Las Vegas is the city of excess, everything about it is ‘Extra’. The buildings, the food, the entertainment and the people; whatever it is, it can be found turned up to eleven in Las Vegas. So, when the newest, splashiest, most ‘extra’ entertainment venue was conceived and built, Las Vegas was the obvious location. Nor was it surprising that U2 would be the inaugural performers. For the last 40 years, U2 remains arguably one of the most popular bands in the world. Their residency at the Sphere would feature their album: “Achtung Baby.” The album is considered one of the greatest rock albums of all time. It was a redefinition of the band’s style and direction. They had been criticized for taking themselves too seriously and their most recent albums had not done so well. “Achtung Baby” was supposed to have a more lighthearted focus and it performed brilliantly. “Achtung Baby” became one of the best selling albums of all time and it confirmed U2’s superstardom. U2’s residency at The Sphere commemorated the 35th anniversary of the album’s original release.
The Sphere is a globular arena that can accommodate 18,000 spectators. The exterior of the arena is covered in ‘pucks’, each with 48 diodes, spaced 8 inches apart that project life-like, massive moving images across its surface. Inside, there are 167,000 speakers behind an uninterrupted layer of high resolution screens, which project a wide array of impressive visuals. My favorite was a transforming optical illusion of an endless tunnel that became a cube.
The concert was fantastic. The experience of U2 headlining at The Sphere leaves one worried if all future concerts will seem lackluster by comparison. By lining up at 4am, we were able to get a low entry number. Our general admission tickets and low number got us a spot at the rail! It was totally worth it!
I’ve heard the album many times, so the music was familiar. Some of my favorites of the songs included were ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, ‘Atomic City’, and ‘It’s A Beautiful Day’. A live performance doesn’t have the same polish as a studio recording, but the music has so much more energy and sincerity live. Seeing the band as they played was such an incredible experience and made it even better than the real thing. It was even more awesome because I was only a few meters from U2. The members of the band create a personal and almost intimate experience between themselves and each spectator, all 18,000 of them! I don’t have the words to express just how amazing the concert was and how amazing the music was.
U2 are amazing performers and they truly own the stage. They have been friends since they were schoolboys. The band is made up of four people — on bass guitar: Adam Clayton, lead guitar, keyboards, and backup vocals: The Edge, on drums: Larry Mullen Jr. and lead vocals: Bono. Larry Mullen Jr. was not able to perform because of an injury, sitting in for him was Bram van den Berg for the duration of the residency — however, it did not in any way lower the quality of the concert.
Standing outside The Sphere for hours until we had a wristband, and again before the show is where I encountered other similarly committed fans. I would like to say that U2 fans are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. There were people from all over the world and from all walks of life. There were people from Mexico, Germany, Belgium, England, Australia, and all over the United States. While waiting, we got to know each other and chatted all morning over our shared love of U2. Everyone was very nice and had lots to share — so nice in fact, that when the concert started that evening, some nice women held my spot for me when I went to refill my water.
The icing on the cake was of course the fact that Bram van den Berg gave us his drumsticks after the concert was over. That is going to be a highlight of 2024 for me. The band was fantastic, the music was fantastic, the visuals were fantastic, the people were fantastic and the souvenir was perfect. It was an incredible first concert and my only complaint is that all future concerts will likely pale in comparison.
“U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere”: ★★★★★
