According to numerous sources, U2 has signed on for a 2023 Las Vegas residency as the first music act the new MSG Sphere at The Venetian. Billboard reported that for concerts, the $1.8 billion MSG Sphere “can hold 20,000 standing spectators or 17,500 seated guests, with 23 VIP suites.”
According to the report, “The Sphere will include 160,000 square feet of video viewing space — Sphere officials describe the technology as 'interior immersive display' — state-of-the-art spatial audio and an exterior exosphere that changes the building’s look via fully programmable LED technology. It will connect to the Venetian Resort via an approximately 1,000-foot-long pedestrian bridge.”
Construction on the Sphere is expected to begin in March 2023 with the venue opening in November 2023 with the FIA Formula One World Championship.
A while back, Bono admitted that unfortunately getting all the fans into their shows comes down to commerce — so much so that they even released the 2007 3D film, U2 3D to satisfy demand: “Also, U2 tickets are a bit expensive. I'm just thinking of people going to high school or going to college don't have the cash. We fight to have the tickets at a reasonable price — like at least 50, 60 percent of them — but you know the way it goes, the tickets get sold on. . . and there's not enough of them, so. I hope for people who are just thinkin,' well, I'm kinda into that band, that they'll give us a shot and come and see what we've got.”
The Edge explained that ultimately with U2, the more things change, the more they stay the same: “That's the thing about a band, you get together at age 17, 18 — you all decide you wanna do the same thing, which is make music together, and then the years go by but you kinda still kind of maintain that same dynamic and it's, it's remarkable not so much what's changed over the years, but how little has changed over the years. Y'know, when we get into the studio, it still feels like we're making our first album. It's that same sort of intensity and combines with ambition and a little bit of desperation, as well. And you really just wanna give it your best, and nothing really much has changed over the years.”
