U2’s Electrifying Performance at the Las Vegas Sphere Is a Next-Level Experience
U2 opened Sphere in Las Vegas with a mind-blowing show that redefines the term “concert experience.” Sphere is the largest spherical structure in the world and features 160,000 square feet of wraparound LED displays capable of 16K resolution.
On board for the U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere 25-show residency are Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Bram van den Berg (sitting in for Larry Mullen Jr.). The show includes every song from 1991's Achtung Baby along with fan favorites such as “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “With or Without You,” “Beautiful Day,” “Vertigo,” “Elevation,” and a new song, “Atomic City.” An audience of 18,000 — including celebrities such as Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Oprah Winfrey, Snoop Dogg, Lars Ulrich, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon, Neil Patrick Harris, Diplo, Jane Seymour, Jason Bateman, Lebron James, Jon Bon Jovi, and Paul McCartney — witnessed U2's debut performance at Sphere, which many describe as a “transformative experience.”
“Look at all this stuff!” Bono said of the Sphere's interior. “Elvis has definitely not left this building. It’s an Elvis cathedral, and tonight there is a password to enter: ‘flirtation.’” Later in the show, Bono said, “Not since October 1978 have we played a show without Larry Mullen. I would like to introduce you to the only man we would ask to stand — well, sit — in [Mullen's] shoes. It’s his birthday!” After the overstimulated crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to van der Berg, Bono reminded the crowd, “Let there be no mistake: There is only one Larry Mullen Jr.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “U2 and the band’s decades-long creative director Willie Williams used the orb’s LED display as a canvas for a range of visual art, with segments created by John Gerrard, Marco Brambilla, Es Devlin, Williams with Treatment Studio, and Industrial Light & Magic. These experiences include setting viewers in the desert and on the water, immersing them in collages, and using the display to flash text messages.”
One Segment of the New U2 Residency at the Sphere Is About the Myth of Elvis Presley and Las Vegas Itself
Artist-director Brambilla describes the collage he created to accompany the song “Even Better Than the Real Thing” to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s about the death of Elvis Presley, and it’s about the creation of the myth of Elvis Presley and also the downfall of Elvis Presley,” says Brambilla. “It basically has a parallel storyline between the birth of Las Vegas from the desert becoming progressively more dense, and it goes through the eras of Las Vegas finally ending in the kind of Disneyland version of Las Vegas, which is today. I think the medium fits the concept.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter:
“Built for an estimated $2.3 billion, Sphere is MSG mogul James Dolan and Sphere Entertainment Co.’s big gamble on the future of entertainment. At 336 feet tall and 516 feet wide, the venue is now the largest spherical structure in the world, housing the largest interior and exterior wraparound LED displays. Inside, the enveloping LED display supports a high resolution of 16K, meaning that it delivers images so lifelike that it may make you feel as though you’re no longer in a Las Vegas venue but transported into the visual content —something that U2 used to great effect during the two-hour show. Meanwhile, an all-new immersive sound system from Berlin-based Holoplot is configured with roughly 1,600 loudspeakers to deliver the experience to all of the seats in Sphere’s challenging design.”
U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere continues through December 16. Check out the opening night setlist:
“Zoo Station”
“The Fly”
“Even Better Than the Real Thing”
“Mysterious Ways”
“One”
“Until the End of the World”
“Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”
“Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World”
“All I Want Is You”
“Desire”
“Angel of Harlem”
“Love Rescue Me”
“Achtung Baby”
“So Cruel”
“Acrobat”
“Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”
“Love Is Blindness”
“Elevation”
“Atomic City”
“Vertigo”
“Where the Streets Have No Name”
“With or Without You”
“Beautiful Day”
Robert DeSalvo is a professional writer and editor with over 25 years of experience at print and online publications such as Movieline, Playboy, PCH, Fandango, and The A.V. Club. He currently lives in Los Angeles, the setting of his favorite movie, Blade Runner. Robert has interviewed dozens of actors, directors, authors, musicians, and other celebrities during his journalism career, including Brian De Palma, Nicolas Cage, Dustin Hoffman, John Waters, Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, Bryan Cranston, Anne Rice, and many more. Horror movies, sci-fi, cult films as well as gothic, postpunk, and synthwave music are what Robert geeks over.
