During the August 16, 1992, concert in Washington, D.C. on U2's “ZooTV” tour, Bono exclaimed, “Let's get married, let's go to Vegas!” during the interlude from “Ultraviolet (Light My Way!)” and “With or Without You.” Who knew that he was serious about that? Over three decades later, U2 will be playing a residency in Las Vegas at a brand new venue: The MSG Sphere.
The Death Star-looking venue is primed for a band like U2 — a band privy to making technological advancements. (Did you know that they created the B-stage during the “ZooTV” tour?) The “ZooTV” tour, for example, took a gigantic set on the road full with television screens to drive home the recurring theme of sensory overload. Two of their recent tours, the “iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE” and its sister “eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE” tours each brought a huge LED screen on the road that connected the main stage down to the B-stage (representing a journey of innocence to experience or vice versa). Like those shows or not, it'll never get old seeing Bono hold The Edge in the palm of his hand.
But now, U2 is once again looking back on their work. Unlike 2017's “The Joshua Tree” 30th anniversary tour, U2 has a chance to do something innovative with the Sphere shows and avoid looking like another musical act past their prime going out to pasture. It all begins with the setlist, not the visuals. Yes, the flashy lights and sensory overload will be amazing to look at, but how can U2 put on a show that respects Achtung Baby — the album that this whole residency is honoring — without simply retreading the album as “The Joshua Tree” tour did just a few years ago?
Reading the Joshua Tree leaves
When it comes to constructing the setlist, only Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and replacement drummer Bram van den Berg really know what's coming. But that said, looking at U2's previous tours, you can gather some hints as to what's to come. “The Joshua Tree” tour from 2017 followed a very basic pattern: The first four or five songs pre-dated The Joshua Tree album before they played through that album in its entirety beginning with “Where the Streets Have No Name” and ending with “Mothers of the Disappeared.” After that, the band would play a bunch of post-Joshua Tree hits — mostly the concert-friendly hits friendly for casual fans like “Elevation,” “Vertigo,” “One,” etc.
Achtung Baby is a bit different than The Joshua Tree, though, and that complicates things. I love both albums — I think they're both the band's best work — but Achtung Baby has significantly less downers on the album and always keeps the tempo up. “One” is combated by “Until the End of the World” and “So Cruel” is combated by “The Fly.” So, realistically, the band could do pre-Achtung Baby before playing the album as they did on “The Joshua Tree” tour, but why limit yourself to a handful of songs from The Joshua Tree and earlier? Plus, the band rarely begins concerts with “Where the Streets Have No Name” these days.
Maybe U2 follows a similar setlist akin to their “ZooTV” tour. That would make the most sense, as the opening of “Zoo Station” going right into “The Fly” is killer — the band even brushed off that sequence on the European leg of their “eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE” tour in 2018 — and indoctrinates any non-Achtung Baby fans right into the album. In 1992/93, they usually would play a slew of more Achtung Baby songs: “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” “Mysterious Ways,” “One” — with an “Unchained Melody” snippet — “Until the End of the World,” and then “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” (only on the US leg of that tour). The transition from “Until the End of the World” to “Wild Horses” is great, and something I hope the band revisits.
The band would then play “Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World” before going into a sequence of older hits like “Angel of Harlem” and “When Loves Comes to Town” and mixing in some covers (“Satellite of Love”) and newer hits like “Stay, (Faraway, So Close!)” once Zooropa came out. It would then be a while before an Achtung Baby song would resurface as U2 would play a variety of their hits. The encore usually featured “Ultraviolet,” “With or Without You” — another sequence I hope the band acknowledges — and then finishing some shows with “Love is Blindness,” the final track on Achtung Baby. The band also sometimes played a cover of Elvis' “Can't Help Falling in Love,” but Bono would sing the second verse in full falsetto, and given the state of Bono's voice over 30 years later, I doubt we'll see that again (or at least that iteration of it).
There's also the Songs of Surrender factor. I'm sure that certain selections from Songs of Surrender — U2's latest album consisting of 40 reinterpretations of their old songs — will make their way into the setlist. While I'm not particularly keen on the idea of U2 playing these versions of their songs — at least keep the Achtung Baby songs in their original arrangements — hopefully we only get SOS versions of songs that are already similar to the live arrangements U2 plays like “Every Breaking Wave,” “Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of,” and “Ordinary Love.” They're not bad by any means, but when you go to a U2 show, you want the full experience of hearing “Streets” or “With or Without You” with their full power. Not the stripped-down arrangements (that's what Bono's shows at the Beacon are for).
With all that background covered, I know that U2 won't be playing 28 songs a night. U2's setlists usually contain about 20-25 songs (the number usually starts high before they cut out the fat and settle into a routine). Being the optimist I am, I'm just rolling with 28 songs I'd like to hear — not 28 songs I guarantee we'll hear.
Guarantees
Note: Bolded songs are official picks
We know Achtung Baby will be played in full. So expect to hear “Zoo Station,” “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” “One,” “Until the End of the World,” “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “So Cruel,” “The Fly,” “Mysterious Ways,” “Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World,” “Ultraviolet (Light My Way),” “Acrobat,” and “Love is Blindness.”
