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U2 admits to ‘not enough distortion’ at Sphere residency

U2’s Bono said the sound system ‘is as great as everyone says’ but the band is now driving it harder as the first night of the residency wasn’t quite ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ enough.

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U2 have had to adjust their style of playing to introduce more distortion into the extraordinary sound system at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Sphere Immersive Sound provides individualised sound to each of 17,600 seats at the venue, drawing on a sound system with 1,600 permanently installed and 300 mobile Holoplot X1 matrix arrays, plus 167,000 individually amplified loudspeaker drivers.

In an interview with MOJO Magazine picked up by Bang Showbiz, U2’s Bono said the sound of the U2’s show wasn’t “rock ‘n’ roll” enough to start with.

He commented: “I’m relieved that the sound is as great as everyone says, but distortion is part of the language of rock’n’roll. You do need to drive the system a little hard. So we got that the second night. We got a bit more rock’n’roll, but there’s more to go.”

U2 has been performing its 1991 album Achtung Baby in full alongside other fan favourites and the band recently surprised fans when they were joined by Lady Gaga on stage for a duet of her song Shallow.

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