U2

V-U2 at Sphere Las Vegas

Chapters:   Achtung Baby Live  •  Concert Videos  •  General Admission  •  Zoo Station at the Venetian  •  The V-U2 Experience  •  Sphere Experience and Postcard from Earth  •  Vegas Legends  •  Venetian and Tao Beach  •  Vegas, Baby!

“I went out walking through streets paved with gold. Lifted some stones, saw the skin and bones of a city without a soul.”
The Wanderer from Zooropa, lyrics by Bono

“Seeing how the Sphere lobby and AI experience were overhauled for the V-U2 experience was a special treat for me.”
Mattopia Jones
(comment made to the Times via the Satellite of Love from parts unknown)

The Wanderer

A highlight of the V-U2 Sphere lobby experience is the sound wall. There are four stations and as listeners stand in each of the four spots, they hear four different, precise aural experiences. This an update to the Postcard from Earth experience, which featured different instruments, as I recall. Now, for V-U2, the audio channels are pulled from a very, very special recording of The Wanderer from U2's Zooropa.

1. Drums and percussion
2. Bono's tracking vocals for Johnny Cash to use as a guide (this Sphere presentation is the first time this track has been played for the public)
3. Johnny Cash's lead vocals track
4. Synthesizers and backing harmony vocals

Great, great song. And, with a lyric like "I went out walking under an atomic sky, where the ground won't turn, and the rain it burns like the tears when I said goodbye," it's so fitting to be heard in this unique way in Las Vegas, also known as Atomic City.

The Wanderer Part II

While watching V-U2, I do believe I spotted myself off the rail, on Edge's side.

V-U2: Take 2

After an adventure in Thailand and Laos — and a bout of pneumonia during a polar vortex back home — I returned to Vegas for another serving of V-U2, this time without the distraction of looking for me in the crowd.

I'm glad I went back.

For this version of The Wanderer, I stayed on Bono's track.

It's a little sad the AI function has already gone a little wonky; most likely due to mismanagement of the "behind-the-scenes" playback options. The bot is way too quick to (not) react to the crowd's initial cheer and encourage a better response. And the bot is also too abrupt in shooing people into the Sphere for the movie, doing so after every play of the song. They refer to the auditorium as "the bowl" and I can't say I'm a fan of that rather degrading term.

I can't help it. I want to capture all things U2 x Sphere, and that includes the tricky video display that brings back the awesome ZOO-TV mindset and even some Bob Dylan as Edge sifts through message cards. It's so hard to resist the humor of this Casablanca twist: "Out of all the Spheres in the multiverse, you walked into ours."

Other sayings on display:
"Reality is just the hallucination that we all agree on."
"How long can you stay?"
"We'll take it from here..." Which is followed by a card about success and equipment, but it's abruptly cut off by some unfortunate editing on the part of U2's editors.

In Pursuit of the New Bohemia:  Truth • Beauty • Freedom • Love
"Serving the PRM and Its Territories Worldwide Since 3 July 2000"
Site Contents Copyright © MM - MMXXV, Matthew Anderson, Unless Otherwise Noted
Privacy policy