Post by therealgws on Oct 6, 2023 1:34:20 GMT 1
www.irishstar.com/culture/music-nightlife/u2-las-vegas-sphere-depressing-31088623
Las Vegas is the most depressing city in the world.
Given its popularity as a tourist destination, the queue to disagree with that bald declaration will be a long one. But wander around the place sober and you will have your eyes opened.
There are casinos the size of Croke Park and you will find people who spend entire days and nights sitting at the slots, feeding money constantly into the machines.
Snacks are brought to them by staff so they don’t have to move. Many of them wear nappies so they don’t have to have even a minute away from the gambling machines. Go online and you’ll find companies offering adult diapers to gamblers heading to Vegas.
If you try and get some peace in your hotel room, there’s a fair chance that cards offering the services of an escort for the night will be shoved under your door.
This is the dump where U2 are supposedly reinventing themselves.
And their shows in the $2.3billion Sphere have gone down well — mainly due to the venue itself. It showcases graphics, visuals and lighting unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. But the footage of the show is as depressing as anything in Vegas.
Three old Irish geezers and a random Dutchman are just tiny dots playing away while thousands of people take photos of the roof and the visuals.
U2 are a sideshow in their own show. This, we are told, is the future of entertainment. To me, it looks like the future of migraines.
Larry Mullen isn’t in Vegas. U2 were originally Larry’s band. He’s lucky not to be part of this charade.
He is part of their new single — Atomic City — which is instantly forgettable. But that has been the way with U2’s recorded output for a long, long time.
In Vegas, they covered Thin Lizzy and did My Way. Larry wears a Ramones t-shirt in the Atomic City promos. The current show focuses on Achtung Baby — an album from 1991.
U2 are stuck in the past, stuck in a moment they can’t get out of. They are a truly great band, but they’re yesterday’s band. No techno wizardry will change that.
Las Vegas is the most depressing city in the world.
Given its popularity as a tourist destination, the queue to disagree with that bald declaration will be a long one. But wander around the place sober and you will have your eyes opened.
There are casinos the size of Croke Park and you will find people who spend entire days and nights sitting at the slots, feeding money constantly into the machines.
Snacks are brought to them by staff so they don’t have to move. Many of them wear nappies so they don’t have to have even a minute away from the gambling machines. Go online and you’ll find companies offering adult diapers to gamblers heading to Vegas.
If you try and get some peace in your hotel room, there’s a fair chance that cards offering the services of an escort for the night will be shoved under your door.
This is the dump where U2 are supposedly reinventing themselves.
And their shows in the $2.3billion Sphere have gone down well — mainly due to the venue itself. It showcases graphics, visuals and lighting unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. But the footage of the show is as depressing as anything in Vegas.
Three old Irish geezers and a random Dutchman are just tiny dots playing away while thousands of people take photos of the roof and the visuals.
U2 are a sideshow in their own show. This, we are told, is the future of entertainment. To me, it looks like the future of migraines.
Larry Mullen isn’t in Vegas. U2 were originally Larry’s band. He’s lucky not to be part of this charade.
He is part of their new single — Atomic City — which is instantly forgettable. But that has been the way with U2’s recorded output for a long, long time.
In Vegas, they covered Thin Lizzy and did My Way. Larry wears a Ramones t-shirt in the Atomic City promos. The current show focuses on Achtung Baby — an album from 1991.
U2 are stuck in the past, stuck in a moment they can’t get out of. They are a truly great band, but they’re yesterday’s band. No techno wizardry will change that.
