U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere

'U2:UV Remix'

As Bono had promised they would the band hit the shuffle button on the song catalog las night, adding a few new numbers to the intermezzo set between what ostensibly is 'side one' and 'side two' of Achtung Baby. 

They wowed everyone with the debut of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', a mostly acoustic version of 'Pride (In The Name of Love)' and a lengthy snippet of  'MLK'.

After making appearances at all three of the first Sphere shows, Saturday's 21-song (or 22 if you count 'MLK') gig saw 'All I Want Is You', 'Love Rescue Me', and 'Desire' rotate off of the setlist.

Tonight  there were also snippets of David Bowie's 'Young Americans', a long jaunt through 'Movin' on Up' by Primal Scream (also covered once upon a time by Bono and Angelique Kidjo), 'Alive' by Pearl Jam, and a snippet of 'Moment of Surrender' leading into 'Where The Streets Have No Name'.

What Did Bono Say

To Bram during band introductions: 'Why did you become a student-now-professor of the subject of Larry Mullen Junior?' To which the drummer responded by playing a few iconic beats on his kit and mouthing the words, 'That one.'

'It that a drummer's way of asking us to play “Pride”?' Bono responded, before the band launched into stripped down version of their anthemic tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

'This is the bit when you discover we're not a very good wedding band.'

'Let it rain, rain down on she', Bono sang, altering the last word of 'MLK'

Paraphrasing something Willie Williams said about Achtung Baby: 'There was a dark side and a bleak side', later adding  'In some ways it's our most political album and it's purely sexual.'

Shout Outs

To Lady Gaga, who was in the house on an off night from her Vegas residency at the Park MGM and to Morleigh Steinberg Evans aka 'Mrs. The Edge', the band's choreographer

On the Socials

'From the U2 show last night. The “sphere experience” (“ex-sphere-ience” was there the whole time) was incredible (please excuse the folks shouting out of turn around me).' — @maklelan on X

'Thoughts on seeing U2 at the sphere. I had seen all the pics and videos that everyone else had seen. I had very high expectations. That said, I was absolutely blown away. Unbelievably stunning experience.' — @edrooney_ on X

'It's about the fans... always has been…Bono has talked a lot over the years about their ceaseless quest to break the 4th wall (and in press leading up to these shows about how that was a large part of the appeal of the Sphere's technological offering) — but if I'm being honest when I showed up in Vegas with the 8th or so camera I have taken to a U2 show since 2001 I had my doubts that I'd be capturing much direct fan interaction happening from the stage. I was so glad to find that it's still all about the fans — so thrilled to see how joyful of a moment it is in each show not just for the privileged fans pulled onstage but also for the audience members who might be seeing their first show, as they realize just how serious this band are about breaking the 4th wall….Thanks for keeping a foot on the ground U2, we love you for it.' — U2 fan photographer @JustinKentPhotography on Instagram

On Zootopia/U2 Faniverse

Setlist changes were the talk of the U2-niverse during and after Saturday's gig.  

'What a night. Thought it was a wonderful show. A few missteps but they added to the fun.' — Aaron from @u2songs on X

'U2 are mixing up the setlist tonight. Still Haven't Found, Pride (SoS version), Angel of Harlem and MLK as the rotating songs instead of All I Want Is You, Desire, Angel of Harlem and Love Rescue Me. Which set do you prefer?' — @U2Start on X

'Let into the sound with three tour debuts tonight.  Many thanks to all of those who continue to make it possible.' — U22009 on Zootopia

'I'm sure I'm not the only one going to two shows on a trip there- it would be a cherry on the cake. I'm very excited about coming no matter if they change things up or not.' — Dougieletitrock on Zootopia 

Fan and self-proclaimed 'setlist geek' @markpeterboro on X is building a Vegas score chart for fans HERE, and posted: 'Three changes to the set in the song 9-12 section, with songs making their Sphere debuts. MLK was very, very short and incomplete, but as it was on the printed setlist, I've given it a line on the chart.'

'There was at least one Mexican Bono in every class in every high school in Mexico', longtime Zootopia moderator Max Tsukino told U2.com during the band's 2017 stop in Mexico City. Another 'Mexican Bono' appeared in Vegas over the weekend when this jolly gentleman turned up at the Zoo Station exhibit in the Venetian resort adjacent to Sphere. Dr Carlos, who, like Max, hails from Mexico City, spotted him making his way to the exhibit's disco-ball tricked-out Trabant and he certainly looks ready for what's next… (And as it turns out, although Max lives in the same area Mexico City, the two U2 ans have never met.)

If you were at the show in Vegas, add your own review and upload your photos below.