U2 by Rich Fury
We were at U2’s Vegas residency on January 26th.
U2 do not shy away from big.
The four-piece are the one of the biggest stadium acts of all time, second only to The Rolling Stones, but – unlike Mick and co – have pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved within the format.
From the pioneering Zoo TV tour in the early 90s, the overly extravagant PopMart shows in 97/98, the ‘Claw’ shows of 2009 through to 2018’s Innocence + Experience shows (which included the band walking through a 96-feet long screen), their M.O has always been about making each night An Event.
But. This time ¾ of the band (Larry Mullen Jnr absent because of a back injury) are competing with the venue: the brand new Sphere is a technological marvel, 516ft wide, 366ft tall and comprising of an LED screen of over 268 million pixels. Even as you enter, with only a DJ and a (purposefully) uninspiring backdrop of brickwork (perhaps a nod to the Berlin Wall, see below) the sheer scale of the venue is breathtaking. It will be in place long after U2 have completed their residency, each artist who follows undoubtedly putting their own stamp on the place.
That said, U2 get first crack and – no fools – have brought their A-game in the form of one of their best albums, Achtung Baby, their ‘chopping down of The Joshua Tree’.
They take to the stark stage (the sound comes directly through the screens) and, after a hymnal opening, Bono pointedly applies his famous ‘Fly’ sunglasses, the booming drums of Zoo Station soundtracking the ‘wall’ crumbling before it splits open into a huge, venue-filling cross.
During a squalling, intoxicating The Fly the backdrop plugs the audience into a version of The Matrix, all binary codes and numbers, while the imagery used for Even Better Than The Real Thing is near-nausea-inducing. Comprising countless AI-generated images of Elvis Presley (see what they did there?) with garish, Las Vegas neon lights and baubles, it’s a sensory overload of the man who embodied the American Dream before becoming its ultimate victim in the host city.
The running order of the album is tweaked (where The Fly opened the second half of the album, here it’s played second) but the songs remain remarkable. The swaggering, sexy Mysterious Ways gets the ladies in the audience on their feet, while Bono playfully takes to the crowd as he plays Judas on Until The End Of The World, complete with Paint It, Black snippet. One remains a huge moment even so early in the set, the singer asking ‘Anyone got a light?’ as, on demand, the camera phones light up the arena to complement a charged performance. It may be over-exposed as a song, but your reviewer isn’t afraid to admit he was moist of eye.
Although videos of the show are freely available online, both they and words fail to do the event justice but, wisely, the technology isn’t over-used and therefore the impact remains undiluted, and the mid-section brings things down to simply band and audience. Indeed, All I Want Is You (the first of a handful of stripped-back songs) feels intimate.
They may be divisive, but U2’s strength as a band is impossible to deny. Remarkably, before this set of concerts only once had any of the four members ever missed a show (Adam Clayton for one night back in 1993) but, while Larry Mullen Jnr is missed (and referenced), his temporary replacement Bram van den Berg fills the void seamlessly.
Sporting a moustache (and therefore jokingly introduced as Tom Selleck) Clayton supplies endless groove while The Edge – who, if anything, seems to be getting younger – conveys both joy and nonchalance, unpicking his most technically proficient album with dexterity. In a touching moment, after he takes to the piano for Sweetest Thing, Bono – not usually known for his lack of confidence – looks to his old friend for reassurance, asking off-mic, ‘Was that alright?’.
One of the main criticisms against the frontman is his tendency to ‘preach’ to whoever is in attendance. Tonight he refers to ‘freedom’ but – perhaps conscious of the vibe of the city in which they are playing – stops himself from elaborating. However, they then launch into a cover of Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over and, although Bono dedicates it to the Finn Brothers (and their mother), given Donald Trump’s seemingly inevitable second run at the Presidency its inclusion speaks volumes.
As with any album show, there are moments when the crowd gets restless, particularly during a lethargic So Cruel, but U2’s mastery of such occasions ensures it doesn’t last, with a snarling rendition of the haunting Acrobat (‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down’) and an eerie, chilling Love Is Blindness refocusing the crowd. The latter brings the main set to a close, as the screens display insects ‘swarming’ the venue, eventually blocking out the light.
Then, after a brief costume change (it is Las Vegas, after all) it’s a punchy run through the hits of a fearsome back catalogue; minimal backdrop is required for an all-consuming Elevation; an explosive Vertigo requires only the turntable stage (designed by Brian Eno and controlled by a generative algorithm, producing a colour palette unique for each show) while, in contrast, tie-in single Atomic City is performed against a vast display of the ever-evolving Vegas skyline.
U2’s belief in the almighty may incite derision, but Where The Streets Have No Name is a near-religious experience while With Or Without You remains unironically moving. The latter is accompanied by a collage of 25 endangered species native to the state of Nevada, which remains in place for Beautiful Day, complete with Gloria snippet, bringing things fittingly (and nearly) full circle.
Although 300ft high images of Bono – towering over an audience of 20,000 – will only fuel his detractors’ jibes, the sense of joy and wonder these shows harness is awe-inspiring.
Frankly it blows the mind, and could only happen in Las Vegas.