U2 announced their upcoming Las Vegas residency with a commercial during the 2023 Super Bowl on Sunday night.
The group’s ‘Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere’ shows will take place at the new MSG Sphere at the Venetian, for which they’ll be the first act to perform at the 17,500-seat venue.
After a new rendition of the band’s ‘Achtung Baby’ song One soundtracked the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year presentation, their latest venture was confirmed alongside news that drummer Larry Mullen Jr. will take time out to undergo and recuperate from surgery in 2023.
Bram van den Berg will sit in for Mullen, joining Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton onstage for the concerts.
“It‘s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg who is a force in his own right,” said U2. “The Sphere show has been in the works for a long time. We don’t want to let people down, least of all our audience… the truth is we miss them as much as they appear to miss us… our audience was always the fifth member of the band. Bottom line, U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again. And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert…
“We’re the right band, ‘ACHTUNG BABY’ the right album, and the Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level… That’s what U2’s been trying to do all along with our satellite stages and video installations, most memorably on the ZOO TV Tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this Fall.
“The Sphere is more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls.”
The Edge added: “The beauty of the Sphere is not only the ground-breaking technology that will make it so unique, with the world’s most advanced audio system, integrated into a structure which is designed with sound quality as a priority; it’s also the possibilities around immersive experience in real and imaginary landscapes.
“In short, it’s a canvas of an unparalleled scale and image resolution and a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We all thought about it and decided we’d be mad not to accept the invitation.”
U2’s new version of One features on their new album ‘Songs Of Surrender’ as one of 40 hits from their catalogue that have been re-recorded and reimagined for an all new release.
‘Songs of Surrender’ is out March 17 via Island and available to pre-order now.
