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Q Magazine

U2 Expand Las Vegas Sphere Residency in 2024, Pay Tribute to the Pogues' Shane MacGowan

The group performed the Pogues' 'Rainy Night in Soho' at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Dec. 1

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Source: © Ross Andrew Stewart

U2 Live at The Sphere, Las Vegas, November 4, 2023

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U2 have unveiled more dates for their 'U2: UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere' residency in Las Vegas, which will extend their run of shows into March 2024.

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Source: © Rich Fury

U2 frontperson Bono takes the lead at the band's U2: UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere,’ Las Vegas, November 4, 2023.

The final four dates, just announced:

Friday, February 23

Saturday, February 24

Friday, March 1

Saturday, March 2

All U2.com paid subscribers are eligible to submit a ticket request for the four newly added shows, even if they have requested or secured tickets for previously announced dates. The presale opens Monday, December 4th at 10am PT and closes Tuesday, December 5th at 10pm PT. Ticket confirmations will be sent out by the evening of Thursday, December, 7th.

Tickets will be available during a general onsale starting Friday, December 8th at 11am PT at Ticketmaster.com. On sale times may vary, check the Ticketmaster listing for more information.

U2 were the first band to perform at the brand-new multimedia venue, which has recently announced dates featuring jam-band legends Phish scheduled for April of next year.

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Source: © Kevin Mazur

The Edge, Bono, Bram van den Berg and Adam Clayton at the Sphere at the Venetian Resort, Las Vegas, September 30, 2023.

On December 1, Bono & Co. paid tribute to English-born, Irish-bred Shane MacGowan, who had passed away on November 30.

"Sing with us, for Shane McGowan," Bono announced from the stage. During the song, Bono tweaked the lyrics to "A Rainy Day in Soho" to reflect the death of MacGowan, who had been hospitalized prior to his death last week at the age of 65.

"McGowan’s song is never over, but we may never find out what it means," he sang. "You’re the measure of my dreams."

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Source: Roger Harris / YouTube

U2 - All I Want is You/A Rainy Night in Soho, Dec 1st, Shane MacGowan Tribute

Bono had previously performed the song live, accompanied by Johnny Depp, at a 60th birthday party for MacGowan in Dublin in 2018. That bash was also attended by such legendary artists as Nick Cave and the late Sinéad O’Connor.

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Source: MEGA

The Pogues' Shane MacGowan at his art book launch in Dublin, Ireland, November 8, 2022.

MacGowan co-founded The Pogues in 1982, which fused punk influences with traditional Irish music. MacGowan's songs were influenced by Irish history, Irish nationalism, the Irish diaspora, and London life. He co-wrote "A Fairytale of New York" in 1987, accompanied by Irish native Kirsty MacColl.

MacGowan battled longstanding health issues, compounded by well-known struggles with substance abuse. Issues arising from his alcohol and drug abuse led to his being firing from the Pogues in 1991, and he experienced stomach ulcers and alcoholic hepatitis in the 1990s.

Following MacGowan's death, Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, said in a statement: "Shane will be remembered as one of music's greatest lyricists. So many of his songs would be perfectly crafted poems, if that would not have deprived us of the opportunity to hear him sing them. The genius of Shane's contribution includes the fact that his songs capture within them, as Shane would put it, the measure of our dreams—of so many worlds, and particularly those of love, of the emigrant experience and of facing the challenges of that experience with authenticity and courage, and of living and seeing the sides of life that so many turn away from."

Bono left a drawing on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) hours after MacGowan's death was announced:

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