U2 will celebrate their seventh studio album ‘Achtung Baby’ at a new state-of-the-art venue called MSG Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas.
The ‘U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere’ shows will take place this autumn, but U2’s co-founder and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. won’t be on stage with them.
Larry will take time out to undergo and recuperate from surgery in 2023, so Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton have drafted in drummer Bram van den Berg as his replacement for the Las Vegas shows.
‘Achtung Baby’ was released to widespread acclaim in November 1991 and it spawned the hit singles ‘The Fly’, ‘One’, ‘Mysterious Ways’ and ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing.’
The U2 Las Vegas residency was announced in a commercial, which aired during the Super Bowl last night (12th February). It sees U2 fans and band doppelgangers come together for a futuristic Achtung Baby adventure in a desert landscape.
“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,” U2 said.
Confirming they’ve been planning The Sphere show for “a long time”, U2 continued: “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 al
In a 2022 interview with Washington Post, Larry Mullen confirmed he would be taking some time out in 2023 due to health issues.
“I have lots of bits falling off, elbows, knees, necks, and so during Covid, when we weren’t playing, I got a chance to have a look at some of these things,” Larry explained. “So, there’s some damage along the way. So, I’d like to take some time, which I will do to get myself healed.”
Commenting on the MSG Sphere venue, guitarist The Edge said: “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.”
A description of the MSG Sphere reads: ‘With approximately 17,500 seats and a scalable capacity up to 20,000 guests, MSG Sphere at The Venetian will become the venue of choice for a wide variety of content, including Sphere experiences, concert residencies, product launches, and marquee events. In addition to the world’s highest resolution LED screen, MSG Entertainment has developed a multi-layered audio system – Sphere Immersive Sound – equipped with thousands of speakers that utilize beamforming technology to deliver targeted, crystal-clear and consistent audio to every seat in the house.
‘The venue will also feature 4D multi-sensory technologies such as immersive seating, evocative scents and changing temperatures, to take experiential storytelling to an entirely new level. The impactful exosphere, exterior screen features a fully programmable display, the largest LED screen on Earth.’
U2’s new studio album ‘Songs of Surrender’ is released on Friday 17th March 2023 and it features 40 re-imagined and re-recorded songs from the band’s 43-year career.
U2 have announced a new EP, ZOO TV – Live In Dublin 1993. The five-song collection features tracks from one of the Irish band’s two legendary open-air concerts during the titular tour. While bootlegged copies of these shows have circulated for years, this is the first official release of these performances. The EP will be available August 30 via Interscope Records on CD, 12” Vinyl, and digital.
The songs featured on ZOO TV – Live In Dublin 1993 are “Zoo Station,” “Mysterious Ways,” “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around the World,” and “Love Is Blindness” from Achtung Baby and Zooropa’s “Stay (Faraway, So Close!).”
The Zoo TV tour ran from February 1992 to December 1993 and was initially in support of U2’s acclaimed 1991 album Achtung Baby. Throughout the Zoo TV tour, the band performed to 5.3 million fans across 157 shows and 5 legs. During a break in the tour, U2 recorded their eighth studio album, 1993’s Zooropa. The ambitious Zoo TV tour established U2 as stadium rock revolutionaries. Zoo TV was a technical achievement, using multiscreen video projections and live satellite feeds to barrage audiences with visuals while grappling with questions of mass media, humanity, and technology.
