…Researched and contributed by Henry George for TDPel Media.
When U2 embarked on their Zoo TV tour in 1991, they revolutionized the live music industry.
The 157-show tour, which supported their album Achtung Baby, was a sensory overload, featuring cutting-edge visuals, a unique lighting system encased in Soviet-era Trabant cars, and Bono dressed in leather, sometimes portraying a character named MacPhisto.
The tour was a massive success, earning the group over $151 million in ticket sales and remains one of the most artistically successful tours of all time.
Since then, U2 has continued to push the boundaries of what a live show can be, incorporating massive mirror-balled lemons and LED screens into their late-1990s PopMart tour, and a 360-degree tour in the late 2000s featuring a massive free-standing “claw” stage.
After a four-year hiatus from touring, the band plans to take their stagecraft to a whole new level with a Las Vegas residency this fall.
On September 29, U2 will begin a multi-date residency at the Sphere, a new, perfectly round venue at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas.
The building boasts 580,000 square feet of fully programmable 2K LED screens, making it the largest spherical structure in the world.
The Sphere includes a multilevel atrium, production spaces, and a 20,000-capacity venue inside, promising to offer a grander spectacle than anything seen in a Vegas show before.
Setting up shop in the Sphere is no small feat for the band or the future of live music.
If U2’s Sphere show succeeds, it could set a precedent for what is possible.
In a time when Beyoncé sells onstage riser seats and Rihanna creates Super Bowl spectacles using streamlined floating stages, fans are looking for more visual spectacle and access to artists’ creative minds.
With a Vegas residency like U2’s, artists can focus on creating new and cool experiences without worrying about the logistics of moving stages from arena to arena or dealing with middling audio capacities of sports arenas.
U2 guitarist The Edge sees the residency as an opportunity for pure experimentation and discovery.
“I still think that touring is fascinating in its own way, and we will definitely still be touring, probably on whatever our next album is,” he tells WIRED.
“But I think what we’re seeing with the Sphere show is the dawn of a new creative genre and a new creative platform.”
The Sphere features a massive 16K-by-16K screen that wraps around the showroom and even goes back and around concertgoers’ heads.
The aim is to create an entirely immersive experience, even down to patrons’ haptic seats, so that guests can “feel” the show.
The venue also has environmental effect capabilities, allowing production staff to blow targeted gusts of wind at visitors or introduce scents into the room to heighten the overall experience.
Think Disney’s Soarin’ Around the World, but on a much larger scale.
U2’s residency in the Sphere promises to be a game-changer in the live music industry.
With its innovative technology, environmental effects, and immersive experience, U2 is leading the charge for a new creative platform in live music.