north inner city has just been released.

The clip, which was released by the Irish Film Institute (IFI), includes Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton performing in front of 300 people on Sheriff Street.

The footage shows the lads singing An Cat Dubh, 11 O’Clock Tick Tock, and Let’s Twist Again.

The concert was a part of an inner-city festival led by activist Mick Rafferty and Independent politician Tony Gregory.

The gig was organised by local activist Mick Rafferty and Tony Gregory (IFI / The Loopline Collection Volume 1)

The footage has been released as part of IFI’s Loopline Film Collection in partnership with Merry Doyle which includes  never-before-seen outtakes, interviews and additional material.

The concert was filmed by filmmaker Se Merry Doyle as part of his 1982 documentary 'Looking On", the Irish Independent reports.

He said: "Dublin Corporation decided to demolish the tenements in Gardiner Street and Summerhill and the locals decided to have a festival called 'Looking On' so I documented that over the whole summer.

Bono back in 1982 (IFI / The Loopline Collection Volume 1)

"There were lots of artists and, without much notice, U2 did a secret gig on Sheriff Street.  They had to climb up a rope to get up on stage. It was an extraordinary performance."

He added that there was no other footage of U2 in that period before they found international fame.

Only a small amount of the footage was used in his documentary but you can watch the extended footage on the IFIPlayer .

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