During last night's (February 12) Super Bowl-slash-Rihanna concert, U2 partook in the time-honoured tradition of the sporting event's renowned big-budget blockbuster commercials to announce their new Achtung Baby Vegas residency.
U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere will be hosted at the new MSG Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Although exact dates have yet to be revealed, the residency is scheduled to take place this fall and will see the band become the first act to perform at the new 17,500-capacity venue upon its opening after years of construction.
U2 also confirmed that drummer Larry Mullen Jr. will be sitting out this run of shows to undergo — and recuperate from — surgery. Bram van den Berg will fill in behind the kit.
"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," Bono, the Edge and Adam Clayton said in a press release. They went on:
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 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 aforementioned last tour in 2019 saw them play Joshua Tree in its entirety. Fans can sign up for Ticketmaster's Verified Fan service to get first access to tickets for the residency.
Earlier in last night's football festivities, a new version of Achtung Baby's "One" — from the band's forthcoming Songs of Surrender, due next month — soundtracked the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Presentation. You can hear that below, and watch the trailer for U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere.
U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere will be hosted at the new MSG Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Although exact dates have yet to be revealed, the residency is scheduled to take place this fall and will see the band become the first act to perform at the new 17,500-capacity venue upon its opening after years of construction.
U2 also confirmed that drummer Larry Mullen Jr. will be sitting out this run of shows to undergo — and recuperate from — surgery. Bram van den Berg will fill in behind the kit.
"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," Bono, the Edge and Adam Clayton said in a press release. They went on:
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 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 aforementioned last tour in 2019 saw them play Joshua Tree in its entirety. Fans can sign up for Ticketmaster's Verified Fan service to get first access to tickets for the residency.
Earlier in last night's football festivities, a new version of Achtung Baby's "One" — from the band's forthcoming Songs of Surrender, due next month — soundtracked the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Presentation. You can hear that below, and watch the trailer for U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere.