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The Boss is back, and he’s heading home.
As previously reported, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will hit the road for their latest world tour, kicking off March 19 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ and stretching across 52 dates in 17 countries.
One of those dates is a recent addition. Springsteen and Co. are now booked for a homecoming spot headlining the second of two nights at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival, set for Sept. 15 at Asbury Park, New Jersey (“Stick Season” singer Noah Kahan will headline the previous day’s program).
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The 74-year-old rock legend singer is now symptom free from a peptic ulcer disease that plagued him last year, forcing the band off the road and postponing a long run of shows into 2024. Those postponed dates are worked into the forthcoming tour, set to wrap up Nov. 22 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Springsteen warmed up the trek with performances at the 2024 MusiCares Person Of The Year gala, the 17th annual Stand Up For Heroes benefit and at the New Jersey Hall of Fame induction honoring Patti Scialfa.
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To celebrate the trans-Atlantic tour dates, Springsteen’s longtime label home Sony Music will release a career-spanning collection of the Rock And Roll Hall of Famer’s original music, on April 19.
The Best of Bruce Springsteen will house 31 songs in digital formats. Sony Music will also issue an 18-track set across two LPs or one CD. The vinyl edition will also be available as an Amazon exclusive “color variant,” reps say.
Check out Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band’s 2024 tour dates:
March 19 – Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint CenterMarch 22 – Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile ArenaMarch 25 – San Diego, CA @ Pechanga ArenaMarch 28 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase CenterMarch 31 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase CenterApril 4 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia ForumApril 7 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia ForumApril 12 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun ArenaApril 15 – Albany, NY @ MVP ArenaApril 18 – Syracuse, NY @ JMA Wireless DomeApril 21 – Columbus, OH @ Nationwide ArenaMay 5 – Cardiff, Wales @ Principality StadiumMay 9 – Belfast, Northern Ireland @ Boucher RoadMay 12 – Kilkenny, Ireland @ Nowlan ParkMay 16 – Cork, Ireland @ Páirc Uí ChaoimhMay 19 – Dublin, Ireland @ Croke ParkMay 22 – Sunderland, England @ Stadium of LightMay 25 – Marseille, France @ Orange VélodromeMay 28 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Airport LetnanyJune 1 – Milan, Italy @ San Siro StadiumJune 3 – Milan, Italy @ San Siro StadiumJune 12 – Madrid, Spain @ Cívitas MetropolitanoJune 14 – Madrid, Spain @ Cívitas MetropolitanoJune 17 – Madrid, Spain @ Cívitas MetropolitanoJune 20 – Barcelona, Spain @ Estadi OlímpicJune 22 – Barcelona, Spain @ Estadi OlímpicJune 27 – Nijmegen, Netherlands @ GoffertparkJune 29 – Nijmegen, Netherlands @ GoffertparkJuly 2 – Werchter, Belgium @ Werchter ParkJuly 5 – Hannover, Germany @ Heinz von Heiden ArenaJuly 9 – Odense, Denmark @ DyrskuepladsenJuly 12 – Helsinki, Finland @ Olympic StadiumJuly 15 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Friends ArenaJuly 18 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Friends ArenaJuly 21 – Bergen, Norway @ DokkenJuly 25 – London, England @ Wembley Stadium connected by EEJuly 27 – London, England @ Wembley Stadium connected by EEAug. 15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints ArenaAug. 18 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints ArenaAug. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank ParkAug. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank ParkSept. 7 – Washington, DC @ Nationals ParkSept. 13 – Baltimore, MD @ Oriole Park at Camden YardsSept. 15 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Sea.Hear.Now FestivalOct. 31 – Montreal, Quebec @ Centre BellNov. 3 – Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank ArenaNov. 6 – Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank ArenaNov. 9 – Ottawa, Ontario @ Canadian Tire CentreNov. 13 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Canada Life CentreNov. 16 – Calgary, Alberta @ Scotiabank SaddledomeNov. 19 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Rogers PlaceNov. 22 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Rogers Arena
More than five decades after its release, Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” joins Spotify’s Billions Club – an elite collection of works that have accumulated more than one billion streams. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Recognized as a classic of the heavy metal genre, “Paranoid” is the title […]
On Tuesday (Mar. 5), Korn announced a 30th anniversary celebration for the fall, commemorating three decades since the beloved hard rock group’s debut. The one-night-only event will be held on Oct. 5 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, with special guests Evanescence, Gojira, Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway, Spiritbox and Vended among the special guests joining the special Korn performance.
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The band has hinted at a rollicking year to toast the 30th anniversary of their 1994 self-titled debut, with a string of European festival performances kicking off in July, as well as a slot at Louder Than Life 2024 in Louisville in September. For Brian “Head” Welch, however, 2024 has also brought the extension of his long-running advocacy for mental health awareness and treatment.
In January, the Korn guitarist announced a partnership with Atlantic Behavioral Health, a newly opened treatment center serving Massachusetts and New Hampshire and focusing on mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. Atlantic offers medication management, individual therapy and group therapy as part of their outpatient program, and Welch has been active in encouraging patients as part of the new partnership.
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“As I get older, I start to reflect on my life and what I’ve been given, and also my responsibilities,” says the 53-year-old Welch, who has spoken extensively about his addiction issues and struggles with mental health that played a part in him departing Korn in 2005 before rejoining the group in 2012. “People look to us, they hear what we’re sharing. It’s been really cool to give back, and to see other people doing so as well.”
