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Ever since the colossal satellite screens of Zoo TV first crash landed into our consciousness in the early 90s, U2 have consistently pushed the technological envelope to the very edge whether that be by erecting 100 foot LED screens, giant lemons, cocktail sticks or claws.
Now, they’ve made the much hyped Las Vegas Sphere – a $2.3bn, 18,000 seater sci-fi structure which boasts 160,000 speakers and the biggest wraparound LED screen you’ve ever seen in your life – their new home for the next few months. They’ll perform 25 dates at the venue through to December, with the Sphere’s future to include sports events, music performances and more. Plans for a twin venue in London’s Stratford have advanced despite concerns about light pollution: no issue here, mind.The buzz around this venue has swirled like a desert sandstorm in recent months as giant space helmets, the Stars and Stripes, baby faces and even the moon have been projected on to the outside of this mind boggling forum, which is situated perfectly alongside the blinding lights of the Las Vegas strip.
Entering the inner sanctum of the Sphere for the first time and taking in the sheer scale of the screen itself, truly takes your breath away.
And of course despite the immense pressure on tonight’s opening show, brimming with a who’s who of stars including everyone from Bryan Cranston and Matt Damon to the likes of Paul McCartney, Jeff Bezos and LeBron James, U2 can always be relied upon to deliver a solid state of the art stage show. They pull off a dazzling series of technological tricks right from the outset as whirring drones whizz past the audience while everything from giant helicopters, falling letters, widescreen desert landscapes and even a projection of the Sphere itself come hurtling towards the audience.
The first half as expected is dominated by hits from ‘Achtung Baby’ with ‘Zoo Station”s thudding intro kicking proceedings off nicely as Bono – returning as his Fly alter-ego – slowly spins on a tiny turntable while The Edge, Adam Clayton and stand-in drummer Bram van den Berg (covering for Larry Mullen Jr. while he faces back surgery) colour in the sonics superbly.
Once the band roll into ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’, a dizzying collage display in the style of Peter Blake featuring everyone from Elvis, to Nicolas Cage to The Queen’s Gambit actress Anya Taylor-Joy, slides down the screen.
Despite the early onslaught of breathtaking visuals, surprisingly the band almost abandon them for a good middle section of the show with the likes of ‘Rattle And Hum”s ‘All I Want Is You’, ‘Desire’ and ‘Angel Of Harlem’, which Bono dedicates to Macca (with a snippet of ‘Love Me Do’), being gently slipped into the set.
Even Achtung’s double punch of ‘Acrobat’ and the outstanding ‘Ultra Violet’ is devoid of any giant backdrop as the focus becomes squarely placed on all four members of the band.
Of course Larry Mullen Jr’s absence from the line up “for the first time since 1978” is clearly noticeable tonight particularly on stadium slaying numbers like ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ where his trademark drumstick clacking ahead of the spine tingling intro was a staple in U2’s set for many years. Van den Berg, who is celebrating his birthday tonight, has very big shoes to fill and he knows it. But he does a sterling job of picking up the baton from the long time drummer and co-founding member.
Wrapping up the show with ‘Elevation’ and new Blondie-cribbed single Atomic City’, Bono channels Elvis with a white Vegas style dinner jacket, swaggering against a giant cinematic backdrop of the bustling strip itself.
Reaching its cinematic climax, it feels like the band, venue and audience are transported to the vast depths of the Mojave Desert itself as they rattle off ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, ‘With Or Without You’ and ‘Beautiful Day’. Edge previously pointed out that U2 are taking the live concert experience “to the next level” and this opening night does a fine balancing act of doing just that while also ensuring their music remains very much at the forefront.
And this is just the start of a stunning residency which will only continue to blossom with each passing night in this city of blinding lights.
U2 played:
‘Zoo Station’
‘The Fly’
‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’
‘Mysterious Ways’
‘One’/’Purple Rain’/’Love Me Tender’
‘Until The End Of The World’
‘Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses’
‘Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World’
‘All I Want Is You’
‘Desire’/’Love Me Do’
‘Angel Of Harlem’/’Into The Mystic’/’Dancing In The Moonlight’
‘Love Rescue Me’
‘So Cruel’
‘Acrobat’
‘Ultraviolet (Light My Way)’
‘Love Is Blindness’
‘Elevation’/’My Way’
‘Atomic City’
‘Vertigo’
‘Where The Streets Have No Name’
‘With Or Without You’
‘Beautiful Day’/’Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’/’Blackbird’
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Ronnie Radke has claimed that Max Georgiev was dismissed from Falling In Reverse due to allegations of sexual misconduct, accusations that Georgiev has firmly rejected.
Georgiev exited the Las Vegas metalcore group in 2024. Last week, the band’s frontman Ronnie Radke shared an Instagram post stating that the guitarist was removed after allegedly admitting to a sexual relationship with an underage girl.
“For those that are wondering why I fired the guitarist,” Radke wrote, according to Lambgoat, “it’s because he admitted to sleeping with a minor ten years before he [was] in my band [when] he was 27 years old. Have fun with that.”
Georgiev, who joined Falling In Reverse in 2018 and now performs with metal outfit Vio-lence, responded shortly after, denying the allegations. “To the fans, I have never done anything illegal with a minor,” said Max Georgiev. “Fifteen years ago, when I was 23, I still lived in Quebec, Canada.”
“Since then, I have played for several bands who never mentioned inappropriate behavior on my part,” he continued. “I have always had great respect for the fans. I have strived to play my heart out for you.”
Radke’s Instagram account has since appeared to be removed, something he addressed during a livestream. “Maybe me talking about my old guitar player getting fired for finding out he was hooking up with minors, I think that AI might’ve caught that and was like, ‘You gotta go’,” he suggested, as reported by Loudwire".
“This man not only did that, [but] the parents of the minor ten years before he was in my band found out, they confronted him, he lied about his age so he could continue doing that with her. He wasn’t 23, he was older. He’s lying about that,” Radke went on to claim.
In a subsequent statement shared on Thursday January 8, Georgiev again rejected Radke’s accusations, calling them “delusional”. “I met someone who turned eighteen a few months later while I occasionally dated her,” he said. “This was fifteen years ago, when I was 23 in Quebec, Canada.”
“Her parents never confronted me because the girl only had a mother. I never lied to her or her daughter about anything.”
Georgiev later suggested that his departure from Falling In Reverse may instead have been linked to him “taking the initiative to learn nine songs of another band”, which he identified as Disturbed.
Elsewhere, Radke has reportedly filed a temporary restraining order against Brittany Furlan, citing alleged harassment connected to a catfish controversy from last year.
He has repeatedly alleged that Furlan, the estranged wife of Tommy Lee, was involved with someone impersonating him online. The filing asks that she be required to remain at least 100 yards away from him. Representatives for Furlan have said they are “aware” of the request and maintain that the allegations are “not accurate”.
Radke also saw his defamation lawsuit against Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop dismissed last year.
