U2 Announce Achtung Baby Las Vegas Residency For Fall
Monday, 13 February 2023
Written by Jon Stickler
U2 will head to Las Vegas this fall.
The Irish rock legends teased the news in a Super Bowl commercial spot, revealing initial details of a residency at the highly anticipated state-of-the-art 17,500-capacity venue, MSG Sphere at The Venetian, when it opens after years of construction.
U2 will be the first artist to perform in the new space, which will boast 160,000 square feet of video viewing space, and an exterior exosphere that changes the building's look through programmable LED technology.
Titled U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere, the run of shows will centre around their 1991 album, 'Achtung Baby', but without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who will be recovering from back surgery.
It'll mark the first time a member of U2 has missed a series of concerts since they formed nearly 50 years ago, with Bram van den Berg set to sit in for the gigs.
Show dates are still to be announced, though fans can visit U2xSPHERE.com for details and register for ticket information here. Check out the teaser trailer below.
"It’s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat," said the band in a statement, "but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg who is a force in his own right." They added:
"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."
Alongside the announcement, the band have shared a new version of One from 'Songs Of Surrender', an upcoming collection of 40 re-recorded tracks from across their career, which serves as a companion piece to Bono's recent memoir. It's due out on March 17, St. Patrick's Day.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
