U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere

U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere is an upcoming limited concert engagement by Irish rock band U2 at the Sphere at The Venetian Resort in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley. Scheduled to consist of 25 concerts from 29 September to 16 December 2023, the engagement will open the venue with performances focused on the group's 1991 album Achtung Baby. Various media outlets have called it a "residency", though the band have referred to it as a "venue launch" instead. The concert series will not feature U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr., as he will be recuperating from surgery, marking the first time since 1978 that the group will perform without him; Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg from the band Krezip will fill in. First rumoured in July 2022, the engagement was announced in a Super Bowl LVII television advertisement in February 2023, followed in April and May by confirmation of specific concert dates.

U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere
Residency by U2
LocationParadise, Nevada, United States
VenueSphere at The Venetian Resort
Associated albumAchtung Baby
Start date29 September 2023 (2023-09-29)
End date16 December 2023 (2023-12-16)
No. of shows25
U2 concert chronology

Background

The Sphere at The Venetian Resort was announced in February 2018[1][2] as a joint project between the Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) and Las Vegas Sands Corporation.[3] The venue will be located east of Las Vegas Sands' Venetian resort, just off the Las Vegas Strip.[2] Groundbreaking on the venue took place in September 2018 with expectations that it would open in 2021.[4] However, in March 2020, MSG Entertainment announced that construction was being halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] By August, the company said that construction had resumed and that the Sphere's opening had been rescheduled until 2023.[6][7]

Booking

U2 guitarist the Edge said that the band first heard about the Sphere around 2021, as they were interested in staying informed about emerging technologies for concerts, particularly regarding audio. After asking members of their team about the venue, the group learned that "approaches had already been made in a very tentative way for [U2] to be a part of a possible launch".[8] MSG Entertainment chief executive James L. Dolan is reportedly paying the band $10 million for the concert series,[9] on top of the 90 percent guaranteed proceeds they are set to earn from each concert.[10]

Announcement and ticketing
Sphere at The Venetian Resort, under construction in September 2022

In July 2022, Billboard first reported that U2 had entered into an agreement to perform a concert residency in the Las Vegas Valley at the Sphere for the venue's planned opening in 2023.[11] The concerts went unconfirmed until 12 February 2023, when a Super Bowl LVII television advertisement aired to officially announce the engagement as "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere".[12] Various media outlets called it a "residency", though the band have referred to it as a "venue launch" instead;[13] the Pollstar Awards defined a residency as a run of 10 or more shows at a single venue.[14] The announcement confirmed that the concerts would be focused on the group's 1991 album Achtung Baby, and that drummer Larry Mullen Jr. will not participate in order to allow him to recuperate from surgery.[12] It will mark the first time since 1978 that U2 will be performing without him;[15] Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg from the band Krezip will fill in.[12]

Concert dates and ticket sale details for "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere" were announced on 24 April 2023. Initially, five dates from 29 September to 8 October were announced.[16] The following day, seven additional dates were announced, spanning 11–25 October.[17] Two days later, another five dates were announced, spanning 27 October to 4 November.[18] On 12 May, eight additional shows were announced, spanning 1–16 December.[19]

Set design and show production
See also: Sphere at The Venetian Resort § Features

Concerts for U2:UV Achtung Baby will leverage the Sphere's immersive video and sound capabilities. The venue will be equipped with a 160,000-square-foot (15,000 m2) LED screen measuring 19,000 by 13,500 pixels – roughly a 16K resolution – that will wrap around the whole interior of the venue.[20][21][22] It will be the largest and highest-resolution LED screen in the world.[23] The Sphere will feature a spatial audio system based on Holoplot's X1 speaker model, which uses beamforming technologies.[24] The system will comprise 1,600 speakers, each equipped with 96 drivers, that will be installed behind the LED panels.[25][26] The venue will also contain multi-sensory 4D features such as scent and wind.[27]

