U2 at Sphere: Is It Live, or Is It Memorex?

December 13, 2024 9:44am

We had a great time at Sphere last night for the U2 concert. But U2 wasn't there - not in person anyway.

I attended the October 27, 2023 U2 concert at Sphere (a live performance). During that residency, a U2 concert was filmed for playback at Sphere's amazing, one-of-a-kind, 16K wrap-around video screen. That film, titled "V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film at Sphere Las Vegas," was shown last night at Sphere.

To compare the "Live versus Memorex" performance, I wanted to sit in the exact same seat I was in for last year's live show. But seats in that section were not available for sale. Fortunately, seats in an adjacent section were available. So I sat in the same row (Row 17) on the other side of the aisle; about five feet from my live concert seat (which was Section 208, Row 17, Seat 1). It was close enough to replicate the experience.

So how did the film compare to the live show? If you didn't know it was a movie, you wouldn't know it was a movie. For decades, it has been easy for recorded audio to sound live. Now, with the technology used at Sphere, it is also possible for video to appear as live (in a Sphere-like venue where the video screen fills one's full peripheral vision).

With our rapid advances in AI video technology, I foresee new concerts featuring Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Queen, The Doors, and others one day coming to life in Sphere-like venues. The deceased artist I'd most like to see like that is Harry Chapin.

Last year's blog post about the live concert and Sphere's mind-blowing technology is online at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/blog/231028-1712

A second Sphere post is online at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/blog/231031-2223