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While the Grammys are being held at the (unfortunately-named) Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles this year, the show briefly traveled 270 miles away to U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas where the group performed their 2023 single “Atomic City.”
The pre-taped performance started on the 580,000-foot LED screen on the exterior of the building before zooming in to reveal the band midsong, which is about Vegas itself. “God doesn’t play dice,” Bono sang. “But he likes roulette/The wheel has not stopped spinning yet.”
U2 opened the $2 billion Sphere Sept. 29, 2023, and have been playing to capacity crowds there over the past four months. Every night has featured a complete performance of their 1991 classic Achtung Baby, with Bram van den Berg subbing in for an ailing Larry Mullen Jr. on drums. Their Grammy performance is the first time the broader public has had a chance to see inside the super high-tech venue.
The U2 residency wraps up March 2. Phish have four shows booked at the venue in April. Dead & Company’s Sphere residency kicks off in May, with shows running through July 13.
Over the past four decades, U2 have taken home 22 Grammys and garnered 46 nominations. They won Album of the Year for The Joshua Tree in 1988, and Album of the Year again in 2006 for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. They last played the Grammys ceremony in 2018 when they joined Kendrick Lamar at the top of the show for a medley of his songs. They returned later in the show for “Get Out of Your Own Way.”
