U2 is familiar with rocking out in major sporting arenas and stadiums, but the legendary band will soon hit the stage to create a new immersive concert experience inside a high-tech, globe-shaped venue in Las Vegas.
Live Nation and Sphere Entertainment announced Monday the dates for U2鈥檚 upcoming 鈥淯2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere鈥� shows starting Sept. 29. The rock band鈥檚 special five-night run of shows will be held until Oct. 8 at The Venetian鈥檚 Sphere with a state-of-the-art audio and visual system designed for each concertgoer.
鈥淭his is a venue designed for entertainment, not sports,鈥� said U2 guitarist The Edge in a recent interview. He first learned about the cutting-edge venue after lead singer Bono sent him a link about the concept. He said the screen is 20 times bigger than the one during the band鈥檚 Joshua Tree tour in 2019 鈥� the last time U2 performed live in a concert setting.
鈥淪ports is a simple formula. You want to see the action,鈥� he continued. 鈥淏ut no one really sits down when they鈥檙e designing one of these sports arenas and thinks about sound. That鈥檚 way, way down on their list of priorities. But in this venue, it鈥檚 one of the first things they thought about.鈥�
The massive spherical venue will have 17,500 seats with a scalable capacity of nearly 20,000 guests. Along with high resolution LED screens that wrap halfway around the audience, the venue is also equipped with thousands of speakers that will deliver a 鈥渃rystal-clear鈥� multi-layered audio system for every seat inside.
As a musician, The Edge said the venue鈥檚 concept is an 鈥渁mazing thought鈥� in helping performers like U2 capture the full essence of their sound. He said their shows will offer an opportunity to 鈥渓iterally transport people to some other space and time鈥� and open a variety of 鈥渃reative possibilities.鈥�
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e able to do 鈥� because of the design and the fidelity of the sound 鈥� is introduce not just the best sounding rock 鈥榥鈥� roll band of all time in an indoor venue,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut also, radical intimacy where you can actually deliver a vocal or a simple music arrangement that鈥檚 really delicate. The people will be able to hear perfectly. Whereas if you鈥檙e trying that in an arena or a stadium, it would just be impossible.鈥�
During the band鈥檚 rehearsals, The Edge has already seen a significant difference from the sphere venue compared to an arena or stadium 鈥� which normally 鈥渋mposes on your sound.鈥� He said their music preparations haven鈥檛 changed much, but they are starting to try to understand how to use the immersive sound as a creative tool.
The Edge believes the band鈥檚 performances at Sphere could be a 鈥渜uantum leap forward鈥� in terms of the sensory impacts of a live concert.
鈥淚t鈥檚 technology that has never been available,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can literally in sonic terms, but also in visual terms, have our audience not kind of be looking at the show, but be in the middle of the show and in the middle of the sound. It鈥檚 sound all around you. 鈥� I鈥檓 already starting to think about the mixes and our songs and think about how this spatial audio could come into its own in terms of just where we place different parts of our sound.鈥�
The Edge said U2 is pumped to return to the stage for the first time in four years, especially after the pandemic. The band鈥檚 upcoming show will mark the first time performing without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who is recovery from back surgery. In Mullen鈥檚 absence, Bram van den Berg will fill in as drummer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so excited,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been on lockdown. I鈥檝e been in the recording studio for the last 18 months doing the acoustic collection, 鈥楽ongs of Surrender.鈥� I can鈥檛 wait to get out there and be a part of something huge like this.鈥�
鈥擩onathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press
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