Since 1982, U2 superfan Stephen Cahill and his wife Mary have attended over 40 shows by the band - in October, they made the pilgrimage to Las Vegas to see Bono and company tackle their latest live challenge - a residency at Las Vegas's newest venue, the spectacular Sphere.
In December 1982 my wife Mary, and I, attended a U2 concert at the SFX Hall in Dublin. It was the first step on a journey that has taken us to places as far apart as Sydney and New York.
In October we flew from Dublin to Las Vegas, attendong concerts on the 18th and 20th of the month. The second night was the 40th time we attended a U2 concert.
U2 came to Las Vegas after they accepted an invitation to launch Sphere, a new state-of-the-art 18,000-capacity entertainment venue. A Vegas residency is not natural territory for the band, but when the possibilities presented by what Edge called "a canvas of unparalleled scale" presented themselves, they could not turn it down.
The band's acceptance of the invitation was surely a vote of confidence in the ability of their long-time production team, many of whom have been with the band for decades. An accumulation of injuries acquired over a lifetime drumming meant Larry Mullen Jnr would not perform. His seat was filled by Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg. A self confessed "Larry fan", he has maintained a low profile and let his drumsticks do the talking.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Watch, via RTÉ News - U2 launch Las Vegas residency
By any standard, Sphere, with its curved LED screen illuminating the Vegas skyline, is impressive. We attended two shows, and on the first night were just metres from the stage when U2 made an understated entrance to the sound of a bespoke choral composition by Brian Eno. In front of an expectant audience, Bono strolled across the stage and paid homage to one of the earliest forms of Irish music, singing unaccompanied in traditional sean- nòs style. The rock star was never too far away, however - as the music faded, he struck a pose, and donned a pair of his trademark fly glasses, becoming 'Bono'. Show time - the band launched into Zoo Station, and the enormous dome-shaped screen turned into a crumbling concrete wall. With dust falling all around, the wall 'opened', flooding the Sphere with light, and images from U2's classic 1991 album Achtung Baby.
For the next few songs the screen was let loose, with incredible images swirling above and around us, leaving a sea of smiling faces in awe. U2 were not to be outdone, putting in a blistering performance, during which they paid tribute to Elvis, with Even Better Than The Real Thing. By now there was too much to take in. A beautifully crafted kaleidoscope of Elvis-inspired artworks by Marco Brambilla entitled King Size, became a cascade of colour flooding the area. As it disappeared, it left us disorientated, creating the illusion of a floating stage.
The sensory overload faded, and the concert took on an intimate feel. "One love, one life" filled the Sphere, and saw the giant screen transformed into fluorescent wallpaper carrying floating images of the band. The serenity was broken when a few bars of Love Me Tender gave way to the drama of Until the End of the World. Edge took the rock classic out with a searing solo, on a stage glowing like a furnace. As he played, a giant flag symbolising the destruction of the planet by successive weather events, had become a flaming inferno.
Now it was time for some fun.
Bono broke into Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World, a song about the journey home after a night of excess. On a stage bathe in soft light, he took another journey, singing as he strolled along, all the while holding a long string attached to a digital white balloon floating high in the Sphere. He was joined on stage by "Mrs The Edge", AKA choreographer Morleigh Steinberg, the woman Bono said gave him the balloon. It was her birthday, and she played it beautifully, climbing into a loop at the end of the string, creating a swing on which she sailed out over a sea of wide-eyed smiling faces, soon singing Happy Birthday.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen: U2 at Sphere - Tom Dunne reviews the show
For the next few songs, the stage, a giant replica of an LED turntable created by Brian Eno, was lit intimately. It was the setting for a selection of songs, some recently 'reimagined' for the album Songs of Surrender. The stripped down, cover versions of classics more often than not fall short. Normal service was resumed with beautiful renditions of So Cruel and Love Rescue Me. One of the joys of the band performing all of Achtung Baby at their Sphere residency is that we were guaranteed to hear certain songs. It is always special to hear Ultraviolet, and a rare treat to hear Love is Blindness, a beautifully crafted song - the intro draws you in, with Edge's riveting solo a highlight of any concert.
The band went off to change. Bono donned a white jacket, Edge left aside his Sara O’ Neill-designed hand-sown Achtung Baby leather jacket, van den Berg remained sleeveless while going from white to black, and Adam Clayton had a jacket to die for. As U2 returned,the opening bars of Elevation were already in the air, and we were on our feet ready for take-off. After we touched down, Bono paid tribute to Frank Sinatra with a verse of My Way. At the end, loud cheers greeted the appearance of a collage of floating colours, which solidified leaving us a breathtaking panoramic view of downtown Las Vegas. It served as the backdrop to a performance of the bands new song Atomic City, a reminder of a time when the city promoted nuclear tourism. As the crowd joined in,100 years of Vegas development was systematically deconstructed, leaving us looking at a barren desert landscape at dusk.
With the stage now glowing brightly, the band ripped into Vertigo. As fast as we could sing "Unos, dos, tres, catorce", two (virtual) helicopters came over the horizon and had us in their searchlights. Like Bono said, "We can do s**t like that in Vegas". It gets dark in the desert, but when dawn broke, Tipperary man John Gerrard's artwork Surrender Flag was flying high in a clear bright blue sky. Formed from plumes of water vapour evaporated in a barren landscape, it stood as a symbol of hope for a world less dependent on fossil fuels. With the sun shining high in the sky, the slightest hint from Edge's Fender Stratocaster that Where The Streets... was on the horizon saw the arena erupt, and heading for euphoria. With or Without You followed, taking the audience aboard artist Es Devlin's Nevada Ark to meet the state's 120 most endangered species, captured in incredible artworks.
We shared the first show with a family of five, who had travelled from Ecuador, a country U2 have never played.The children told us, how, over the years their father had taken them to school on his Harley-Davidson motorbike with the strains of Beautiful Day ringing out.
As U2 closed the show with Beautiful Day, their father cried. The power of music, the power of U2!
