, , , , ,

U2’s Bono Dedicates ‘All I Want Is You’ to First Lady Jill Biden During Final Sphere Performance


U2 wrapped the inaugural residency at Las Vegas‘ $2.3 billion technical and visual marvel Sphere this weekend, closing out a 40-show run that started in September. Fittingly, the legendary band did so by bringing things full circle.

The shows commemorated one of U2’s most successful records, the chart-topping 1991 release Achtung Baby, played in its entirety with selected tracks from other U2 efforts over the years. To further honor the album, U2 bandmates Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg (sitting in during the residency for an ailing Larry Mullen Jr.) welcomed Achtung Baby producer Daniel Lanois to the stage on Saturday night to play guitar and sing backup on the track “One.”

“There would be no Achtung Baby without Daniel Lanois,” Bono said in welcoming him up the back stairs with a request to the audience. “Show him your light,” and they did by holding up smartphone flashbulbs in a beautiful scene. And there would be no U2 without Mullen, who was given a special shout-out from the band during both the Friday and Saturday night performances at Sphere, located at The Venetian Resort. But it was on Friday when the following happened.

“The rumors that Larry will be playing with us tonight are not true, sadly. But he is here with us,” Bono said of the drummer, who spent 2023 recuperating from surgery and injuries he sustained over a career rocking out. “That is the man who pinned the note on the notice board at Mount Temple Comprehensive School all those years ago. We are very grateful that he did, and that he’s here with us tonight. We wish him a speedy, speedy, speedy recovery. We love you, Larry Mullen Jr.”


Cameras then cut to a VIP box where Mullen was seen beaming in front of the capacity crowd close to 20,000, as the audience erupted with cheers and chants of “Larry!” There were other VIPs on the scene for the final weekend of Sphere shows starring U2. Fellow rocker Lenny Kravitz checked out Friday’s show and on Saturday night, when The Hollywood Reporter was in attendance, rock star Dave Grohl and Brett Ratner were spotted. On the microphone, Bono also offered happy birthday wishes to Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Mick Jagger’s daughter, Elizabeth Jagger, both of whom turned a year older on March 2 birthdays and presumably celebrated inside Sphere.

But there was one more extra special VIP in attendance. Ahead of performing “All I Want Is You,” a song from their 1988 album Rattle and Hum, Bono had a few words to say and some news to break about that boldfaced name in the building.

“This song, when we wrote it, I tried to write the lyrics from the point of view of the woman or the bride, in this case, which is pretty arrogant, I suppose. That was a trick for me to get to the lyric I was playing on myself,” explained Bono. “Tonight, I want to dedicate it to all the great women in our lives — our partners, our mothers, our daughters, all the women on the U2 crew, all the great women in our audience that we feel we know, and all the great women in parts of the world going through very difficult circumstances that we could never know. And one woman in particular who is with us tonight, she’s a teacher. She’s your First Lady, so this is for Jill Biden.”


The audience cheered, and the woman seated next to THR whispered, “That explains all the extra security and bomb-sniffing dogs at the VIP drop-off and in the garage.” According to local reports, Biden touched down in Las Vegas on Saturday for a campaign event for her husband President Biden’s re-election efforts in the important swing state of Nevada. No word on whether she experienced any issues, though countless Vegas visitors faced massive delays and canceled flights due to heavy winds in the area.

Saturday night’s show, which kicked off at 9 p.m. following an opening DJ set from Pauli Lovejoy aka Pauli the PSM, also featured other notable moments. U2 closed out the concert by playing “40,” a 1983 tune from War that they previously leaned on to close many gigs during the 1980s. In another fitting moment, it was the 40th show. “It’s been 40 days and 40 nights in the desert,” Bono noted. “What’s a fellow with a messianic complex going to do? Here’s a song we wrote in 40 minutes. I opened up the sacred text of the Psalm of David. I just kind of read it out. That was the lyric.”


Closer to the top of the show, Bono explained how the band was feeling at the end of this groundbreaking run. “Look where we get to go to work. Welcome to the last night of Achtung Baby at the Sphere. This evening we are not just getting married in an Elvis chapel, we are getting married in an Elvis cathedral. We are feeling very much alive. Grateful to be alive, and in quite a flirtatious mood actually.”

The mood also got profoundly political later in the night when Bono and the band turned their attention to Alexei Navalny, something they’ve been doing during the shows since the death of the Russian opposition leader on Feb. 16. They’ve dedicated performances of the Crowded House hit “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” and the song was included on Saturday’s setlist once again but became brand new thanks to Crowded House founding member Neil Finn.

“This is a tightly constructed show, but as it’s our last night, we wondered if it might be OK to experiment on you a little bit. The idea is to record something special to honor Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia, who is continuing a fight against Vladimir Putin for a free, free Russia, which is what we want for the Russian people,” Bono announced in setting up the special moment. “The other day we got a beautiful email from Neil Finn, who wrote this bewildering beautiful song and he attached to the email a version of this song that he said we could play on or whatever we wanted. It’s a new version that he did, and we thought if we are going to record it, well, maybe if you would be on that recording and we could make that session the last night recording session and dedicating it to Yulia.”

