U2 creates new experiences with Sphere Las Vegas concert

Angel – U2 are familiar with rock and roll at major stadiums, but the legendary band will soon take to the stage to create a new immersive concert experience inside a high-tech spherical venue in Las Vegas.

Live Nation and Sphere Entertainment announced Monday the dates for U2’s upcoming “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere,” which begins September 29. The rock band’s special five-night show will take place at the Venetian’s Sphere on October 8, with a state-of-the-art audiovisual system designed for every concert-goer.

“This is a venue designed for entertainment, not sports,” U2 guitarist The Edge said in a recent interview. He first learned about the cutting-edge venue after frontman Bono sent him a link about the concept. He said the screen was 20 times larger than the one used during the band’s 2019 Joshua Tree tour – the last time U2 played live in concert.

“Movement is an easy formula. You want to see action,” he continued. “But when designing one of these stadiums, no one really sat down and thought about sound. It was, it was, last on their list of priorities. But at this venue, it was one of the first things they thought about.”

The massive spherical arena will seat 17,500 and accommodate nearly 20,000 guests. In addition to high-resolution LED screens that wrap around the audience, the venue will feature thousands of speakers that will deliver a “crystal-clear” multi-layer audio system to every seat.

As a musician, The Edge said the venue’s concept was an “amazing idea” to help performers like U2 capture the full essence of their sound. Their show will offer an opportunity to “really transport people to other times and places” and open up all kinds of “creative possibilities,” he said.

“What we’ve been able to do – because of the sound design and fidelity – is not just bring in the best-sounding rock bands ever in an indoor venue,” he said. “Also, there’s this extreme intimacy where you can really deliver a really refined vocal or a simple musical arrangement. People will be able to hear it perfectly. And if you try to do that in an arena or a stadium, That is impossible.”

During band rehearsals, The Edge has seen a marked difference in spherical venues compared to arenas or stadiums – often “imposed on your sound”. He says their music preparation hasn’t changed much, but they’re starting to try to understand how immersive sound can be used as a creative tool.

The Edge believes that the band’s performance at Sphere could be a “quantitative leap” in terms of the sensory impact of a live concert.

“This is unprecedented technology,” he said. “We can have our audience not only in terms of sound, but visually, not just watching the show, but in the middle of the show and the sound. You’re surrounded by sound.  … I’ve started thinking about mixing and our songs, and thinking about how this kind of spatial audio works based on where we place different parts of the sound.”

The Edge says U2 are back on stage for the first time in four years, especially in the wake of the pandemic. The band’s upcoming gig will mark the first without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who is recovering from back surgery. In Mullen’s absence, Bram van den Berg will be on drums.

“We’re very excited,” he said. “We’ve been in lockdown. I’ve been in the studio for the past 18 months working on the acoustic album ‘Songs of Surrender’. I can’t wait to get out there and be a part of something huge like this.”