U2 Super Bowl ad teases Las Vegas residency for fall 2023
The band aired a commercial featuring a cryptic tease announcing dates at the MSG Sphere.
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U2 announced their return to the concert stage after four years with a surprise Super Bowl ad.
The 15-second commercial aired during the big game, featuring a quick glimpse of the band and a floating silver sphere, teasing the show dates for their residency at the MSG Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas this fall.
Titled "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere," the show will focus on the band’s 1991 album "Achtung Baby," which produced hits like "One" and "Mysterious Ways."
In a statement from U2, the band said "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."
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The statement continued, "The Sphere is more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls."
The MSG Sphere has a 20,000 person capacity and features 16k screens that wrap around the audience on all sides. It also has immersive sound and 4D technology that "will let the audience feel the wind on their face, the heat on their skin and the rumble of thunder," according to the press release for the residency.
The Edge raved about the venue’s technology in their statement, saying "The beauty of the Sphere is not only the ground-breaking technology that will make it so unique, with the world’s most advanced audio system, integrated into a structure which is designed with sound quality as a priority; it’s also the possibilities around immersive experience in real and imaginary landscapes. In short, it’s a canvas of an unparalleled scale and image resolution and a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We all thought about it and decided we’d be mad not to accept the invitation."
From left to right, Adam Clayton, Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr., collectively known as U2. (Prodip Guha/Getty images / Getty Images)
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U2 will be performing the new shows without their original drummer, Larry Mullen Jr., who is undergoing surgery this year for undisclosed health reasons. Mullen will be replaced in Las Vegas by Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg.
In a statement, Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton – the three original members playing in the residency – said "It's going to take all we've got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg who is a force in his own right."
U2 band members pose for a portrait in Los Angeles in 1990. ( Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Image / Getty Images)
The band has had recent success in revisiting their catalog and history.
In 2017 and 2019, U2 went around the world for their "Joshua Tree" tour, commemorating their seminal "Joshua Tree" album, originally released in 1987.
U2 during their 2017 "Joshua Tree" tour. (Daniel Knighton/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Lead singer Bono also released a memoir in November 2022 titled "Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story," chronicling his life, with each chapter named after a U2 song.
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Before the residency, the band is also releasing a new album "Songs of Surrender." It will feature re-recorded and re-imagined versions of 40 songs from their catalog.
"Songs of Surrender" is set to release on March 17.