U2 wrap up groundbreaking run at The Sphere in Las Vegas

Last Saturday week – hard to believe it's that long ago already! – marked the final show of  ‘U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere’, the 40-day residency which saw the Irish rock legends launch the cutting-edge Las Vegas venue.

The history-making shows saw over 700,000 fans from 100+ countries descend on Sin City, from September 2023 through March 2024. The high-tech visual elements and state-of-the-art audio made the spectacle a must-see event among music lovers across the globe – though only a small proportion could actually get there to experience it first-hand.

Having opted out of the shows for health reasons, the penultimate evening of the residency saw U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. in the audience. “What an incredible night at Sphere. So grateful to Bono, Edge and Adam and of course Bram for an amazing job, very emotional night for me personally,” he said on the band’s social media.

The Saturday night of closing weekend took in a pre-show presentation of the “Key to the Las Vegas Strip” to Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and replacement drummer Bram Van Den Berg  by Clark County Commissioner, Tick Segerblom.

The Commissioner applauded the band for delivering 40 incredible concerts to fans in Las Vegas, proclaiming it “U2 Day”.

For their final performance, U2 were joined by Daniel Lanois, who co-produced the band’s seminal albums The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby and joined them on stage for a once off rendition of ‘One'.

The band also played a pre-recorded performance from Neil Finn of Crowded House, and broke out their own version of the Kiwi band's smash hit 'Don't Dream it's Over'.

Music man Pat Carty experienced the spectacle in all its glory last year for the November issue of Hot Press. Read his in-depth report of the phenomenon here.