Bono of U2 acknowledges that the initial sound of their Las Vegas performance, "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere," was insufficiently "rock 'n' roll."
At their state-of-the-art, multibillion-dollar immersive MSG Sphere at the Venetian, where concertgoers are placed in a "360-degree sonic spectrum" where the sound is consistent wherever they are sitting, the Irish rockers have been having to push their sound harder to achieve the distortion they are used to.
The frontman revealed in an interview with MOJO magazine: "We weren't sure if the building would function. "Until the very last minute, there were plasterers, engineers, builders, and electricians hooking everything up."
The first night did not have the necessary amount of rock 'n' roll, he said.
"I mean, I'm relieved that the sound is as great as everyone says, but distortion is part of the language of rock'n'roll. You do need to drive the system a little hard. So we got that the second night. We got a bit more rock'n'roll, but there's more to go."
At the cutting-edge location, U2 has been playing the entirety of their 1991 album "Achtung Baby" in addition to other crowd favorites.
Recently, the "With or Without You" hitmakers shocked fans by inviting Lady Gaga to sing a duet on her huge hit song "Shallow."
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The renowned Irish rock band's performance at the Sphere was attended by the pop queen, 37, and her boyfriend, Michael Polansky.
Weeks later, she made a comeback, performing a duet on her 2018 hit song from the hugely successful film "A Star Is Born" with Bono and The Edge.
The Grammy winner earlier sang a duet of "Ordinary Love" with U2 at Madison Square Garden in 2015 as part of the band's "iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE" tour.
In another news, U2 updated MOJO on their next album.
Speaking while on tour at the cutting-edge The Sphere in Las Vegas, bassist Adam Clayton and frontman Bono discussed the status of the group's upcoming album, which they described as "noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable" rock.
This album is set to replace the much-discussed but now-shelved Songs Of Ascent.
"I announced it, without discussion, as 'an unreasonable guitar record'," the singer tells Danny Eccleston in in the latest issue of MOJO.
"And Edge called me up and goes, 'How unreasonable?' And I said, As unreasonable as you're ready to take it." "I would love that to be the next U2 record!" Edge told MOJO earlier this year.
"The lockdown was a very creative period for me, just in composing music. I don't want to jinx ourselves... but there's a lot of great material waiting. I think the guitar is coming back. I really feel it. And I would like to be part of that. I'd like to be the vanguard of this resurgence of guitars."
"We are turning the amps on. I certainly think the rock that we all grew up with as 16- and 17-year-olds, that rawness of those Patti Smith, Iggy Pop records... that kind of power is something we would love to connect back into," confirmed bassist Adam Clayton. "Songs Of Ascent is a much more meditative, spiritual record. This will be Songs For Fighting, I'd say!"
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