Concert dates
Date Attendance Revenue
29 September 2023 — —
30 September 2023
5 October 2023
7 October 2023
8 October 2023
11 October 2023
13 October 2023
14 October 2023
18 October 2023
20 October 2023
21 October 2023
25 October 2023
27 October 2023
28 October 2023
1 November 2023
3 November 2023
4 November 2023
1 December 2023
2 December 2023
6 December 2023
8 December 2023
9 December 2023
13 December 2023
15 December 2023
16 December 2023

References

Footnotes
  1. Akers, Mick (9 February 2018). "Next Las Vegas arena a 360-foot-tall sphere". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  2. Velotta, Richard N. (9 February 2018). "New performance venue near Las Vegas Strip to reshape skyline". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  3. Akers, Mick (19 July 2018). "LV Sands commits $75 million to MSG Sphere arena project". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  4. Velotta, Richard N. (27 September 2018). "Work begins on 18,000-seat MSG Sphere at The Venetian". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  5. Segall, Eli (31 March 2020). "MSG Sphere construction halted; Las Vegas opening delayed by coronavirus". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  6. Horwath, Bryan (14 August 2020). "Work resumes at MSG Sphere site on Strip, company says". Vegas Inc. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  7. Velotta, Richard N. (20 August 2020). "Heavy lifts will mark MSG Sphere construction in next 15 months". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  8. Greene, Andy (12 May 2023). "U2 Announce Sphere Las Vegas Dates. The Edge Calls it a 'Quantum Leap Forward'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  9. Saad, Nardine (12 May 2023). "U2 adds 8 more dates to Sphere gig in Las Vegas amid venue's ballooning costs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  10. Kline, Daniel (11 March 2023). "U2, James Dolan, and a Looming $2.2 Billion Las Vegas Strip Disaster". TheStreet. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  11. Brooks, Dave (22 July 2022). "U2 to Perform First Concerts at MSG Sphere in Las Vegas". Billboard. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  12. Aswad, Jem (12 February 2023). "U2 Announces 'Achtung Baby' Concerts at New Las Vegas Venue — Without Drummer Larry Mullen Jr". Variety. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  13. Katsilometes, John (12 February 2023). "Achtung Baby: U2 coming to the Sphere". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  14. "31st Annual Pollstar Awards To Honor The Year's Best". Pollstar. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  15. Bauder, David (13 February 2023). "U2 returning to stage in Las Vegas, minus one of quartet". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  16. Kaufman, Gil (24 April 2023). "U2 Announce Dates For 'U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere'". Billboard. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  17. Speer, Debbie (25 April 2023). "U2 Adds Seven Dates To 'U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere' Run in Las Vegas". Pollstar. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  18. Katsilometes, John (27 April 2023). "As demand at The Sphere skyrockets, U2 adds more dates". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  19. Pearis, Bill (12 May 2023). "U2 add more Las Vegas 'Sphere' dates". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  20. Velotta, Richard N. (14 August 2020). "Sphere developers expect LV entertainment 'to come back roaring'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  21. Hu, Cherie (9 February 2018). "Why Madison Square Garden Thinks It Has Designed the Venue Of the Future". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  22. Saad, Nardine (24 April 2023). "U2 sets dates for splashy launch of Las Vegas Sphere. 'All-in' tickets begin at $140". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  23. Wilcox, Kyle (17 June 2021). "Behind the Scenes: Tour of the MSG Sphere". KSNV. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  24. Eakin, Marah (24 April 2023). "Inside U2's Boundary-Breaking Immersive Live Show". Wired. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  25. Pennington, Adrian (24 January 2023). "MSG Sphere: Not Only in Vegas". International Broadcasting Convention. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  26. Steinberg, Don (10 November 2022). "Holoplot X1 Matrix Array: The 200 Best Inventions of 2022". Time. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  27. Szydelko, Paul (21 June 2022). "Changing the shape of entertainment in Las Vegas". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 19 December 2022.


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