Rock’n Me 30: Talking About Western Music - U2 Concert Report at Las Vegas Part II

Hello. This is Joshua and I like to talk about Western music.
In Part 30, I will report on the U2 concert in Las Vegas, USA (Part II).
As I wrote in the first part, U2 performed at the newly built concert venue the Sphere (MSG Sphere) as a kick-off show, and since then, they were performing there until February. Among them, I saw the performance on November 4.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with U2, let me explain a little bit about them: they are a four-member rock band from Ireland. Since becoming four members before their debut, the band has never changed members, making them a rare band that has remained connected both musically and relationally.

By their own admission, U2's best-known work is their fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987). With this album, they literally transformed themselves into a top-class band. Their documentary film, Rattle and Hum, was made during their U.S. tour, and the album of the same name, which served as the soundtrack for the film. The documentary showed U2 performing with B.B. King and Bob Dylan as they assimilated into American rock, including blues, folk, and gospel music.

The great thing about U2, however, is that they took it upon themselves to reset the band, which had grown so large, and they created new music by changing their musical style in one fell swoop. With their seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), the band abandoned their American-leaning, socially-conscious sound. They took European techno and house music and made it into their own sound by creating a cutting-edge, sharp-edged sound. It was such a drastic change that I rejected the album after listening to it at first when it was first released. It took me 10 years before I listened to it again, but now it is my second favorite album after Joshua Tree.

■ U2 “Acton Baby”

One of the greatest feats in the history of music on the “Achtung Baby” tour was the use of the most advanced video technology of the time to fuse music and video. In modern concerts, large-scale visual effects are commonplace. It is no exaggeration to say, however, that it was this tour that popularized the use of such effects throughout the world. In 2023, 32 years after the album, the concept of the U2 Las Vegas concert series was to reproduce the entire Achtung Baby album. The challenge was to create a modern representation of the cutting-edge sound and images of the time, and to fuse them with the Sphere's state-of-the-art video system. Despite their status and fame, they dared to take on new challenges. ...... This was true for the birth of Achtung Baby and it is also true for this series of Sphere performances.

Well, this introduction became a bit long.
Finally, I will report on the performance. (Spoilers below.)

The Sphere has arena seats and seats from the first to the fourth floor that are spread out in a fan shape around the stage. I saw this show on the fourth floor, almost at the back...i.e., at the farthest end. However, perhaps it’s due to the steeply sloping structure, the stage did not seem so far away. Rather, it is a good position to be able to capture the large screen with all your vision and immerse yourself in it.

At 8:00 p.m., the concert's scheduled time, the first DJ to appear was, as I later learned, Pauli the PSM, who by day is the drummer for Harry Styles under the name Pauli Lovejoy. The music was a selection of classic rock and pop songs from the 1960s onward. They connected The Beatles, The Monkees, the Pet Shop Boys, Nirvana, and the White Stripes. The audience was already excited at this point, and by Blur's “Song 2,” everyone was shouting “Woo Hoo!” The DJ even drove into the standing room to play Elvis Presley's “Viva Las Vegas,” which was a very clever and appropriate choice for the occasion.

The audience members ranged in age from teens to adults in their 60s. In the front row were parents, estimated to be in their 40s, and two children, estimated to be in their mid-teens. To the right were two women in their 40s who were singing and dancing with the DJ, and to the left was a man in his 20s who looked like a monk, quietly waiting for the DJ to appear.

At 8:30 p.m., U2 finally appeared on stage. The stage itself was the ultimate in simplicity, just a round stage like a record turntable. No stage curtain, huge lights, or even PA speakers were visible. With only minimal lighting, the four performers appeared on stage, and the huge wall-like backdrop changed little by little. With the introduction, a dazzling cross appeared in the background, and when the stage was lit up, the cross became brighter as if it was being cut open, and then a close-up image of the four members appeared on the cross.

My vocabulary is not very good enough to describe it, so please watch the videos from the other concert dates. I have been to many concerts, but I have never seen such a cool opening.

■ “Zoo Station” (performance date unknown)

Next came “The Fly,” “Real Thing,” “Mysterious Ways,” and “One,” followed by the single songs from “Acton Baby.” The images spreading in all directions were so overwhelming that it was difficult to concentrate on the sound. All directions of the venue were enveloped by the images, which grew bolder and bolder as the songs got more and more exciting. Whenever the images changed, there was an earth-shaking “Woohoo!”

