U2 are to release an “immersive” new concert film, which was shot during their Sphere Las Vegas residency.
In new film ‘V-U2’, the Irish rockers – made up of Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. – want to give fans an experience as “close” to the shows they put on at the revolutionary entertainment venue “as possible”.
The Edge, who directed the concert film alongside Morleigh Steinberg, said: “The goal was to give the immersive moviegoers as close to the live U2:UV concert experience as possible – and then some.
“I’ve never seen a U2 show. I’m so relieved I caught a great one.”
In a trailer for ‘V-U2’, which will be exclusively screened at Sphere Las Vegas from September 5th, The Edge jokes: “After all these years, I get to see a U2 show.”
U2 played 40 gigs at the futuristic venue, and the run came to an end in March.
The veteran rockers made the final show special by performing a virtual duet of ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ with Crowded House star Neil Finn, after he emailed over vocals for them to use onstage.
Frontman Bono revealed U2 are big fans of the new version of the classic track, and they will attempt to record it.
He told the audience: “The other day we got a beautiful e-mail from Neil Finn, who wrote this bewilderingly beautiful song.
“Attached to the e-mail was a version of the song he said we could play whenever we wanted. It’s a new version that he did, and we’re going to try and record it.
“Neither party has spoken to our record label [about releasing this], so this might be the only recording that might ever exist. Please take your phones and send it to whoever loves freedom you know. Maybe send it to people that don’t [too]. There’s a few of them around.”
The band also thrilled fans by playing their 1983 track ’40’ for the first time since 2016 – revealing it had a special meaning for the final show of the residency.
Bono explained: “It’s been 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. What’s a fellow with a messianic complex going to do? Here’s a song we wrote in 40 minutes. I opened up the sacred text of the Psalm of David. I just kind of read it out. That was the lyric.”
The final show also included an appearance by their collaborator Daniel Lanois, who joined them onstage for a rendition of ‘One’.