Born one week apart in mid-February, Elliott and Shawn separately bought tickets to the same U2 Sphere show in Las Vegas as an early 30th birthday treat and met for the first time while walking to the big orb. Both are currently bigger U2 fans than >97% of people under the age of 40.
Shawn: So where does your U2 fandom stand right now in the year of 2024, and tell me a little about your history with the band?
Elliott: U2 is the most important band (to me) of my lifetime. It was through them that I became obsessed with music when I was 6, hearing “Elevation” in a friend’s car and being forever changed. I first saw U2 live as a 5th grader on the Vertigo Tour (Late Registration era Kanye West was the opener!), and my life changed even more. Calling them my favorite band from age 6-18 doesn’t really do it justice; they were one of the biggest parts of my life. If you knew me even a little bit you were well aware of my obsession. My AIM username was u2freak933 for god’s sake. I wasn’t exactly shy about it.
My music taste evolved and for most of my 20s, U2 was a thing of the past; a band I held deep in my heart but rarely spent time with. Yet in these last few years, I’ve fallen completely back in love. I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for their ingenious songwriting, their earnest, heart-on-their-sleeve anthems, and the creative risks they took (and mostly knocked out of the park imo) in the ‘90s. They’re firmly back to being one of my favorite groups so I couldn’t have been more amped to see them in this insane venue.
Your turn Shawn! Tell me about your history with the boys from Dublin, and where you stand now as we enter The Sphere.
Shawn: I don’t know if the Irishmen have ever been my favorite-favorite band, but they were also an extremely important springboard and remain an incredible band. How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and the iPod commercials kind of hit at the exact time when I was ready to pivot from Aughts boy band music and the Bee Gees (lol) to big-time radio rock. I remember giving a class presentation in 4th grade about one Paul Hewson and playing “All Because of You” from a burned mix CD for a room of 10-year-olds (Elliott: Heck yeah dude, I gave a presentation on U2 in 5th grade and played Vertigo for the class.) Definitely maintained a greatest hits/first four songs of The Joshua Tree-level of fandom up through No Line in 2009, and then fell away as indie rock took over my life. But I have never been a bigger U2 fan than I’ve been in the past few years, and that only ramped up after going through the whole discog — including a couple I’d neglected, like October and Pop, for the first time — in the month leading up to the Sphere. Speaking of that thing, what were your first impressions of it as a venue?
Elliott: I felt transported as soon as I set foot inside of that thing. Gone were the harsh overhead lights you get at most other venues that hold tens of thousands. The lighting was muted and lush; everything around me felt cinematic. The (ultra) violet colorscapes captured the essence of ‘90s U2, while the lobby and bars were soundtracked to slowed-down remixes of Achtung Baby songs. It was like getting a taste of the world they sing about in “Zooropa”. And I loved how they catered the aura of everything to the band (and Achtung Baby specifically) we were all there for.
The seat layout was pretty dang impressive too. We were fairly low in the 200 section, but the screen is unbelievably large and surrounding that I can’t imagine others felt like they were too far away. A woman next to me leaned over during the show, pointed at the 100+ feet tall figures on the screen, and said to me “It’s like we’re in the front row.” She wasn’t wrong.
What did you make of it when you first entered the dome (other than noticing every single person there being much older than us?)
Shawn: It was a beautiful inverse to feeling a million years old at the Lana Del Rey show last fall — confidently in the prime of our lives! The Sphere’s a funny thing, because basically from the time your plane lands in the city, it can find its way to your eyesight. And every time I saw the Sphere from afar, whether it was in the car or our hotel room, with that huge Linq ferris wheel in the foreground…it looked kind of small? But once you’re up close, there’s really no doubt that this thing is a physical marvel, nearly twice as tall as a standard indoor arena, and such a ridiculous, audacious display of hubris. I truly love it. There’s this tension between some of the lamest minds of our time coming together to create their vision of the future, and it actually being pretty cool? The three-floor lobby looked a little like the Guggenheim when you craned your neck. And man, it was shockingly easy to get inside the place. I remember seeing some doomsaying about What The Sphere Means for live music, how it might disperse to other major cities, but after spending a weekend there: absolutely not. The Sphere is Vegas, Vegas is the Sphere — it really couldn’t work anywhere else.
