2023-12-02

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"
"All I Want is You"
"Desire"
"When Love Comes to Town"
"Love Rescue Me"
"Acrobat"
"So Cruel"
"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:

"Drive My Car" (The Beatles) / "I Feel Love" (Donna Summer) / "Love Me Tender" (Elvis Presley) / "Paint it Black" (Rolling Stones) / "Into the Mystic" (Van Morrison) / "Personal Jesus" (Depeche Mode) / "Viva Las Vegas" (Elvis Presley) / "My Way" (Frank Sinatra) / "Moment of Surrender" (U2) / "All You Need is Love" (The Beatles) / "Blackbird" (The Beatles) / "Glorify" (U2 featuring Brittany Howard) /

Show Details:

After a three week vacation due to the F1 races being held in Las Vegas, U2 return to Sphere this weekend. It is their nineteenth night of twenty five shows being held in 2023 at the Las Vegas Sphere. An additional 11 shows are currently announced for 2024, and the full listing of shows can be found in our U2 show archive. U2 are performing these shows without founding member, Larry Mullen Junior, who is missing due to surgery to repair damage suffered from years of drumming. A Dutch drummer, Bram van den Berg replaces Mullen at these shows in Las Vegas.

Bono is asking the questions as “Even Better Than the Real Thing” starts tonight, “How are ya? Genuinely interested! How are you? Where are we? Why are we? Who are we? I know who you are, you’re The Edge. I know who you are. You’re the first man, you’re Adam. And you? Where have you been all of our life? Just getting to know you…” After the song he again addresses the audience, “Welcome to the spherical object that is the sphere. This is where we go to work!”

“Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” starts with Bono addressing Ali’s mother, Joy. “Joy! Hey Joy! I’m bringing your daughter home a balloon. I got a little bit distracted on the way home. I’m coming home. Big night out!” The song has the additional visuals that have been added in recently. A cobblestone walkway is seen around the edges of the stage, which Bono walks carrying the balloon on the screen. “I dreamed I saw Ali, with a supermarket trolley, trying to throw her arms around our girls.” Bono walks the balloon to a doorway on the screens, where he rings an audible doorbell, sharing he has lost his keys. Getting no answer at the door, Bono leaves the balloon sharing “she won’t open the door”. The doorway piece, introduced for the first time the previous night, goes a bit smoother tonight.

“Look out behind you!” Bono exclaims as “Tryin’ to Throw” ends, sharing that it’s a bit of panto, and asking the audience “do you do panto here in Vegas? You’re missing out if you don’t.” Getting little response Bono tries, “Do you do bingo?” The band then take a break from the Achtung Baby songs for the turntable portion of the show. Tonight’s set sees the band do their Rattle and Hum set, with the four songs in the middle of the main set all taken from that album. Tonight it is “When Love Comes to Town” that joins “All I Want is You”, “Desire” and “Love Rescue Me” as part of this set.

Introducing the band ahead of “Desire” Bono shares, “This is the moment I like to introduce the band, especially the one who isn’t here. Drummers if you don’t know, they aren’t made, they’re born. Our hearts go out to Larry Mullen Junior this very evening. And I want to introduce you to the man who is sitting and standing in for him tonight, this is Bram van den Berg, who saved our arse, as it was quite far out the window…” Bram has something to share tonight. He’s speaking to his mom in Dutch, and Bono shares that Mrs. van den Berg is in the house.

Adam is up next, and Bono shares, “Even his street wear looks posh”, introducing Adam as “our very own Greek god – no Roman god – putting the Venus in the Venetian”. The Edge is “Our scientist, and we are clearly his experiment, our very own W.M.D. – weapon of mass devotion”. Bono shares that he has one further introduction, himself, “one of the most humble people I’ve ever met, thoughtful, kind to animals and children. Sometimes a danger to himself.”

In the lead in to “When Love Comes to Town”, Bono once again talks about the “three Kings of Memphis” – Elvis, BB King, and Dr. King. During “When Love Comes to Town” Bono includes a few lines of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus”. Depeche Mode played Vegas the night before. It’s the first known time that U2 have snippeted a Depeche Mode song over the years. (Martin Gore is at the show tonight, as is Depeche Mode’s manager, Jonathan Kessler). Bono ends the song with “when love comes to Las Vegas.”

The first snippet tonight arrived as Bono thanks Pauli the PSM for opening the show, singing a short line from The Beatles’ “Drive My Car” which Pauli uses in his opening act. “I Feel Love” makes an appearance during “Mysterious Ways” tonight, a song also referenced in the lead up to the show in the “Lemon” remix that opens the shows. “Love Me Tender” is highlighted at the end of “One”, and “Paint it Black” has become a fixture in “Until the End of the World”. Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” is included in “All I Want is You”, and “Viva Las Vegas” finished “Love is Blindness” and wraps up the main set. “My Way” is included at the end of “Elevation”. “Moment of Surrender”, missing last night, returns tonight at the start of “Where the Streets Have No Name” and there’s a reference to “All You Need is Love” later during the song. “Blackbird” is included during “Beautiful Day”, and at the end of the show, Bono sings along to Brittany Howard’s voice heard over the PA on the unreleased song, “Glorify”.

During the introduction to “All I Want is You” Bono spoke about bringing up children being the great adventure, and the realization they are bringing you up. He shares that Jordan and John, two of his kids are at the show, and says “thanks for bringing your father up. You did an ok job.” Also at the show tonight is longtime collaborator Anton Corbijn, who also visited Zoo Station earlier in the day to take in his exhibit of digital photographs shown at that location, he is spotted taking photographs around the stage area during the show. Jimmy Iovine, who produced Rattle and Hum is also at the show tonight. Bono thanks (RED) and ONE, and Gayle and Tom ahead of “Beautiful Day” – Gayle is Gayle Smith, CEO of ONE, who is stepping down from the organization next month. Tom is Tom Hart, President of the ONE Campaign.

Initially five shows in Las Vegas were announced, quickly followed by seven more, and then five more taking us to the end of November. On May 12, the final shows for December were added, with all eight shows being available via a U2.com presale offer, where you could apply for the shows you were interested in. The offer ended on May 15. Face value on tickets range from $140.13 – $501.35 at four different price points for seats for face values. A General Admission floor will be priced at $267.88, and at each show there was be a (RED) Zone riser at the back of the GA area which held 50 people, priced at $600.00. Although these prices listed were face values, tickets in seated areas were subject to Platinum pricing in the general sale.

Officially Released Tracks