September 29, 2023 - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - Sphere at The Venetian Resort

Photograph: Rich Fury

Opening Act(s): Pauli "The PSM" Lovejoy

Setlist:

1. Zoo Station
2. The Fly
3. Even Better Than the Real Thing
4. Mysterious Ways
5. One - Purple Rain - Love Me Tender
6. Until the End of the World
7. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
8. Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World
9. All I Want Is You (Songs of Surrender Mix)
10. Desire - Love Me Do
11. Angel of Harlem - Into the Mystic - Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)
12. Love Rescue Me
13. So Cruel
14. Acrobat
15. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
16. Love Is Blindness - Viva Las Vegas
Encore(s):
17. Elevation - My Way
18. Atomic City
19. Vertigo
20. Moment of Surrender - Where the Streets Have No Name - All You Need Is Love
21. With or Without You
22. Beautiful Day - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Blackbird

Remarks:

After three years and nine months without a live performance, U2 return to the stage for their first of forty consecutive shows at Las Vegas's Sphere at The Venetian Resort. Tonight's attendance for the very first concert held at the Sphere is 18,600; a sellout. Tickets range from $140 to $500 (for presale ticket prices) but many sell at resale prices of $400 to $1,450. The opening music act is Pauli "The PSM" Lovejoy, who is the official Atomic MC / DJ host of the UV Dance Party opening each U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere concert. Designed by Populous, The Sphere at The Venetian Resort is a $2.3 billion facility that broke ground in 2018 and took five years to complete. The massive structure is 366 foot tall by 516 foot wide, and contains a sound system comprised of 1,600 X1 speakers, along with 300 mobile modules, for a total of 167,000 speaker drivers (delivering sound through the floorboards as well). Advertised as the largest LED screen in the world, it also features 268,435,456 pixels, the equivalent of 72 HD televisions, meaning that every minute of content produced for the Sphere is the equivalent of one hour of streaming television. In addition to the 16k LED resolution of the screen, the Sphere possesses 4D capabilities and can reproduce wind, temperature, and fragrances.

In an article by Wallpaper* Magazine, show director Willie Williams talks about the potential use of technology inside the Sphere: "The building is a canvas we've been given, so we have to use it. So we don't just deliver fireworks, we blow up the whole building. It would be rude not to. Although simple graphics work really well, you can completely shapeshift the room." Beyond The Sphere, a big feature for fans is next door at the Venetian Resort, which includes Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience, developed by Vibee/Live Nation. This is an exclusive installation spanning two stories for U2 fans to experience all sorts of nostalgia dating back to the Zoo TV Tour era, complete with a real-life antique Trabant from Germany, as well as a German subway car, an Anton Corbijn photo gallery, Ultra Violet Lounge, and the "U2 Pop Up Shop". Furthermore there is "Zoo TV Cinema" curated by The Edge, featuring five daily film screenings containing rare and unreleased concert footage from U2's past gigs.

A slew of famous people are present at tonight's show including actors Luke Wilson, Aaron Paul, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Jon Hamm, Josh Duhamel, Darren Aronofsky, Jane Seymour, Adam Scott, Chris Kattan, and Connie Britton. Music artists Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, along with Diplo, are watching the concert as well. At around 8:31 PM U2 emerge, appearing from the back of the spacious and minimalist stage. The stage design is the vision of Brian Eno, whose inspiration comes from a supersized vinyl record turntable. In a nutshell, U2's main setlist is composed of the entire Achtung Baby album, with a middle filling of four stripped down songs from Rattle and Hum (All I Want Is You, Desire, Angel of Harlem, and Love Rescue Me), plus an encore of half a dozen hits from various albums. It remains to be seen whether or not U2 will rotate the songs in the main set or keep the setlist largely unchanged. "Zoo Station" kicks off the night, depicting giant images of static television screens à la Zoo TV style. At the beginning of "Even Better Than the Real Thing", Bono says: "What a fancy pad. Look at all this stuff!" Later, right before "Mysterious Ways", he adds: "Elvis has definitely not left this building! It's an Elvis chapel. It's an Elvis cathedral. That's right. Tonight, the entrance to this cathedral is a password: 'flirtation.' Because later, we're gonna get married, okay?" Elvis Presley is certainly a theme at tonight's show in a city where "The King" made his home away from home. A snippet of Elvis's "Love Me Tender" is performed with massive visuals of Elvis and Priscilla Presley on the enormous spherical screen. At the end of "Love Is Blindness", Bono sings an excerpt of "Viva Las Vegas" as well.

Prior to "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World", a long, gleaming aerial silk (or rope) is revealed connected to a digital balloon on a darkened Sphere. As the aerial silk extends down onto the stage, Bono grabs it and walks back and forth. Bono then selects a female audience member named "Jeanette" from the crowd and hands the aerial silk to her. After Bono takes her by the shoulder and walks around the stage, she is helped onto the silk and "swings" to and fro while the band perform the song. Before the next tune, in a "Songs of Surrender" version of "All I Want Is You", Bono tells the audience: "Are we getting married? Is this what this is? I've never told anyone this but just a few people. But this song is an attempt to write a wedding song from a woman's point of view. There you have it. Never told that to anyone." Afterwards, Bono honors their longtime drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who is unable to perform this evening due to his recent back surgery: "I've just sung that for Larry Mullen. 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 his shoes. It's his birthday! It is Bram van den Berg" After the crowd sing "Happy Birthday" to Larry's replacement for their Las Vegas residency, the Dutch drummer reminds everyone: "Let there be no mistake: There is only one Larry Mullen Jr.!"

Upon the conclusion of "Desire", Bono informs the crowd that Paul McCartney, The Beatles legend, is in attendance. Here's what Bono says: "Macca is in the house tonight... Paul McCartney is here. Just know that we love you and we've stolen a lot of your songs. Actually, I'm thinking that the Sphere may have come into existence because of (Sphere Entertainment president) Jim Dolan trying to solve the problem that The Beatles started when they played Shea Stadium. Nobody could hear you. You couldn't hear yourselves. Well, the Sphere's here - can you hear us?" In the encore after "Beautiful Day", Bono snippets a bit of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Blackbird" in honor of The Fab Four (as well as "All You Need Is Love" after "Where the Streets Have No Name"). Speaking of which, the band also perform a rousing version of "Where the Streets Have No Name", enhanced with a crystal-clear time lapse of the sun over a desert landscape that ends in a night sky, all while spanning a near 180 degree field of view. The audience is enveloped in a completely immersive sound field that pulses and surges during the band's performance.

Neil McCormick from The Telegraph includes the following words in his five star review: "For all the dazzling special effects, there really was no hiding place. But that, indeed, was a huge part of what made the show quite so electrifying. There was an atmosphere of intense jeopardy inspired by the musicians on stage playing as if their lives depended upon it, while remaining in some kind of equilibrium with a venue that felt like it had a life of its own. They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Not this time, I think. What U2 are doing in the Sphere is going to have an impact on the whole of live entertainment. Achtung Vegas!" Thirty years after their groundbreaking Zoo TV Tour, a casual admirer of U2 might say it's "Zoo TV on Steroids". However, the band has demonstrated that they can still make people's jaws drop, thanks to their refinement and their willingness to embrace all that is cutting edge. U2 is indeed once again Rock's Hottest Ticket.