Elliott: It is a bit like that Onion headline — The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Music Venue. Take me through your experience when the lads took the stage and immediately flew into a jaw-dropping sequence of Achtung heavy hitters…
Shawn: Obviously just being in the Sphere could be a once-in-a-lifetime event, but you know what, so is hearing three of their best songs (“Zoo Station,” “The Fly,” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing”) all in a row to open a 2020s U2 show. Based on all available evidence online, we had a rough idea of how the visuals might function (and, on some nights, how iffy Bono’s voice could sound), but it was still just astonishing to see the gates slowly open up into that simple cross-shaped grid for “Zoo,” with Bono rotating right in the middle. And man, it was so immediately gratifying a. to hear him sound legitimately great b. to hear the band in peak form, with the most expensive indoor sound system we might ever encounter c. to just be completely overwhelmed in this way, with no idea where to hold your gaze at any point. With the exception of a few eyesore images (they were at their best when simple, like the claustrophobia-inducing falling roof of numbers during “The Fly”), the screen was incredible and almost trained you to watch a show differently — I was only occasionally looking down at the tiny turntable stage, from the not-quite-nosebleeds. All those opening night TikToks and Twitter videos from the Sphere were decidedly not better than the real thing, and that rocks. What were some of your takeaways from the first big block of Achtung?
Elliott: It was truly transcendent from the get-go. I got chills as the band took the stage to an ambient Brian Eno track and when the “Zoo Station” intro climaxed with that grid expanding and a spinning Bono vox, I was fully on cloud 9. That feeling sustained with every subsequent Achtung banger, each feeling like its own mini-event with a unique set of visuals. I still can’t get over the staggering “Real Thing" backdrop filled with unexpected movie references, like a gas-huffing Dennis Hopper from Blue Velvet and the duo from 2013’s canceled classic The Lone Ranger. “Mysterious Ways” and "One” never disappoint, and “Until the End of the World” is always a highlight live. My dad leaned over to me after The Edge finished his “End of the World” solo and said “I think this is my favorite song of his,” which… stellar choice dad! I feel strongly that Achtung is Edge’s best album so it was awesome watching/hearing him show off all night. Equally awesome was seeing them play one of their most moving and underrated tracks, “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?,” along with their slow dance tune “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around the Word", where Bono was holding onto what I would describe as a towering digital balloon?
There were some cool moments during their stripped-down Rattle & Hum set (Bono’s harmonica shredding), but it also served as a great time to run to the bathroom and arrive back just in time for Achtung pt. 2. Never expected to see “So Cruel” or “Acrobat” live so that ruled, and “Ultra Violet'' (paired with spinning vibrant colors and a giant disco orb on screen) will never not feel like the best song in the world when I’m hearing it. Curious what stood out for you in the second dose of Achtung songs, as well as that final stretch of rockers and ballads?
Shawn: True to the residency’s UV subtitle, “Ultra Violet” stood out big time — and was maybe the best example of Bono knowing his present vocal limits when it typically shoots up to that higher register in the last verse. I also jotted down “they should show Derek Jarman’s Blue at the Sphere” during “Love Is Blindness,” when the screen was almost exactly that.
And then the crowd-pleasers at the end really did please! It’s always funny at these anniversary shows to see quite a few mildly fidgety fans pop out of their seats when the greatest hits block arrives, and that very thing happened when “Elevation” dropped. Seeing them all in a row, you appreciate how U2 has made diminishing versions of the same huge rawk single over the years (“Elevation” to “Vertigo” to “Atomic City,” but no “Get On Your Boots” :( that night). While I can’t say I was won over by “Atomic City” — their stab at giving the Vegas tourism board an “Empire State of Mind” — it’s always cool to remember “Vertigo” as a pretty dang great lightning-in-a-bottle moment, with huge projections of Bono’s body from circling helicopters. But when “Where the Streets Have No Name” hits, I mean, what can you even say. Possibly my favorite song of all time on the right day, no easier gateway to immediate transcendence. And that desert landscape with the smoking flag was among the most striking visuals of the night.
