- Music. Duane "Keffe D" Davis: Who is the person arrested for planning Tupac Shakur's murder?
- Music. Bruce Springsteen cancels all concerts scheduled for 2023 due to health problems
Irish legendary rock band U2 kicked off the opening of the highly anticipated Sphere in Las Vegas with their most ambitious and visually stunning live show to date. The Sphere, built for an estimated $2.3 billion, is now the largest spherical structure in the world, housing the largest interior and exterior wraparound LED displays. The enveloping LED display s a high resolution of 16K, delivering images so lifelike that it may make you feel as though you're no longer in a Las Vegas venue but transported into the visual content.
U2 ignites The Sphere
During the two-hour show, U2 used the Sphere's capabilities to debut their dynamic new residency, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, which includes all of the tracks from the Irish band's 1991 album Achtung Baby, as well as classic hits such as "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "With or Without You." The band also used the occasion to debut its new song, "Atomic City."
The LED display behind the band appears as a cement wall that slowly breaks open as the show gets underway. U2 and the band's decades-long creative director Willie Williams used the orb's LED display as a canvas for a range of visual art, with segments created by John Gerrard, Marco Brambilla, Es Devlin, Williams with Treatment Studio, and Industrial Light & Magic.
During the show, Bono took a moment to acknowledge Larry Mullen Jr., saying that this was the first time U2 performed without him since 1978, while also praising substitute van den Berg, who said "Let there be no mistake, there's only one Larry Mullen Jr."
Many celebrities attended the show
At other points in the show, Bono acknowledged the evening's guests including Sir Paul McCartney and Dr. Dre. He also ed the late Jimmy Buffet, who died on Sept. 1.
Late in the show, there's a striking segment created by Lucasfilm-owned VFX house Industrial Light & Magic that uses the LED display to create a view of Las Vegas from the point of view of an audience member standing in the Sphere.
The Sphere is MSG mogul James Dolan and Sphere Entertainment Co.'s big gamble on the future of entertainment. With its cutting-edge technology and stunning visuals, it's clear that they're aiming for an immersive experience that transports audiences to another world. And with U2's electrifying performance, they've certainly succeeded in doing just that.