U2 have announced a small-audience concert for BBC Music in central London on November 3, 2026, combining songs from their catalogue with new material from “Carnaval De Luz”. The indoor venue will be revealed to ticket holders on the day. A limited ticket ballot closes on October 29, with television and radio broadcasts planned later in November rather than live coverage of the event.
U2 are preparing for a London appearance on a scale very different from the stadium productions associated with their recent history. The November 3 concert will take place indoors before a selected audience, with the recording made specifically for BBC Music. Its central London address remains undisclosed in the announcement and will be supplied directly to those who obtain tickets.
Jo Whiley announced the collaboration during her BBC Radio 2 programme on October 27. The performance will be filmed and recorded, bringing established songs together with material from the forthcoming “Carnaval De Luz”. No complete set list or running time has been announced, so the description establishes the programme’s broad direction without specifying which favourites or new tracks will appear.
For U2, the small room provides a contrast with tours that have made architecture and technology part of the performance. “Zoo TV” and the “360° Tour” presented songs through large-scale visual environments. The London recording instead places attention on the distance between performers and listeners, although its precise staging, arrangements and production details have not been made public.
Entry is being allocated through a BBC Audiences ballot rather than an ordinary ticket sale. Applicants can request up to one pair of free tickets before the October 29 deadline at 11:59pm UK time. Applying does not guarantee admission. Successful applicants will receive the details needed to attend, with the location disclosed only on the day of the performance.
That arrangement leaves several practical details private. The venue’s capacity and layout have not been specified, and the announcement does not identify a separate public sale. The limited audience belongs to a dedicated recording event, rather than a newly announced run of intimate shows. No additional dates in the same format have been confirmed alongside the London appearance.
The recording falls ten days before U2 release “Carnaval De Luz” on November 13. Their sixteenth studio album is the first full collection of new material since “Songs of Experience” in 2017. Those attending will therefore hear some of its songs shortly before the official release, with the particular selections still to be revealed through the performance itself.
The wider catalogue gives the band many possible directions, from “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Pride (In the Name of Love)” to “With or Without You”, “One” and “Beautiful Day”. Those titles illustrate the range available rather than a confirmed set list. The announced mix leaves room for a connection between older recordings and the music they are preparing to introduce.
Whiley expressed enthusiasm for a band she has seen repeatedly, emphasising the energy they bring to live performance. Her programme will later carry the radio presentation and a new interview with members of the group. That combination gives listeners a chance to hear both the performance and discussion around it, extending the event beyond the people admitted to the venue.
The television recording is scheduled for BBC Two in late November as part of an evening dedicated to U2. The exact television date has not yet been announced. This is a later broadcast, so viewers should distinguish the November 3 recording from the date when the finished programme becomes available to watch at home.
The radio transmission has a specific place in the schedule: November 30, from 7pm to 9pm UK time, during Whiley’s Radio 2 programme and on BBC Sounds. The programmes will also be available through BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds after transmission. Those later presentations allow a limited-capacity concert to reach an audience much larger than the room itself can accommodate.
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. will also join Vernon Kay for “Tracks of My Years”, choosing ten recordings connected with their lives and careers. The episode is scheduled online from November 15, followed by Radio 2 broadcasts during the week beginning November 16. It adds their listening history to the month’s performance and interview programming. The U2 selection will also appear on BBC Two on the same night as the concert film. The online edition is scheduled from 6am on November 15, giving listeners an earlier opportunity to hear the choices before the following week’s radio segments.
The London announcement comes during the band’s fiftieth-anniversary year. Their shared story began at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin in 1976, and they returned to places linked with those beginnings in September. The anniversary places the new album and concert within a much longer partnership, without turning the BBC appearance into a retrospective-only event.
U2 have separately announced initial dates for their 2027 world tour, including Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. That larger project follows the end of their Las Vegas Sphere residency in 2024, with Mullen expected back following surgery. The London recording remains a distinct production: one evening before a small audience, designed to introduce new music alongside familiar songs through later broadcasts.