I think the only real intrigue with the Achtung Baby songs comes in the arrangements. Does U2 dare go into Songs of Surrender territory with any of the Achtung Baby songs? I hope not, but songs that haven't been played in decades like “So Cruel” and “Tryin' to Throw Your Arms” leave the door open for reinterpretations. The band did try to rehearse it in 2010 in an arrangement harkening back to the album version, but it never made the set.
“So Cruel” is an interesting case since Bono doesn't/can't play the guitar anymore. The song was primarily used as a segue on the “ZooTV” tour on the few occasions that they played it — usually with Bono playing it solo. There's also the vocal aspect of it — the choruses feature an extended falsetto note. Bono is more than capable of hitting falsetto notes, but these are longer than the ones at the end of “With or Without You” — the longest note from a song they play regularly I can think of off-hand. A drastic drop in key may be needed.
Or, they could take a similar approach to what they did with “Mothers of the Disappeared” on the 2017 and 2019 “Joshua Tree” tours. Bono would take the lower notes while The Edge sang high. I'm aware that I am nerding out about an album track on Achtung Baby, but it's certainly the song I'm most excited to hear live.
Live staples
These songs are live staples that would be hard to envision U2 not playing — if for nothing else than the sake of the casual fan.
“Beautiful Day,” “Elevation,” and “Vertigo” are all but guaranteed to be played. The trio of songs has become monotonous for hardcore U2 fans, but they're the most recent megahits that even non-fans may recognize. Even if one of these is dropped, you can expect two of these two to be played (likely “Beautiful Day” and “Vertigo” for potential for visuals).
“City of Blinding Lights” — visually, this would make for a great song. It's certainly well-known enough in the mainstream so casual audience members would not be lost. “Desire” would be great to hear. Come on, this song is the living embodiment of Las Vegas. I'd be shocked if U2 doesn't play it.
Out of these live staple picks, I'm least confident in “Bullet the Blue Sky.” What gives me some confidence is that the band has played it on nearly every tour since the original “Joshua Tree” tour, even if the song has lost some of its power from 2001 onward. But maybe the band can revamp the song again with a new presidential regime in place (the 2017 Trump versions weren't bad).
War hits
The teaser videos for the Sphere shows have shown the white flag that harkens back to U2's War era. For as much as I'd love to hear a non-megahit like “Two Hearts Beat As One,” “New Year's Day” feels the most likely to be played. I could also see “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” or maybe even “40” (this is contingent on if they don't plan on closing the concert out with “Love is Blindness” or “Love is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way.”)
Newer hits
While the Sphere shows are about looking back, U2 will surely include some new songs from their recent albums. With eight slots left, I think that “Love is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way” is a given. It's the best arena/stadium rock anthem they've written since “City of Blinding Lights.”
“Every Breaking Wave” — U2's greatest song of the 21st century is the modern-day “With or Without You thematically and a go-to for U2 in recent years. The band can use it as a chance to give Adam and Van den Berg a rest. I can see U2 doing a stripped-down segment with the likes of “Every Breaking Wave” and any other Songs of Surrender arrangements they want to include.
“The Blackout” is both visually and sonically a no-brainer off of Songs of Experience. It's the type of foot-stomping club rocker that fits perfectly in the Sphere.
“Get Out of Your Own Way“/”American Soul” — I think “American Soul” makes for a better fit thematically, but it's a package deal with “Get Out of Your Own Way” unless U2 wants to do something radically different and have a song like “Bullet the Blue Sky” segue right into it. I'm less confident in these picks, but I'd love to see it happen.
Other possibilities are “Invisible” and “You're the Best Thing About Me” — though in the case of the latter, I pray that it's the full-band electric version.
Zooropa love
U2 will surely throw in at least one or two “deep cuts,” perhaps from Zooropa (which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this July). The Edge did hint that U2 may honor the album during the Vegas shows, and I think the titular song would make an amazing entry into the setlist. However, the band hasn't played the song in full since 2011. I won't hold my breath.
“Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” — it's certainly the most likely Zooropa song to be played given it's the one the band actually doesn't ignore. I could also see them trying out the titular song for the first time since 2011. Plus, with its Blade Runner-like sound, I think they could do some cool things visually. “Dirty Day” was rumored to be worked on by the band. They recently played it on the European leg of the “eXPERIENCE+ iNNOCENCE” tour in 2018, but half was a spoken word speech by Bono about the band members' fathers. Should they play it, let's hope it's a full song performance.
This one is not an official entry, but I'd love to hear “The Wanderer” once in my life.
Regardless of what U2 does at the Sphere, it's important to take it all in. U2 has been together for over four decades, something rare for any band, and they are celebrating arguably their greatest album. Fans can call the residency itself a “cash grab” or a sign of the band becoming a “nostalgia act,” but take it all in. The Sphere marks a new venture in the world of live music. U2 will undoubtedly do their best to “dream it up” again.
U2 will kick off their U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere shows on September 29. For more information, click here.