U2 are taking over Las Vegas, and what better way to announce their grand return to the stage than with a Super Bowl commercial aired to millions of viewers?
In the ad aired during the big game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday (Feb. 12), the band revealed that they will help launch the MSG Sphere, a long-awaited venue at The Venetian casino and resort, in the fall with their U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere outing. The announcement also came with the launch of the corresponding website U2 x SPHERE, where fans can register to receive all the details.
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The outing will be the first without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who is recuperating from unspecified surgery. Bono, The Edge and Adam said, “It’s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg who is a force in his own right…The Sphere show has been in the works for a long time. We don’t want to let people down, least of all our audience… the truth is we miss them as much as they appear to miss us… our audience was always the fifth member of the band. Bottom line, U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again. And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert… We’re the right band, ACHTUNG BABY the right album, and the Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level… That’s what U2’s been trying to do all along with our satellite stages and video installations, most memorably on the ZOO TV Tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this Fall. The Sphere is more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls.”
Last month, U2 announced they’ll be releasing a compilation album titled Songs of Surrender on March 17, and the project will contain 40 reworked versions of tracks from throughout their 40-plus-year career. The collection, a companion to singer Bono’s recent memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, will feature updated takes on classic hits like “One,” “Bad,” “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Desire,” “With or Without You” and “I Will Follow,” among others. Guitarist The Edge curated and produced the collection of re-recorded and reimagined songs from across U2’s catalog, which were laid down in sessions over the past two years.
U2’s most recent album was 2017’s Songs of Experience. Watch the announcement in the Super Bowl commercial below.
The MSG Sphere — a partnership between the Madison Square Garden Company and Las Vegas Sands Corporation — was initially set to open in 2021, but construction was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch the extended ad below:
