U2 Super Bowl Ad Confirms ‘Achtung Baby’ Las Vegas Residency Plans at MSG Globe

A Super Bowl commercial today confirmed what’s long been suspected: U2 will live at Las Vegas’ brand-new MSG Sphere for an immersive show that digs into the band’s catalog.

U2 have been in a retrospective mood of late. Lead singer Bono has been touring to promote his memoir, Surrender. On Friday, the band will release its long-awaited release Surrender song – A collection of 40 songs from across the band’s catalog, re-recorded and re-imagined. And now, the band has confirmed a Vegas residency that will focus on one of its most iconic albums.

Dubbed “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At the Sphere”, the residency will celebrate the band’s dark, post-Joshua tree That became the 1991 album Achtung Baby and hits like “One,” “Mysterious Way,” “The Fly” and “Better Than the Real Thing.”

The residency will take place at the Venetian’s brand new MSG Sphere. It’s a $2.2 billion venue billed as the world’s largest sphere (perhaps apart from the sound). The MSG Sphere has a 160,000-square-foot wraparound display plane, billed as the world’s highest-resolution LED screen, which will play a big role in the U2 residency.

“It’s like nothing Las Vegas has ever seen before,” Bono said of the residency. “I’m interested in Las Vegas for all kinds of reasons, even going back to ‘The Fly.’

This is undoubtedly where wraparound curtains come in.

The Fly was a character played during the band’s Zoo TV tour supporting Bono Achtung Baby. Unlike the rigid stage setup of previous U2 tours, Zoo TV was an elaborately staged multimedia event that satirized the TV and overstimulated the audience. The stage played with “sensory overload” in its audience, consisting of large video screens showing visual effects, random clips of pop culture and flashing text phrases. One can imagine the ideas updated for the age of social media using a wraparound ultra-high-resolution LED screen.

One thing the residency will not have — at least in 2023 — is drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. Who will take time out of surgery in 2023 and recover These Las Vegas shows will feature drummer Bram van den Berg sitting in

Bono, guitarist The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton said in a statement: “It will take everything we have to approach the sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry joins us to welcome Bram van den Berg who is a ball in his own right.

“The Sphere Show has been in the works for a long time. We don’t want to disappoint people, least of all our audience… The truth is we miss them as much as they seem to miss us… Our audience has always been the fifth member of the band. Bottom line, U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see our fans’ faces again. And what a unique stage they are creating for us there in the desert… We are the right band, Achtung Baby is the right album, and Sphere is the right place to take the live music experience to the next level… That’s what U2 is trying to do with our satellite stage and video installation. , most memorably on the ZOO TV tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this fall.”

The band’s statement called the Sphere “more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls.”

MSG promises that the venue will include multiple technological advancements, even beyond the screen.

“Spear Immersive Sound delivers pitch-perfect audio to every seat in the house. 4D technology will allow viewers to feel the wind on their face, the heat on their skin and the sound of lightning. The inaugural series of ‘U2 UV Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere’ will tap into this exclusive technology, giving fans a completely new experience.”

The band’s residency is expected to begin in September.