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Earlier this month, U2 closed out their 40-night residency in Las Vegas at the Sphere. The show was jam-packed with hit songs and mind-breaking visuals.
The visuals were the biggest selling point, though. I remember that after the first show, clips were surfacing online. “The Fly” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing” surpassed expectations and were insane to see in-person.
But the quieter moments were also striking. Simple desert landscapes and the illuminated turntable stage were also top moments from the shows.
So, in honor of the residency concluding, we ranked the five best visuals from U2's Sphere show.
5 most mind-blowing images from U2's Sphere shows
Below is a list of the five best visuals from U2's Sphere shows. They aren't listed in any particular order.
Honorable mention: The simple, but effective turntable acoustic set lighting
At every show of U2's Sphere residency, the band would take a moment to split up Achtung Baby. They would play a four-song set on their turntable set of acoustic renditions of their songs. This frequently included the likes of “All I Want Is You,” “Desire,” and “Angel of Harlem,” but they would also play deep cuts like “Peace on Earth” and covers like “Don't Dream It's Over” during this set.
Since the band would play various songs, they didn't have visuals made for them. This meant the band would play the songs as the turntable stage was illuminated in different colors. According to Rip Lipson, the stage designer, this was designed to be like Brian Eno's turntable. An algorithm generates the colors from pink to blue to bright neon green.
It is just a really pretty visual as the band plays their intimate set. After having visuals that go as big as “The Fly” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” this is a great way of bringing U2 back down to earth.
The Elvis Chapel and “Even Better Than the Real Thing”
Seen above, “Even Better Than the Real Thing” is sensory overload. Filled with easter eggs from Elvis' Las Vegas performances to U2 members themselves, there is so much to look at. Trying to catch every little easter egg is nearly impossible.
As the band plays the song, the moving kaleidoscope collage begins rolling. It may give you vertigo (no pun intended) looking at it from the seats, but you can't help but look at it in awe.
Perspective shifting with “The Fly”
The first half of U2's performances of “The Fly” at the Sphere are similar to what's been done before. Words and phrases flash on the giant screen to create a feeling of sensory overload. It's much akin to what the band did on the “ZooTV” tour years ago and even the “Experience + Innocence” tour in 2018.
But once The Edge's guitar solo kicks in, the song is taken to a whole new level. A codebreaking seven-segment display is then put up on the screen and begin creating the illusion that a giant tube is being formed hundreds of feet in the sky. It all crashes down, creating an optical illusion of the Sphere being a cube rather than, well, spherical.
“Dream beneath a desert sky” (“Where the Streets Have No Name”)
As “Vertigo” ends, which showed helicopters spotlighting each of the U2 members on the screen, creating an almost UFO-like visual, we're left with the red and black target logo from the “Vertigo” tour.
Slowly, it dissipates and the organs from the beginning of “Where the Streets Have No Name” crawl in. A flag at sunrise is shown in the middle of the desert. As the song kicks into gear, Bono sings a snippet of “Moment of Surrender” as the flag is made up of white water vapor.
This harkens back to earlier in the show, when a burning flag is shown in the desert during the “Until the End of the World.” The word “surrender” has always been prevalent in U2's discography. After all, there's a song from their 1983 album War titled “Surrender.” Their latest studio album was called Songs of Surrender.
No videos or photos can do this moment justice. Thanks to the 16K resolution screens, it appears as though you're standing in the desert. It truly feels like you're standing outside in this moment, which is just breathtaking.
Breaking down the walls during the “Zoo Station” opening
When you entered the Sphere ahead of U2's show, the screen depicted a metal interior with an oculus on top. Was it the interior of an atomic bomb? I wondered.
This imagery would remain on the stage through Pauli “the PSM” Lovejoy's DJ set. As The Edge would hit the opening guitar notes of “Zoo Station” and Bram van den Berg's drums came in, the screen began to crack.
Once settled, it looked like the Church of Light. However, instead of light peeking through, it was images of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and van den Berg mixed with some staticky frames.
