The Edge is normally reserved and immune to hyperbole when discussing U2‘s latest plans. But the group’s schedule in opening up Sphere in Las Vegas this September has the U2 guitarist atypically talking in grandiose terms.
“My hope is that this will be a kind of quantum leap forward in the sense of what a concert can be,” he tells Rolling Stone.
The group will kick off its Achtung Baby Live at Sphere Las Vegas residency on Sept. 29, with additional shows taking place on Sept. 30 and Oct. 5, 7, and 8. One day after the residency was announced, seven more concerts were scheduled for Oct. 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, and 25. And a few weeks later, eight more shows were added on Dec. 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, and 16.
Sphere, which sits on the Strip near the Venetian resort, has been under construction for the past five years, with building costs reportedly topping $2 billion. Billing itself as the “world’s largest spherical structure,” Sphere is 516 feet wide, 366 feet tall, and can seat 17,600 people.
U2 first heard about Sphere a little over two years ago. “We’re always on the lookout for emerging technologies in the world of concerts and audio,” says the Edge. “We heard about it, and then started asking members of our team about it. We found out that approaches had already been made in a very tentative way for us to be a part of a possible launch.”
