- Kyle Chua
U2 Concert Opens High-Tech Las Vegas Sphere
Updated: Dec 18, 2023
U2 fans were treated to an epic audio-visual spectacle when the legendary rock band took the stage inside the newly-opened sphere in Las Vegas.
The massive, state-of-the-art venue, known as the Sphere at The Venetian Resort, hosted the launch of U2's "UV Achtung Baby" residency on Friday, September 29. Frontman Bono, guitarists The Edge and Adam Clayton and stand-in drummer Bram van den Berg perform their most popular hits, including "Mysterious Ways", "Zoo Station", "Desire" and "All I Want is You".
However, the two-hour concert would not have been the same without the stunning visual effects that accompanied the performances. The spherical structure that wraps around the stage stands 366-feet high and 516-feet wide and features high-resolution LED screens that can output immersive 3D graphics. It also features 160,000 high-quality speakers and 260 million video pixels.
"The sheer scale of the Sphere is extraordinary – it’s like a spaceship in here, with 16K x 16K pixel screens that require that we move 200-300 gigabytes of video data every minute," said Stefan “Smasher” Desmedt, Technical Director and Video Director for U2. "In the past, we used 4K video – this is uncharted territory."
To migrate the high-resolution video the band used during the concert from where it was rendered in the United Kingdom to the venue’s servers in Las Vegas, Desmedt and his team employed the help of WEKA, a cloud storage and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist. The WEKA Data Platform reportedly provided a seamless way for the team to render, load and migrate more than 500 terabytes of video files to the local WEKA cluster at the Sphere via the cloud.
"We needed to find a storage server technology partner that could meet both the band’s vision and the production’s extreme scale and performance requirements and deliver flawlessly in real time," said Desmedt. "WEKA quickly became the clear choice."
The Sphere is the development of the Executive Chair of Madison Square Garden and owner of the New York Knicks and Rangers, James Dolan. He supposedly sketched the first drawing of the venue, which cost US$2.3 billion to build, on notebook paper.
“What a fancy pad,” said Bono, who also couldn't help but admire the venue's unique structure and features during the concert.
The Sphere at The Venetian Resort hosted the launch of U2's "UV Achtung Baby" residency on Friday, September 29.
The band's concert at the massive, state-of-the-art venue was accompanied by immersive visuals, with the newly opened structure standing 366-feet high and 516-feet wide and featuring high-resolution LED screens that can output immersive 3D graphics.
The Vegas sphere also features 160,000 high-quality speakers and 260 million video pixels.