'U2 puts on a show for the senses at The Sphere in Las Vegas'

31 January 2024 , 22:34

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U2 put on a performance like no other at the Sphere in Las Vegas (Image: Rich Fury)

When I was younger I told my dad defiantly: “I hate U2.”

I had to be six years old at the most, and really only hated them because my dad loved them. He told me one day I’d understand.

Skip ahead to my teenage years and I got it. Now 20 some odd years later after my childhood protest, I get it now that I saw their Sphere residency.

I've been to my fair share of concerts and heard about the cliche "the Sphere is nothing like you'd ever experience," but all the hype was completely correct. The show was as much of a visual show as it was an auditory one.

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'U2 puts on a show for the senses at The Sphere in Las Vegas'

You didn't know where to look (Rich Fury)

The first thing I noticed was how small the stage was, especially in comparison with the looming LED screen behind it. The screen's image during the show was nothing like I've ever seen. At one point it projected the Las Vegas Boulevard and it felt more of a window than an image.

The opener was Pauli the PSM, who I knew from his stint touring with Harry Styles as the musical director and percussionist for the former boy bander. Though he didn't play any Harry music - I wasn't surprised since One Direction fans and U2 fans lightly overlap if at all - the energy he brought to the crowd was palpable.

He hyped up those inside the Sphere as he performed a DJ set from a neon light-up Mini Cooper that traveled through the pit crowd. He set the scene with songs like Let’s Dance by David Bowie and an insane fade from Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang into Valerie by Amy Winehouse.

I thought the crowd couldn't get any more hyped - and then Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Dutch drummer Bram van deen Berg (who replaced original drummer Larry Mullen Jr. who is recovering from surgery) took to the stage. From the first moment the music started I was transfixed, not knowing where to look. As a traditional concert goer I wanted to watch the band but sometimes all I could look at was the screen.

A lot of Elvis references were made in the show (Getty Images for Live Nation)

During some points of the show, the screen became muted in color and design so the audience did focus on the band. During the beginning of their song One, the screen went dark, showing off the inner construction of the Sphere itself.

There was also some interaction between the screen and Bono, where the frontman held a giant string from the sky which gave the illusion of a balloon string as the balloon was projected onto the screen.

While it was a venue packed with 20,000 people, the small stage still felt oddly personal. There was even one bit where Bono came down to the barricade and wrapped his arms around some of the members of the audience in an embrace as he sang.

Each member of the band had a camera on them at all times. And with a huge screen like The Sphere has, they were able to be on screen at the same time, sometimes floating in bubbles or projected from helicopters.

And what would a show in Vegas be without Elvis references? Bono belted out a few bars from Love Me Tender, he called the show an Elvis "cathedral," and during one song a background video played that seemed like an acid trip-like inspired by Baz Luhrmann's Elvis film. Even Pauli weaved A Little Less Conversation and Viva Las Vegas into his set.

Bono summed it up in a simple sentence when he stopped to address the crowd for the first time. He said, arms outstretched: "Look where we come to work."