Flashback: U2 Perform on Ireland's 'Late Late Show' in 1980

'The band for the future' a year before their first album.




ByANDY GREENES

The Eighties were only five days old when U2 appeared on Ireland's Late Late Show to perform their new song "Stories for Boys." The band's debut LP, Boy, wouldn't hit stores for another 10 months, and their first single, "Another Day," wasn't even out yet. They did have a three-song EP called Three on sale in Ireland, and that was enough to get them a slot on the popular late-night show.

Journalist John McKenna gave them a freakishly prescient introduction. "What can I say about these titans among rock & rollers?" he said. "The band for the future – the Eighties or Nineties, who knows? U2!"

His words may not be as memorable as Jon Landau's "I've seen rock & roll future" line about Bruce Springsteen, but it's still quite remarkable when you look back upon it. Just two months after this appearance U2 were signed to Island Records. That same month, they met with Joy Division producer Martin Hannett about possibly producing Boy. By a crazy cosmic coincidence, they happened to visit during the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" recording session. They wound up working with Steve Lillywhite, who they've worked with (off and on) for the past three decades.

But in January of 1980 not a lot of people were calling U2 the band of the Eighties, let alone the Nineties. John McKenna did, and we take our hats off to him.

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The "Boy" to Photograph U2 in Paris

Fans won’t be the only ones checking out U2 in Paris on September 18th. Dublin-based photographer Peter Rowen  will be there as well, taking pictures of the band as they entertain the thousands of people in the crowd. Rowen, the child of U2’s “Boy” and “War” albums, might be working at the event but he couldn’t be any more excited.

 “I’d never feel like it’s just another assignment,” he says via email, “I am a U2 fan so shooting their shows is amazing!” As a fan, Rowen, 36, believes in “capturing the epic scale of these events.” Be it a U2 show or a sporting event, he makes sure that force is represented in his photos. “I hope always to try and capture the feeling, the atmosphere, the energy with whatever I shoot,” he explains.

If there’s anything contagious at a U2 show, it’s the energy and Rowen feels it when he’s at one of their concerts. It’s an emotion he knows very well, as he photographed the band at their Croke Park show last year. “I think a U2 show is really a special event. They really are amazing,” he says, “Live…there is a kind of magic in the air when they play. I always feel that their music means something too, like they’ve got something real and important to say.”

Being a photographer, Rowen has to be on his toes because anything can happen that could change the shoot in any way. With a U2 show though, anything is possible so Rowen just follows that “magic in the air”. He says, “It’s unpredictable. I never go in with a set plan of what I feel I need or want to shoot.” Rowen seeks out the best pictures he can get as the show unfolds.

U2 played in Paris twice on 2009’s European leg of “360”. Saturday night’s concert will be the only show in France on this year’s leg. Rowen always had Paris on his mind when deciding where to shoot U2 on in 2010. “It’s a place I really like,” he says. Indeed, Paris plays an important role in Rowen’s history with U2. In 1983, he appeared in the band’s video for the song “Two Hearts Beat as One”. The song, off the “War” album, is a true labor of love as Bono wrote it while in Jamaica with wife Ali. “Ali still laughs about how, on our honeymoon, I was writing an album called ‘War’”, Bono reveals in the book “U2 by U2”.

Like the photo shoots for the albums, Rowen spent the days filming the video enjoying himself and the City of Light. “My memories of the video shoot in Paris are good. It was a fun day out. A few days off from school, all good when you’re nine years old,” he muses. Any other kid would be shaking in their sneakers to be in a video with a band like U2, but none of that fazed Rowen. “Shy at times, but never nervous,” he says, then jokes, “The nerves only started when I became an adult!”

Asked whether being on the cover of two of U2’s most memorable records or being in one of their music videos is the better experience, living in the moment and thinking about those accomplishments is what’s important to him. “The best experience is probably the experience I have now. The experience I have of looking back on something that I was involved in, something that was cool, something I can be proud to be a part of,” he says.

Since he has been in a music video and is already an expert behind a camera, does Rowen see himself directing anytime soon? “For the first time ever lately I’ve been thinking about shooting a documentary on my elderly father,” he says, “I spent a couple years back shooting a series of still pictures with him but I really want to shoot some video of him now.”

With that as a possibility on his horizon, Rowen will still be putting his focus on his photos. He “might” do a couple more shoots at “360” this year after the Paris gig. From album covers to concert pictures, Rowen feels a sense of pride for the band he knew from the beginning and being a part of their journey. “I find the story of U2, of four young lads from the town that I grew up in, going out and becoming one of the most successful bands is ever inspiring,” he says, “Getting to shoot and record part of this story is inspiring for sure!”

A devoted friend and lifelong fan, who as a child played photo subject and video actor, grew up and became a magnificent photographer. If there were to be a U2 encyclopedia, this is what would be listed next to Peter Rowen’s name.

Peter, Paris, and U2 in the “Two Hearts Beat as One” video

For more about Peter, visit his official website at www.peterrowen.com. He also has a blog as well as Twitter and Facebook pages. 

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