U2's upcoming Las Vegas residency will be unlike anything else in the world as the crowd is placed in a "360-degree sonic spectrum".
The Edge and Bono revealed what fans can expect from the 'immersive' performance
The Irish music legends are set to perform their acclaimed 1991 album ‘Achtung Baby’ at the "immersive" Sphere venue at The Venetian in Sin City in September and October.
And the 'With or Without You' hitmakers have explained why it will be a special performance like no other due to the venue being built for cinema and performance, not sport.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, frontman Bono said: “Most music, over playing a theatre, most music venues are sports venues. They’re stadiums, they’re arenas. They’re built for sports. They’re not built for music, they’re not built for art. So this building was built for immersive experiences in cinema and performance. It was not built for [sports], you can’t come here and see an ice hockey game.
“There are no speakers. The entire building is a speaker. So wherever you are, you have perfect sound is the plan."
Guitarist The Edge said: “There’s nothing else like it in the world and won’t be for many, many years.”
He went on: “So what this has been designed to achieve is completely immersive sound. So you’ve got the main array of speakers is above our heads, but throughout the entire building are speakers that are focused so that you have the capability of placing the audience inside a whole 360-degree sonic spectrum.”
The musician hailed the visuals "ground-breaking" and the sound "cutting edge".
The Edge added: "This can do that kind of Atmos mixing in a live context, which has never ever been possible before. So not only is the visual side of it ground-breaking, but the audio side of it is again, cutting edge."
It's a unique experience for fans lucky enough to get tickets, but the band still plan to return to touring stadiums and arenas.
Bono said: “We’re not touring ‘Achtung Baby’ anyway. So, with ‘The Joshua Tree’, we took that album around the world. This will only be here.”
The Edge added: “Touring itself is not over. Don’t forget it’s 18,000 to 20,000 people a night, so it’s not like you’re not going to be doing a hundred shows.”
For ticket information head to U2.com.
The dates are:
September 29 – Las Vegas, Sphere at The Venetian
September 30 – Las Vegas, Sphere at The Venetian
October 5 – Las Vegas, Sphere at The Venetian
October 7 – Las Vegas, Sphere at The Venetian
October 8 – Las Vegas, Sphere at The Venetian