U2's Sphere grand opening in Las Vegas is receiving the ravest of reviews.
"Dazzling" beamed The Hollywood Reporter. "Stunning," stated the Associated Press. "Eye-popping, jaw-dropping, brain-breaking," wrote the Editor in Chief of Yahoo Music.
Type "Sphere Insane" into your search engine and you'll see people losing their minds trying to describe what the game-changing new concert sensation did to their senses last week in the desert as the Irish legends performed music from a simpler time.
In 1991, when U2 released Achtung Baby, the album they're performing live in the $2.3 billion wonder, the Internet was but a baby itself.
The average computer modem, a device we now take for granted, topped out at 14.4 kbps. Meaning, to download an MP3 of an entire album (about 173 MB) would take over three hours. Don't ask us how we know this.
Computers were lucky to have two stereo speakers as stereo sound cards were also new. Most people who wanted to hear beautiful music from their computer bought seperate speakers that plugged in through the headphone jack.
It was a simpler time.
But even then U2 was at the forefront of technical advancements in regards to bringing rock and roll concerts, particularly those in large venues, a modern flair.
The Zoo TV Tour that supported the Grammy-winning album was dazzling, eye-opening, and stunning in its own, 1992 way, that might not seem like much today, but it was definitely a spectacle that had no peers by any others, and set the bar for being able to deliver great sound and amazing visuals even if you are in the furthest row of the football stadium.
Years later U2 would continue to be pioneers in forward-thinking presentations, from the romantic heart runway of 2001's Elevation Tour, the LED curtains of 2005's Vertigo Tour, the incredible claw stage of or the enormous video wall of 2009's 360 Tour,
or the enormous video screen of the Joshua Tree anniversary tours in 2017 & 2019.
No band consistently put in the work to wow its audience with state-of-the-art production like the letter U and the numeral 2.
So of course the Sphere would be their baby.
As advertised Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and a drummer who was not Larry Mullin, Jr., who is recovering from surgery, played every song from Achtung Baby, whose biggest hits were "Mysterious Ways," "Even Better Than The Real Thing." and "One."
As a palate freshener, U2 broke up the set with an acoustic aside where they doled out four tunes from the 1988 mostly-live album Rattle & Hum, that gave us "Desire," "Angel of Harlem," and "All I Want Is You."
They encored with a variety of fan favorites from a few of their other albums, ending with the 1-2-3 punch of "Where The Streets Have No Name," "With or Without You," and "Beautiful Day."
All of this means nothing to a large group of young people who are not as enamored with the Irish quartet as many Gen X and some Boomers may be.
But by playing these delightful, once cutting-edge tunes surrounded by 1.2 million puck lights and never-before-heard arrangements of 167,000 speakers, even the most pouty Gen Z critic will be entranced with; as it's all the polar opposite of their iphone screen.
And that music is going to sink into their psyche like it has been doing for decades since Bono first started waving his white flag and sporting a mullet.
Of the VIPs on opening night were Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Jeff Bezos, and LeBron James.
Jurassic World producer Frank Marshall has seen and heard some top-shelf sights and sounds in his day, he gave it a thumbs up:
The U2 engagement goes through the end of the year, and not surprisingly most of the tickets are sold, making fans hope more dates will be added. The seats that are remaining might not seem so great, as some are on the sides, but designers swear there isn't a bad seat in the joint.
Ticket prices, however, may set records for their exhorbances. Face value of many of the remaining seats start at over $500 on the lower end, and over $1,200 to sit in the sweet spot. So far we have yet to see one person say it's not worth it.
Go to the Sphere website to nab your tickets.