U2 Looks Back on Their 40-Show Sphere Residency, Receives Special ‘Benediction’ from Paul McCartney and Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Ailing Drummer Larry Mullen

U2 reflected on some of the highs and lows of their 40-date U2: UV Achtung Baby residency at the Sphere in Paradise, NV; which concluded on March 2 with a concert that streamed Sunday on U2 X-radio (Sirius XM Channel 32).

‘We sort of had a very lucky break because being the first band, we got a chance to explore the sound system and work very closely with the venue people to get our visuals working,’ the Edge told SiriusXM’s U2 X-Radio ahead of the final show.

‘I don’t think anyone will do exactly what we’re doing, what we did, and I think that’s probably a good thing.’

In order to preserve his three-octave tenor pipes in the dry desert climate, frontman Bono kept indoors while surrounded by humidifiers.

‘It was like the reptile house in the zoo when we were kids in Dublin, and so the missus didn’t want to be in the room. It was like she said, the smell of boiled carpet off you and I’m like, “Okay, that’s not good,”‘ the 63-year-old singer admitted.

U2 reflected on some of the highs and lows of their 40-date U2: UV Achtung Baby residency at the Sphere in Paradise, NV; which concluded on March 2 with a concert that streamed Sunday on U2 X-radio (Sirius XM Channel 32)

‘When we did the first show [on September 29] as Edge was saying, something went off and we had a visitation. We had a visitation and if you’re gonna drop a name, drop a big name. We had a visitation from a Beatle. That’s right. We had a Beatle. We had the Macca. We had Paul McCartney, and I hadn’t been able to see any of the guests because of my voice. I’ve been locked up in the reptile house, but he came round, the band came round. We all had with one moment with the Beatle and he gave us the benediction.’

Bono (born Paul Hewson) remembered how the legendary 81-year-old said: ‘”I could hear you better than ever. I could see you, but the bit when it breaks down in the middle, I could feel you,” and I think that’s what we learned after the first night was that we could have a more dimensional effect that’s dimensional, not dementia. We also have that, but that’s a given. But yeah, because it really is a load of bollocks if people don’t feel it and spectacle.

‘People talk about spectacle. It has to be, that spectacle has to be interior to, you have to feel it and the emotions that were going off on that first night were very special. There’s been some really great nights and then there’s the humbling thing. I have to say this. The sh*** nights and you leave stage, you go, “That was that. Sh***,” and you find out that’s somebody else’s favorite night and you think, “Well, what do they know?” and then you hear it back and they’re right.’

The Irish rock band’s drummer Larry Mullen – who’s been recovering from neck surgery and other ailments – attended the March 2 concert and congratulated Bram van den Berg ‘for an amazing job’ replacing him: ‘A very emotional night for me personally.’

‘It was really great that, you know, our audience accepted Bram, you know, into the fold,’ bassist Adam Clayton said.

‘They knew he was stepping in for Larry who couldn’t perform, and they embraced him and within a very short period of time, it was like they accepted that Bram was there. He was doing a great job. They turned up with their signs for Bram, and it was like, wow.’

Bono added: ‘That’s right. There was a real embrace, as Adam says, but I think the “Wham bam, thank you Bram” t-shirts are just going too far. Edge spoke to me about it afterwards. He says, “We gotta knock this guy out.”‘

Phish will be the next headliner at the Sphere on April 18-21, and their fanbase is arguably as loyal as the Grateful Dead.

When the 22-time Grammy winners were asked if they had any advice for the Vermont psychedelic jam band, the 62-year-old guitarist (born David Evans) said: ‘I would say give yourselves time to really get your sound figured out and find the thing that you can do in this venue that you couldn’t possibly do anywhere else.’

U2 – who get 21.9M monthly listeners on Spotify – was formed in Dublin in 1976 while the band members were teenaged pupils of Mount Temple Comprehensive School, and they’ve put out 15 studio album which have sold 150–170M records worldwide.

The Edge (R) told SiriusXM’s U2 X-Radio ahead of the final show: ‘We sort of had a very lucky break because being the first band, we got a chance to explore the sound system and work very closely with the venue people to get our visuals working’

The 62-year-old guitarist continued: ‘I don’t think anyone will do exactly what we’re doing, what we did, and I think that’s probably a good thing’

In order to preserve his three-octave tenor pipes in the dry desert climate, frontman Bono kept indoors while surrounded by humidifiers

The 63-year-old singer (L) admitted: ‘It was like the reptile house in the zoo when we were kids in Dublin, and so the missus didn’t want to be in the room. It was like she said, the smell of boiled carpet off you and I’m like, “Okay, that’s not good”‘

Bono (born Paul Hewson) added: ‘We had a visitation from a Beatle. That’s right. We had a Beatle. We had the Macca. We had Paul McCartney (2-L, pictured September 29), and I hadn’t been able to see any of the guests because of my voice. I’ve been locked up in the reptile house, but he came round, the band came round. We all had with one moment with the Beatle and he gave us the benediction’

Bono remembered how the legendary 81-year-old said: ‘”I could hear you better than ever. I could see you, but the bit when it breaks down in the middle, I could feel you,” and I think that’s what we learned after the first night was that we could have a more dimensional effect that’s dimensional, not dementia. We also have that, but that’s a given. But yeah, because it really is a load of bollocks if people don’t feel it and spectacle’

He continued: ‘There’s been some really great nights and then there’s the humbling thing. I have to say this. The sh*** nights and you leave stage, you go, “That was that. Sh***,” and you find out that’s somebody else’s favorite night and you think, “Well, what do they know?” and then you hear it back and they’re right’

The Irish rock band’s drummer Larry Mullen – who’s been recovering from neck surgery and other ailments – attended the March 2 concert and congratulated Bram van den Berg ‘for an amazing job’ replacing him: ‘A very emotional night for me personally’

Bassist Adam Clayton (L) said: ‘It was really great that, you know, our audience accepted Bram (R), you know, into the fold. They knew he was stepping in for Larry who couldn’t perform, and they embraced him and within a very short period of time, it was like they accepted that Bram was there. He was doing a great job. They turned up with their signs for Bram’

Bono added: ‘That’s right. There was a real embrace, as Adam says, but I think the “Wham bam, thank you Bram” t-shirts are just going too far. Edge spoke to me about it afterwards. He says, “We gotta knock this guy out”‘

Phish will be the next headliner at the Sphere on April 18-21, and their fanbase is arguably as loyal as the Grateful Dead

When the 22-time Grammy winners were asked if they had any advice for the Vermont psychedelic jam band, the Edge said: ‘I would say give yourselves time to really get your sound figured out and find the thing that you can do in this venue that you couldn’t possibly do anywhere else’

U2 – who get 21.9M monthly listeners on Spotify – was formed in Dublin in 1976 while the band members were teenaged pupils of Mount Temple Comprehensive School, and they’ve put out 15 studio album which have sold 150–170M records worldwide