Before They Were Big, U2 Played A Concert At A Grand Rapids Church

The screenshot of U2 above is from a BBC broadcast in 1981, the same year as the Fountain Street Church concert. It is for representation. For photos of the band playing at the FSC, click here.

Last week, I wrote an article about how comedian Taylor Tomlinson's newest Netflix special was filmed inside the Fountain Street Church. I found it both cool that a local church was getting put in such a large spotlight and also just a rather intriguing choice to host a comedy routine of this scale.

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But after I wrote that article, someone  I learned some very interesting news: this comedy routine doesn't even make the list of the most intriguing acts to have performed inside the historic church. While Fountain Street Church is first and foremost a church, it has a long history as a concert venue dating back to the 60s. 

The 1,500-seat church has hosted acts like Ella Fitzgerald, Led Zeppelin, and, most intriguingly, an at the time unknown, pre-War U2.

A Little Act Called U2 Plays Fountain Street Church

The story goes that back on December 5th, 1981, a young group from Ireland was still trying to make its mark overseas, and local radio station WLAV took a gamble booking the act at the Fountain Street Church. Grand Rapids Magazine reports that the concert had about 1,250 people in attendance, and almost didn't happen due to a last minute gear malfunction, which you can read about here.

Amazingly, this niche concert from over 40 years ago can be heard in its entirety on YouTube, albeit the audio isn't great. But it is good enough to hear Bono's iconic voice on full display, and the Edge absolutely shredding in the first minute of the hour-long concert. The full setlist, was as follows:

1. Gloria
2. Another Time, Another Place
3. I Threw a Brick Through a Window
4. An Cat Dubh
5. Into the Heart
6. With a Shout
7. Rejoice
8. The Cry
9. The Electric Co.
10. I Fall Down
11. October
12. I Will Follow
13. Twilight
14. Out of Control
15. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (encore)
16. The Ocean (encore)

This recording of 11 O'Clock Tick Tock from The Old Gray Whistle Test was recorded about in February of '81, giving the closest representation of what this concert could have felt like. Bono's voice sounds so young, it's wild. But even in this small venue it's easy to understand what drew people to this band.

A year and 2 months later, U2 would drop War the album that put them on the map with its hit, "Sunday Bloody Sunday".