■ “The Fly” (performance date unknown) (Note the video clip of the guitar solo after 2:29 of the video)

■ Real Thing” (date unknown)

I was a little confused by Bono (vo) in the lead role. His voice was quite faint and weak, and I could feel that he was struggling with high tones. In a prior interview, he also said that the dry desert air in Las Vegas was not good for him and that he refrained from speaking too much. On the other hand, the presence of The Edge (gt / vo) was noticeable. The Gibson Les Paul system that he utilized in the recording of Achtung Baby was on full display. While Bono was struggling, The Edge's backing vocals were powerful yet clear, which more than made up for Bono's poor performance.

Moving on to the rhythm section. Larry Mullen Jr. (drums) was absent for this series of performances due to medical treatment, and was replaced by Dutchman Bram van der Berg. He was an almost unknown drummer in the world, but he was selected by U2, and played Larry's part without a hitch. The absence of Larry was hardly noticeable from the sound of his playing alone. Adam Clayton (ba) was aloof as usual, but the venue's acoustics were good, so he was able to resonate well in the upper register, and he and Bram worked together perfectly.

After playing about half of Achtung Baby, it was acoustic time. Personally, it was a good opportunity for me to concentrate on the performance of the four musicians, as it had been a flashy affair up to that point. However, it may have been too quiet for those who were looking for visual effects. The children in the front row were completely bored and were frequently checking their cell phones while they leaned their heads against their mothers...ah, what a waste.

Performed here were four songs from “The Scream of the Soul”. (‘All I Want Is You’, ‘Desire’ ‘Love Comes to Town’, and ‘Love Rescues Me’). The original version of ‘Desire’ features The Edge's raw crunching guitar and loud drum beat, but here it was a quieter, quieter version. Bono played blues harp in the postlude, which was incredibly cool. However, he only played it for a moment and I wanted him to continue more.

The second half of the concert consisted of four quiet songs from Achtung Baby. Among them, “Ultra Violet Ultraviolet (Light My Way)” is a personal favorite of mine, which was also performed at the 2019 concert in Japan. I was overwhelmed by the development of the song as the purple light exploded throughout the venue, just as the title of the song suggests.

■ Ultra Violet (October 8, 2023)

The last song of the concert was “Love is Blindness” just like the album. It was quite a mysterious image, with the venue enveloped in blue and silhouettes of insects appearing. In addition, the song was quite heavy, so I felt it was not a good choice for the ending. However, the encore that followed was amazing, so the result was all right.

The encore began with the uppercut “Elevation,” which got the crowd going. The new song “Atomic City,” which was written for the consecutive performances, showed the neon lights of the city of Las Vegas in a very realistic way. Moreover, it was a reverse time-lapse, with the skyscrapers disappearing one by one over time, and in “Vertigo,” the four performers played in the desert as darkness enveloped them...it was quite an elaborate performance.

■ Vertigo (September 29, 2023)

Next, the sunrise lit up the desert in the darkness, marking the highlight of the day: a doubleheader of “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “With or Without You” from “Joshua Tree,” one of U2's most popular songs. The former was the first of the two. In the former, my eyes were burning as soon as the keyboard intro started, my eyes started tearing up at the guitar intro with the edge delay, and by the time the rhythm section and vocals came in, my nose was running and my saliva was dripping.... In the latter, the sensual chorus of “ooh ooh ooh ooh” in the middle of the song with the images was absolutely extraordinary. I have given up trying to put these images into words! Anyway, please take a look.

■ “The Promised Land” (September 30, 2023)

■ “With or Without You” (December 8, 2023)

The final song of the night was “Beautiful Day,” a classic from the 2000s. I cried when I heard the lyrics, “Even though I lost a lot of things, today is a beautiful day,” and the concert ended with a sense of heaviness and beauty.

After watching the concert, I was filled with emotion that I had seen a concert that was too good to be true. It was an immersive experience that could only be experienced at the Sphere, making maximum use of state-of-the-art technology in a novel venue. I don't know if U2 will tour with this selection of music in the future, but no matter the venue, the immersive experience of the Sphere will never be replicated. I was fortunate enough to be there and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I am so grateful to my companions who traveled with me overseas.

November 4, 2023 Set List

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