He called the track “a song about freedom,” and before they got going, he made a request of the audience. “Let’s try and record this if we might. Neither parties have spoken to our record labels, so this might be the only recording that ever exists so please take out your phones and send it to whoever loves freedom that you know,” Bono said of the recording, seen in its entirety below. “And maybe send it to some people that don’t — there’s a few of them around.”


This article originally appeared in THR.com.

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/u2-bono-all-i-want-is-you-jill-biden-final-sphere-performance-1235619559/


December 2024
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  

About Us

Welcome to encircle News! We are a cutting-edge technology news company that is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in everything tech. From automobiles to drones, software to hardware, we’ve got you covered.

At encircle News, we believe that technology is more than just a tool, it’s a way of life. And we’re here to help you stay on top of all the latest trends and developments in this ever-evolving field. We know that technology is constantly changing, and that can be overwhelming, but we’re here to make it easy for you to keep up.

We’re a team of tech enthusiasts who are passionate about everything tech and love to share our knowledge with others. We believe that technology should be accessible to everyone, and we’re here to make sure it is. Our mission is to provide you with fun, engaging, and informative content that helps you to understand and embrace the latest technologies.

From the newest cars on the road to the latest drones taking to the skies, we’ve got you covered. We also dive deep into the world of software and hardware, bringing you the latest updates on everything from operating systems to processors.

So whether you’re a tech enthusiast, a business professional, or just someone who wants to stay up-to-date on the latest advancements in technology, encircle News is the place for you. Join us on this exciting journey and be a part of shaping the future.

Podcasts

TWiT 1011: The Year in Review – A Look at the Top Stories of 2024 This Week in Tech (Audio)

What's behind the tech industry's mass layoffs in 2024? : NPR Rabbit R1 AI Assistant: Price, Specs, Release Date | WIRED Stealing everything you've ever typed or viewed on your own Windows PC is now possible with two lines of code — inside the Copilot+ Recall disaster. Microsoft delays Recall after security concerns, and asks Windows Insiders for help The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Architecture Deep Dive: Getting To Know Oryon and Adreno X1 Elon Musk: First Human Receives Neuralink Brain Chip Apple hit with €1.8bn fine for breaking EU law over music streaming Bluesky emerges The hidden high cost of return-to-office mandates Apple's Car Was Doomed by Its Lofty Ambitions to Outdo Tesla SpaceX pulls off unprecedented feat, grabs descending rocket with mechanical arms U.S. versus Apple: A first reaction Google Says It Won't Force Gemini on Partners in Antitrust Remedy Proposal U.S. Accuses Chinese Hackers of Targeting Critical Infrastructure in America U.S. Agency Warns Employees About Phone Use Amid Ongoing China Hack AT&T says criminals stole phone records of 'nearly all' customers in new data breach National Public Data confirms breach exposing Social Security numbers Schools Want to Ban Phones. Parents Say No. New York passes legislation that would ban 'addictive' social media algorithms for kids GPT-4o (omni) + new "Her"-style AI assistant (it's nuts) Google emissions jump nearly 50% over five years as AI use surges Trump proposes strategic national crypto stockpile at Bitcoin Conference Ten additional US states join DOJ antitrust lawsuit looking to break up Live Nation and TicketmasterThe Internet Archive just lost its appeal over ebook lending Hezbollah Pagers Explode in Apparent Attack Across Lebanon OpenAI raises $6.6 billion in largest VC round ever Painting by A.I.-Powered Robot Sells for $1.1 Million Netflix's Live Mike Tyson Vs. Jake Paul Fight Battling Sound & Streaming Glitches In Lead-Up To Main Event Infowars Sale to The Onion Rejected by Federal Bankruptcy Judge Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to TikTok ban So You Want to Solve the NJ Drone Mystery? Our Expert Has Some Ideas Beeper's push for iMessage on Android is really over The Quiet Death of Ello's Big Dreams Japan finally ends mandatory form submission on floppy disks We'll Miss You: Pioneering instant messaging program ICQ is finally shutting down after nearly 30 years Spotify is going to break every Car Thing gadget it ever sold Game Informer to Shut Down After 33 Years In Memoriam Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit
  1. TWiT 1011: The Year in Review – A Look at the Top Stories of 2024
  2. TWiT 1010: The Densest State in the US – TikTok Ban, Drones Over Jersey, GM Quits Robotaxis
  3. TWiT 1009: Andy Giveth & Bill Taketh Away – Trump's Tech Titans, Crypto Boom, TikTok's US Ban, Intel CEO Exits
  4. TWiT 1008: Internet Legal – Australia's Social Media Ban for Kids, Smart Home Nightmare, Bluesky's Ascent
  5. TWiT 1007: All the Hotdogs in the World – China's "Salt Typhoon" Hack, Google on the Chopping Block, Recall AI