U2 pay tribute to The Beatles at opening night of Las Vegas residency
During the opening of the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, U2 singer Bono thanked The Beatles for making the venue a possibility.
After years of planning, on September 29th, U2 played the first night of their 25-night residency at the futuristic venue, which cost over $2billion to build. During their show, the Irish rockers played their seminal album Achtung Baby in full, and Paul McCartney was one of the 18,000 fans who witnessed the historic occasion.
As a tribute to McCartney, U2 performed a snippet of ‘Love Me Do’ after playing ‘Desire’ before informing the audience about the VIP in the building. “Macca is in the house tonight. Paul McCartney is here. … Just know that we love you and we’ve stolen a lot of your songs,” Bono said.
He then added: “Actually, I’m thinking that the Sphere may have come into existence [because of Sphere Entertainment president] Jim Dolan trying to solve the problem that The Beatles started when they played Shea Stadium [in 1965]. Nobody could hear you. You couldn’t hear yourselves. Well, the Sphere’s here – can you hear us?”
During their encore, U2 also played their new single ‘Atomic City’. Although Bram van den Berg of Krezip has replaced drummer Larry Mullen Jr for the run of shows in Las Vegas, he did play on the track and also participated in the video.
In a recent interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Low, Bono discussed the video shoot which was shot in Las Vegas and explained: “It was the right place for us. And it took its toll on Larry. He’s miming. We’re doing the video and he’s like, ‘Ow.’ But he’s going to get back to fitness. It’s a heartbreak for Larry to be here and to see this and know that Bram [van den Berg] is standing in for him. And by the way, Bram is a superstar. He was a fan of Larry’s and a student of Larry’s.”
There is currently no timeline on when Mullen Jr is expected to return to playing with U2 in a live capacity.
Watch footage from the opening night of their residency at the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas below.
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