2023-10-07

Sphere, Las Vegas, NV

Set List of Show:

Main Set:

"Zoo Station"
"The Fly"
"Even Better Than the Real Thing"
"Mysterious Ways"
"One"
"Until the End of the World"
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"
"Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
"Pride (In the Name of Love)"
"Angel of Harlem"
"MLK"
"So Cruel"
"Acrobat"
"Ultra Violet (Light My Way)"
"Love is Blindness"

Encore:

"Elevation"
"Atomic City"
"Vertigo"
"Where the Streets Have No Name"
"With or Without You"
"Beautiful Day"

Additional Music

Pre-Recorded Intro Song: "Lemon" (Remix) - U2
Pre-Recorded Exit Song: "Glorify" - U2 featuring Brittany Howard
Pre-Recorded Exit Song: "What A Wonderful World" - Louis Armstrong

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

"Black Dog" (Led Zeppelin) / "Young Americans" (David Bowie) / "Love Me Tender" (Elvis Presley) / "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" (Edith Piaf) / "Movin' On Up" (Primal Scream) / "Viva Las Vegas" (Elvis Presley) / "My Way" (Frank Sinatra) / "Moment of Surrender" (U2) / "Alive" (Pearl Jam) / "What A Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong) /

Show Details:

Tonight is the band’s fourth night at the Las Vegas Sphere, where they are doing 25 shows between now and the end of the year. U2 are the first band to perform in this new venue. The full listing of shows can be found in our show archive. U2 are performing these shows without founding member Larry Mullen Junior, due to back surgery, and the following recovery. A Dutch drummer, Bram van den Berg replaces Mullen at these shows in Las Vegas.

The first three shows had seen U2 play the exact same set list. Tonight the show finally got a little mix up. Where they previously had been playing four songs from “Rattle and Hum” they now are playing what Bono called a “greatest hits” album. The four song set included “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, “Pride (In the Name of Love)”, “Angel of Harlem” (the lone hold over from the previous three shows) and “MLK”. “MLK” is listed as a separate song on the set list, and we are choosing to add it the same way.

Other elements of the show are also changing. The screens for “Ultra Violet (Light My Way)” are still being tweaked. The remix introduction to “Elevation” is now longer than on previous nights.

Early in the show Bono did stumble as he went to step up onto the round platter area of the stage but quickly caught himself. A fan from Venezuela was brought on stage to join Bono for a walk around the stage, and to take a ride in Bono’s balloon that hovers over the stage.

When Bono stops to speak to Bram he’s asked what made him become a student of Larry Mullen. Bram smiles, says nothing, sits at the drum kit and starts playing the drums for “Pride (In the Name of Love)” with a full smile on his face. Bono asks if he wants to play the song, and Bram nods, and the band launched into a version that incorporated some of the best elements of the “Songs of Surrender” version with elements from the original.

The show opened with the “Lost you” piece that U2 have occasionally added to “Zoo Station” since the nineties. It’s an original piece, and not a cover of another artist. A brief piece of “Black Dog” is heard during “Even Better than the Real Thing”. “Young Americans” appears during “Mysterious Ways”. A longer version of “Love Me Tender” fills the space between “One” and “Until the End of the World” complete with video of Elvis and Priscilla on their wedding day, JFK, and a space launch. “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” appears during “Until the End of the World”.

“Movin’ On Up” makes an appearance during “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Viva Las Vegas” closes out the first set at the end of “Love is Blindness”. In the encore, an extended version of “My Way” makes an appearance at the end of “Elevation”, and “Moment of Surrender” opens “Where the Streets Have No Name”. Pearl Jam’s “Alive” is added to “Beautiful Day” for Eddie Vedder who is in the house tonight, and Bono ends the song with “What A Wonderful World”.

Special guests at the show last night included Lady Gaga who got a shout out from stage. Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam was in attendance, and greeted by screams from fans on the floor came down and waved and bowed down to them. George Clooney and Tom Brady were also spotted at the show. Edge’s wife Morleigh was also in attendance, and got a shout out from Bono at the start of “With or Without You” — Morleigh was the dancer in the original video for the song.

The venue itself has seating for 17,500 people, and can accommodate 20,000 people with a general admission area in use. The sphere has nine levels in total, and the inner performance area is a sphere shape, with programmable LED screens covering the sides and top of the performance area. The venue is a dome inside and outside. Not only will people be surrounded by images, there are also features such as scent and wind, a haptic system which will allow users to feel the sound, and targeted sound in the venue. The outside of the sphere is also covered in LED screens and can be used by the performers inside. U2 are the first act to perform in this new venue. The venue is also being used to show a film, Postcard from Earth which opened a few days after U2’s debut at the Sphere.

The October 7 show was among the first five shows announced. The shows were officially teased in a press release on February 10, and later announced via an ad during the Super Bowl. The first five dates were announced on April 24, with a opportunity to apply for presale tickets opening immediately with the announcement. Ticket face value ranged from $140.13 – $501.35 at four different price points for seats. A General Admission floor was priced at $267.88, and at each show there was be a (RED) Zone riser at the back of the GA area which will hold 50 people, priced at $600.00. When the ticket sale for verified fans opened on Thursday April 27, Platinum pricing was in effect for the seats in the venue, with most tickets being priced well beyond these original prices. The general onsale, on Friday April 28 was announced to be cancelled by Ticketmaster due to demand, but later the verified fan restrictions were lifted at that time anyway.

Officially Released Tracks