LAST UPDATE | 13 Feb 2023
U2 HAVE CONFIRMED they will be taking up a residency in Las Vegas – but without drummer and founding member Larry Mullen Jnr.
The band will begin a run of dates at the newly opened MSG Sphere for an immersive show later this year.
News of the residency was confirmed during an advert at the 2023 Super Bowl last night.
The show is set to celebrate the group’s hit 1991 album Achtung Baby which features songs like The Fly, One and Mysterious Ways.
Announcing U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at The Sphere. Watch the extended trailer and register for ticket information and Verified Fan access at https://t.co/GvWdke7mOZ. #U2SPHERE pic.twitter.com/I9gbj9q6Ym
— U2 (@U2) February 13, 2023
The extended trailer showed reports of an “unidentified flying object” with a large silver sphere floating through the air.
U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at The Sphere will kick off in the autumn of 2023.
According a publicity statement, The Sphere will feature a screen that wraps up, around, and behind the audience, while 4D technologies “will let the audience feel the wind on their face, the heat on their skin and the rumble of thunder”.
The venue has the capacity for 20,000 seats.
The news comes just ahead of the band’s Songs of Surrender – a collection of 40 songs from U2’s back catalogue, re-recorded and reimagined – which is due to be released next month.
Songs Of Surrender. March 17, 2023. Pre-order the album and listen to 'Pride' now. https://t.co/e6GMdOLrR6 pic.twitter.com/iOh4ku7w6q
— U2 (@U2) January 11, 2023
Mullen Jr is due to undergo surgery this year and will need some time to recover, so will miss out on the Vegas shows.
In an interview with the Washington Post last November, Mullen said that if the band played live in 2023 it would likely be without him as he needs surgery to continue playing.
“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 bassist Adam Clayton said in a statement.
Van den Berg is best known as the drummer for Dutch group Krezip.
“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,” Bono, Clayton and The Edge continued.
“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.”
- Reporting by Daragh Brophy, Jamie McCarron and PA.
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