U2 Announce Achtung Baby Las Vegas Residency — Without Larry Mullen Jr.

U2 Announce Achtung Baby Las Vegas Residency — Without Larry Mullen Jr.

U2 are coming to Vegas, baby! The Irish rock legends revealed in a Super Bowl ad that they are launching their long-rumored residency — called U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere — at the high-tech MSG Sphere this fall. The venue is set to feature 160,000 square feet of video viewing space, state-of-the-art spatial audio, and an “exterior exosphere” that changes the building’s look via LED technology.

The band first teased the announcement on social media today. The shows will celebrate their 1991 album Achtung Baby in a multi-show residency, but without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who will be recuperating from surgery. He’ll be replaced by Bram van den Berg at the shows. “It’s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat,” Bono, the Edge, and Adam Clayton say in a statement, “but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg who is a force in his own right.” They continue:

“The Sphere show has been in the works for a long time. We don’t want to let people down, least of all our audience… the truth is we miss them as much as they appear to miss us… our audience was always 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 the faces of our fans again. And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert… We’re the right band, ACHTUNG BABY the right album, and the Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level… That’s what U2’s been trying to do all along with our satellite stages and video installations, most memorably on the ZOO TV Tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this Fall.

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

Registration for Ticketmaster Verified Access is available here.

Along with the announcement comes “One” from U2’s Songs Of Surrender, a collection of 40 re-recorded tracks from across their career, designed as a companion piece to Bono’s recent memoir. It’s out on St. Patrick’s Day.

more from News