Elliott: Some of the best moments of my life have been seeing “Where The Streets Have No Name” live and this was another supreme addition to the highlight reel. The woman next to me yelled “best song ever!” as soon as it started. Again… she wasn’t wrong. Very few dry eyes around me, and the eyes stayed damp through “With or Without You.” Both the song and visuals built to a mighty crescendo as the screen made its way into a desert-stranded Sphere and exploded with life (and literal wildlife) during the iconic “OH OH OH OH. One of the most cathartic and communal moments of the night. By the time they closed with “Beautiful Day,” I had lost all sense of time with the glistening, enveloping white background all around us. I departed the Sphere with the incomparable post-U2 concert euphoria that I’ve come to know and love.
Now, where do you think U2 goes from here? Will this win any new fans/silence any of the doubters?
Shawn: Talking about the Sphere and U2 in general with people who aren’t freaks like us almost always requires some hedging. (“haha, I know they haven’t made any good music for a long time but they’re a legitimately great band!!”) My read on the situation is this residency won’t move the needle at all with skeptics, agnostics, and casuals, barring the stray tech bro who’d come to the show mainly to see the Sphere itself, and walk away an Achtung appreciator. At least for millennials and younger, it feels like their legacy was carved in stone when Songs of Innocence landed on their iPhones for the worst unforced error in modern music history.
After anniversary runs for their two biggest albums in the last six years, I see a runway for them to tour behind an eventual new record and, in all likelihood, hop on the Eras Tour craze that everyone from Madonna to the Jonas Brothers have tried. That would be nice for guys like us, again no big deal for people who don’t care about the band. But you know what might get them to care a little bit? Did you watch The Americans? I’m thinking a needle drop moment like that, but for a show that way more people actually watch.
Elliott: Never seen the Americans but I know the scene you’re referring to! Along with most our age not watching that show, I think the issue with The Americans scene (spoilers I’m guessing?) is most people already know “With or Without You.” Would love for them to have a “Strange Currencies” in The Bear type moment where millennials/Gen Z get a glimpse of the greatness that lies in the U2 songs you’d never hear in a CVS. R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts” and “It’s The End of the World As We Know It” are played in shows/movies for jokes, but I know many newbies dove deeper because they heard “Strange Currencies” and thought “Oh shit, R.E.M. has songs like this?” Maybe they just need something like a “Stay (Faraway, So Close!) or an “Unforgettable Fire” needle drop in a hip TV program to get some “I’m sorry U2, I wasn’t familiar with your game” type newcomers.
On the live music side, the fellas are clearly winding down. Father time catches everyone and Bono doesn’t move in the mysterious ways he did even a decade ago. He was like a deity to me growing up so I foolishly believed he’d be running around the stage forever (like the video above). But the Sphere is the perfect venue for this later stage of the band; the powerful songs and immense visuals can make for a show that’s near their peak. I hope that I’ll get to see them at least one more time. But if this is it, what a way to go out.
To close Shawn, I wanna your dream artist for your next Sphere trip. Doesn’t matter how feasible it is, you’re curating it. I’m going with Underworld headlining with Doss as an opener. Would make for the best dance party in the world. What about you?
Shawn: If they bring out Homer Simpson for “Born Slippy,” then that might be mine too! My mind first went to my favorite doofy maximalists / U2 successors in Coldplay. But since that might actually happen someday, I’m going with a different type of cinematic maximalism and say a Fuck Buttons reunion. They’d be brimming off the screen, and I’d be losing my mind