I Spent a Mortgage Payment to See U2 At the Sphere, And It Was Worth It.
I’ve been to my fair share of rock shows, but I can honestly say I wasn’t full prepared for U2 at the Las Vegas Sphere.
The tickets are pricey to say the least, so I spent most of my first day in Las Vegas imagining every possible doomsday scenario that could possibly mess up the concert I had paid a fortune to buy tickets to.
Would my son have flight problems, and get delayed arriving from Florida?
Would myself or anyone in our group drink too much and waste the experience?
Would we not plan-ahead and the logistics of a city still dealing with the aftermath of the recent Las Vegas F1 race do us in as we arrived late to the show?
I was already nervous about flying to Vegas the same day of our show tickets at the Sphere, as I prefer to have a one-day buffer when it comes to concert tickets. Making matters worse, our flight touched down at the Las Vegas airport at the exact same time as Air Force One. Brilliant! You could hear the audible groan on our flight as we realized the airport was about to go into total lockdown as the President made his way into Sin City.
In the end, all of our travel went swimmingly, and Mr. Biden only cost us about an hour before he cleared out. We arrived at the Sphere excessively early, about 7 p.m. I had heard U2 went on at 8 p.m, and I wasn’t taking any chances. U2 ended up taking the stage at 8:30 PST, but we were treated to a nice DJ set from a glowing vehicle on the main floor as we waited.
Okay, here’s the deal. I think the context we all have for the Las Vegas Sphere might be like seeing a band at a special venue—something like Red Rocks in Colorado or maybe Slane Castle in Ireland. Or maybe it’s like seeing a movie in iMax, or maybe even 3D iMax. Well, that’s not even close to what it’s like. It might be 1,000 times better than that.
Seeing a rock show at the Sphere is the future. Not just the future of music, but a glimpse of where culture is headed overall. This was a transformative and transcendent experience. It was science fiction. If decades ago, we had Bono running around waving a flag on stage, this was more like planting a flag on the moon. Seeing a show at the Sphere is like being placed into one giant VR Headset with 17,000 other people, while your favorite band plays. Equal parts Ready Player One and The Empire Strikes Back.
Music is emotional, and we can forget this because we usually consume it largely with just the one sense of sound. The Sphere takes your favorite songs and puts them on sensory overload, all the senses!
It makes sense that U2 open the Las Vegas Sphere with the first residency. No strangers to trying new things, many of U2’s tours throughout the years were famous for their oversized screens and displays. From broadcasting off their own channel, Zoo TV, to Bono ordering up pizzas for the audience and calling the President from stage on a nightly basis—U2 has always wanted to push the live experience to new heights.
And with U2 it’s not just about the technology, they’re also a perfect fit for Las Vegas. Bono appears quite at home on the back nine of his career, heck, he probably would have worn an Elvis style jump suit if the producers would have let him. This rendition of U2 (even without drummer Larry Mullen Jr.) appear quite vulnerable, at times almost asking the crowd for help when singing a song they’re not sure they can make as big as it once was. U2 at this stage of their career are the perfect Vegas lounge act, even if it’s a $2.3 Billion dollar lounge.
When you first arrive to see U2 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, it would appear the show is going to take place in the ruins of a coliseum. The walls look like a mix between ancient Rome twisting above you. It takes quite some time for you to realize that those are all screens. Yes, even the white bird flying around in the building isn’t real, somehow it too just a projection onto a screen. I’ve been told the screens at the Sphere in Las Vegas are the highest resolution in the world. Which wouldn’t surprise me because there were times during the show when the band was projected center screen above the stage, and I found myself forgetting that the real band was down below as what I was seeing on screen had all the 3-dimensional qualities to appear real.
As for the review itself: the show was magnificent. It’s hard to explain what happens in the Sphere on a nightly basis. Part of the magic is certainly the Sphere itself, but a lot of it was U2.
U2 has the benefit of half a century of emotions packed into their catalog, and while this residency focuses on the Achtung Baby album in specific, they have plenty to work with in this unique venue.
In the end, U2 pay great homage to the Achtung Baby record, diligently working through the tracks on that album. But it’s other moments that steal the show. “All I Want is You” is breathtaking in this setting, as is “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.” U2 even get a bit cheeky doing “Viva Las Vegas” as the Sphere is transformed into an Elvis Presley themed megachurch for the occasion.
The Sphere backdrops amaze throughout. Morphing from a sea lit only by burning flag, to a rock & roll version of a butterfly tent. But the most amazing transformation of them all has U2 at the height of their power playing in front of a miniature version of the entire Las Vegas strip. Just when you catch yourself pointing at the little cars parking in the miniature lot (“look that one is moving!”), or the people crossing the street . . .it happens. Building by building the Las Vegas strip disappears as the screen turns back into the desert that was there before it and will be there after it. And just as you expect a 3D tumbleweed to make you duck for cover, Edge breaks into the iconic guitar intro to “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
When this moment happened, a tear shot out of my eye involuntarily. I wouldn’t even say I was crying, it just happened. I had so choice, I was overcome with emotion, some sensory, and a lot of it between my ears. It was a live music experience like no other.
Everyone we talked to after the show, no matter their age or degree of U2 fandom—they all loved it. Seeing a show at the Sphere is like visiting the future, the only question is if it’s the future of live music, or how we’re all going to live. Because what is happening at the Sphere Las Vegas feels far bigger than music. The Sphere will make you feel things. It will give you the sensation of sun on your face, without opening a single window. It will make you feel liberated without ever leaving your seats. It will make you cry with no advance warning.
Yes, U2 at the Sphere was worth a mortgage payment. I’d only offer you this advice if you do go yourself. Stay away from social media beforehand. I intentionally avoided all the “Look at me I’m at U2 at the Sphere” TikTok’s and Instagram Reels before attending. And I’m glad I did, because I was open to the entire experience and wasn’t quite sure where we were headed next. All I knew is it felt a lot like the future, and there was no way I was going to be late.
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