U2 kick off 'Achtung Baby' residency at $2.3 billion Sphere venue – photos and video

U2 opened their ‘Achtung Baby’ residency at the innovative and astonishing $2.3 billion Sphere venue in Las Vegas over the weekend.

The Sphere at the Venetian Resort is located at Sands Avenue near the Las Vegas Strip, and it features 18,600 seats inside its spherical auditorium.

The inside of the venue features a 16K resolution wraparound interior LED screen, speakers with beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies, and 4D physical effects.

112 metres high and 157 metres wide, the equally impressive exterior of the Sphere has 580,000 sq ft (54,000 m2) of LED displays.

U2 have been bestowed with the honour of opening the Sphere with a 25-show residency called U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, which commenced in spectacular style on Friday and Saturday night (29th and 30th September).

The Irish rock giants’ two shows featured a performance of ‘Achtung Baby’ in its entirety separated midway through by an acoustic segment of ‘All I Want Is You’, ‘Desire’, ‘Angel of Harlem’ and ‘Love Rescue Me.’

Following the conclusion of final ‘Achtung Baby’ track ‘Love Is Blindness’, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg, who is standing in for Larry Mullen Jr., returned for a six song encore.

The encore featured established U2 songs ‘Elevation’, ‘Vertigo’, ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, ‘With or Without You’ and closer ‘Beautiful Day’ alongside new single ‘Atomic City’, which the band wrote in homage to Las Vegas.

You can see photos and videos from U2’s spectacular audio-visual show below.

U2 kick off ‘Achtung Baby’ residency at $2.3 billion Sphere venue:

Watch videos of U2 opening the Sphere:

A description of the Sphere reads: ‘MSG Sphere at The Venetian will become the venue of choice for a wide variety of content, including Sphere experiences, concert residencies, product launches, and marquee events.

‘In addition to the world’s highest resolution LED screen, MSG Entertainment has developed a multi-layered audio system – Sphere Immersive Sound – equipped with thousands of speakers that utilize beamforming technology to deliver targeted, crystal-clear and consistent audio to every seat in the house.

‘The venue features 4D multi-sensory technologies such as immersive seating, evocative scents and changing temperatures, to take experiential storytelling to an entirely new level. The impactful exosphere, exterior screen features a fully programmable display, the largest LED screen on Earth.’

U2’s latest studio album ‘Songs of Surrender’ was released in March and it features 40 re-imagined and re-recorded songs from the band’s 43-year career.

U2’s setlist at the Sphere in Las Vegas:

“Achtung Baby” part 1:

1 – Zoo Station

2 – The Fly

3 – Even Better Than the Real Thing

4 – Mysterious Ways

5 – One/Purple Rain/Love Me Tender

6 – Until the End of the World

7 – Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

8 – Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World

“Rattle and Hum” interlude:

9 – All I Want Is You

10 – Desire/Love Me Do

11 – Angel of Harlem/Into the Mystic/Dancing in the Moonlight

12 – Love Rescue Me

“Achtung Baby” part 2:

13 – So Cruel

14 – Acrobat

15 – Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

16 – Love Is Blindness/Viva Las Vegas

Encore:

17 – Elevation/My Way

18 – Atomic City

19 – Vertigo

20 – Where the Streets Have No Name

21 – With or Without You

22 – Beautiful Day/Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)/Blackbird

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