#U240 U2: The Gig That Got Away

Promoter, band manager and publicist Terry O’Neill ran the hugely popular McGonagle’s Club on Dublin’s South Anne Street in the late 1970s, when U2 did some of their very first headlining dates.

The series of Jingle Balls gigs the band ran at the venue gave an indication that there was something just a little bit different about the approach of this young outfit. They weren’t interested in just following the routine. They wanted their gigs to have an identity, and a sense of excitement. To be an event. But, of course, they started out hustling in more or less the same way as everyone else, knocking on doors and pleading for gigs.

“They came to me one afternoon and asked could they do a support slot to somebody who was playing,” Terry recalls. “I can’t remember who it was, but I think it was some band coming in from England. I looked at the diary and said, ‘Yeah ok, how much do you want?’ They said, ‘Can we talk about it?’ So they went outside the door and had a little confab and then came back in and said, ‘Would £7 be OK?’ Me: ‘No, you’ll get £25 like every other opening act’. I believe that might have been the moment when they decided they needed a manager (laughs).”

Terry’s dates don’t coincide with those listed on U2gigs.com – but no matter.

“Looking at the diary,” he says, “I think it was on Thursday, April 27 1978 – and U2 were opening for The Vipers. They were playing on stage to very few people, maybe about forty, which of course was what happened to a lot of opening acts. But I remember thinking how young they were and that they were not brilliant – but they were OK. They were still at school at that time, because their parents used to collect them.”

There was a lot of competition at the time among emerging local rock bands for support slots – which were regarded as a vital way of establishing a fan base and gaining experience. Being given the nod by a booker meant a lot.

“Every now and then, they’d ask could they support this band or that band – and I’d usually say ‘Yeah’,” Terry says. “I didn’t really talk much to them, but I’d watch them play. At the time, I thought Edge was quite good and they were lively. If memory serves me, they played about fifteen gigs in total in McGonagle’s – other McGonagle’s U2 dates I have written down are as an opening act on Sunday, July 23 1978 for Advertising; Sunday July 30 for Revolver; and maybe their own headlining show on Jan 2, 1979.”
On a relatively enclosed scene, relationships between bands and bookers could be fraught, with all sorts of disagreements and misunderstandings festering.

“When Eamon Dunphy was writing his U2 book [Unforgettable Fire] he came to interview me,” Terry states, “and the first thing he said was, ‘Did you once cancel a gig on U2? They said you did’. I said, ‘I don’t think so Eamon, but I don’t really remember, it’s a long time ago’. So I looked at the diary – and there was a U2 date with a line through it. I’d switched U2 for The Boy Scoutz supporting The Subterraneans on Sunday, July 2, 1978. They were quite famous at this point when the book was being written – they were a big international act – and my immediate thought was, ‘After all they’ve done and achieved, how come they’d remember something like this?’ It could well have been the first time they were ever cancelled, but I thought it was extraordinary at the time.

“Now, as I get older, I kind of realise it must have meant something to them. Maybe they thought they were being messed around, but – from my point of view ¬– we switched around support acts all the time in those days – it wasn’t a big deal.”

Those old niggles have been long forgotten – as indeed have so many of the bands that played McGonagle’s during those embryonic days. There was a lot of good stuff going on musically, but the rate of attrition was high. U2 were unique in the resilience and strength of character they showed – in the face of all sorts of begrudgery and, on occasion, downright hostility.

“I’ve always admired their success,” Terry says, “and in particular how Paul McGuinness managed them with verve and class. Larry Mullen used to live near me when I lived in Sutton – and we used to hang around a bit. I’ve seen them so many times since then – and anytime he sees me, Bono always gives me a big hug.”

Hot Press will continue it's U2 40th Anniversary coverage all week long on hotpress.com, and in a special commemorative issue out Thursday 29th September.
You can preorder Hot Press 40-17, our U2 40th Anniversary Special direct from hotpress.com
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