The December 15 U2 show at the Sphere was special. Not only did the band play “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” for the first time since 1987, one of their biggest hits made its tour debut.
“City of Blinding Lights”
In the first slot of their turntable set during their Sphere show, which is usually four songs played acoustically, they kicked it off with “City of Blinding Lights.” This was the first time since 2018's “Experience + Innocence” tour that U2 has played the song.
However, it was worth noting that it wasn't played in its original arrangement. It sounded closer to the acoustic Songs of Surrender arrangement. The Edge strummed chords as Bono sang the words slowly. As the first pre-chorus began, Bram van den Berg's drums and Adam Clayton's bass began rising.
By the first chorus of falsetto notes, the full band was playing. As the song continued, the song's tempo got faster and it began sounding somewhat like the original arrangement.
It's a bit of a bummer that U2 didn't get any special visuals for the song. Thinking back to performances on the aforementioned “Experience and Innocence” tour and its sister tour, the “Innocence + Experience” tour, the visuals were stunning. Here, it was pretty stripped back.
Of course, this could be due to the band not preparing for the song to be played. This rotational portion of the set was always going to be hard to plan for. Why invest time and money on visuals for songs that may only get played a handful of times?
U2 is currently playing their first-ever residency. They opened the new Sphere venue on September 29 and will conclude it on March 2, 2024 after 40 shows.
During the gigs, the band celebrates their 1991 album, Achtung Baby. For the first time ever, U2 is playing the full album in full. This includes performances of album tracks like “So Cruel” and “Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS3FiFV8INE
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