A tour debut for 'When Love Comes To Town' tonight, their duet with B.B. King from Rattle and Hum. Five years since this was last played live - with the Sun Ra Arkestra at the Apollo Theater in New York City in June, 2018.
In addition to 'When Love Comes To Town" the 22-song set also included a few new snippets: 'Purple Rain' by Prince, 'Can't Get You Outta My Head' by Kyle Minogue, and 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse; as well as lines from Elvis Presley ('Love Me Tender'), Donna Summer ('I Feel Love'), Sinatra ('My Way'), Edith Piaf ('Je Ne Regrette Rien') and The Beatles' 'Blackbird', which closed the evening.
What Bono Said
After a rollicking 'Desire', as Edge, Adam, and Bram quietly introduced 'When Love Comes To Town': 'This band, we spent a lot of time on a bus traveling these United States. Who doesn't love a road trip? Adam, you and I, we took a road trip from Los Angeles to Nashville to sit at the feet of Johnny and June Carter Cash.
'I remember the whole band on a pilgrimage to Sun Studios to see where Elvis made "Mystery Train". All this magnificent, American roots music coming out of the mud of the Mississippi River.
'Three kings I associate with Memphis: The King, Dr. King... and B.B. King….'
Shout Outs (or What Bram Said)
After introducing the band, Bono asked Bram if he had anything to say. He did. 'Being here night after night with these three lovely gentlemen, meant that I had to take a break from my own band, Krezip. Actually, they flew in today, probably to check if this is all true… I want to thank them for their support.'
Bono: 'I promise we'll get him back to you. Not sure what shape he'll be in.'
From the Socials
'I've seen some things over the years. But I've never seen anything quite like this. #u2 #achtungbaby #sphere @U2 @spherelasvegas' — @bbison724 on X
'My first experience of The Sphere. The band is tiiiight! Fantastic show and cannot wait to do it all again tomorrow. #u2uvsphere' — @kellydrew on Instagram
'"Thru the storm we reached the shore" … 2023 has been one storm after another for us. We've come up for air and tonight we get to celebrate. #U2UVExperience #U2 #U2UVSPHERE' — @meriwithani on X
From Zootopia/U2 Faniverse
'Will forever love the Blackbird snippet in Beautiful Day' — U22009
'It's a sphere, it doesn't matter which way up it is' — Canadanne
'Bono and Edge harmonizing together on So Cruel is sublime'. — mich40
If you were at the show in Vegas, add your own review and upload your photos here.
Photo credit: Rich Fury