Last month, Welch spoke to Billboard about linking up with Atlantic Behavioral Health, becoming more open about discussing his internal struggles, and challenging himself to give back during a busy year. (Ed. note — this interview has been condensed for clarity.)
How did this partnership come about?
I’m gonna go way back — I started experimenting with alcohol and drugs at 14, just massive drinking through my teenage years, a functioning alcoholic. And I joined a band, and then we got signed, and the drugs and alcohol just went on for a decade. I left the band and got my life together, and I’ve just been trying to help people that were like me back then.
When I rejoined Korn in 2012, a couple years after that, I met this kid Justin, who was a massive heroin addict, crack addict, everything. And I befriended him, got to know his family really well, tried to help him when, honestly, it wasn’t looking good. And then he finally got his life together, and got sober, and I opened sober living homes with him in the Boston, New Hampshire area. We did that for a while, and he’s been able to help so many people, and then we met some more people in the industry. We found that a lot of the addicts, when they get sober, they don’t know who they are, they don’t know how to feel. And that’s why a lot of people relapse, because they’re not comfortable in their own skin. And so that’s where the mental health aspect comes into it.
We met some amazing people in the industry, talked to them about this idea, and they have a couple outpatient and impact patient rehabs in the Boston area, so we partnered with them to [focus on] the mental health aspect. We want to help people that are struggling, with addiction or with mental health.
From what you just described, it sounds like you evolved from your own issues, to helping one other person with their issues, to finding a whole community of support.
And I really feel like I didn’t have that back in the day. I’m sure there were some programs, but an all-in-one program, with medication consulting and group therapy and one-on-one therapy, like the whole package — I wish I would have had something like that when I was going through my issues. I’ve sat in on group, and I’m going to continue to do so. I’m going to grab some of my men and women from the music industry to come on Zoom and sit in group and encourage people.
Man, I was so lost, and I had so many mental health issues. And it had nothing to do with being rich and famous or not, because I was successful! I just had a horrible time with my emotions and mental state. But I’m living proof that you can get through it, and you can change. You can get to a new place where you find contentment in life, where you find joy.
How do you think this partnership will play out on a weekly and monthly basis?
I’ve sat in on group, and I’m going to continue to do so. I’m going to grab some of my peers from the music industry to come on Zoom and sit in group and encourage people. I’ll do things in person, I’ll do things on Zoom when I’m on tour and whatnot. It’s amazing to be a part of, and what I love about it the most is that there’s a wide variety of different people that come — male and female, gay and straight, old and young. Everybody has something in common, and they’re all discussing what kind of tools to use when they get into that dark space in their mind.
You’ve been speaking out for years about your battles with addiction and mental health issues. Over the course of that time, have you seen others become increasingly open to discussing these issues in public?
When I was 16 or 17, I went through this phase where I didn’t want to be around my parents, I just wanted to be by myself. Some of that’s normal for teenagers, but I think mine was a little bit deeper, because my dad had alcohol issues and anger issues, and he was a good dad, but some of the unpredictable emotional outbursts — I was getting bitter from some of the experiences.
And so they took me into counseling, and dude, I did not want to go into counseling. I would have rather just run away, I would have rather have gotten beat up, than talk about my feelings. It was like an open wound that someone was trying to touch, so I just lived my life in avoidance — I wanted to avoid any issues that were internal or mental, and I avoided it by just drinking. I did that for years, and then when I started getting sober, I started opening up more as I got older, and got really scared that I didn’t want to live my life. The alcohol and the drugs worked for a while to numb it, and then, as we all know, that starts to turn on you.
I started to open up, and as I reached out more, and I started to find counselors who I’d work with one-on-one — but I didn’t have that [community], that group aspect, any of those options. That’s really changed a lot.
With the Korn 30th anniversary and your Atlantic partnership, it sounds like it’s going to be a busy year for you.
It is, man. I mean, Korn and my family are in California, and then Atlantic’s in Boston. My daughter’s in Indiana, and then there’s touring, so to juggle everything is sometimes a challenge. But I like a challenge — I think it’s good as we get older to keep active, so I’m just gonna do the best I can. And for Atlantic, the doctors and therapists are the rock stars, and I’m just getting the word out. I’m really honored to be a part of it, even in a small way.
The Point Break Festival, an all-new two-day music festival in Virginia Beach, announced today that Sublime and Rebelution will headline the event coming to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront June 1-2. Featuring more than 20 bands throughout the weekend, the first-time festival will take place at 5th Street on the beach.
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As part of a limited run of tour stops in 2024, Sublime will take the stage on Saturday, June 1, with new lead singer Jakob Nowell, the son of the beloved original lead singer Bradley Nowell, alongside founding members Bud Gaugh (drums) and Eric Wilson (bass). The Grammy-nominated band Rebelution, best known for their soulful modern reggae, mixed with pop hooks, alt-rock grit, and hip-hop grooves, will anchor Sunday’s stacked line-up.
The inaugural event will also feature performances by Wiz Khalifa, Stephen Marley, Steel Pulse, Pepper, Tribal Seeds, Fortunate Youth, Hirie, The Expendables, Bumpin Uglies, Denm, Tropidelic, Artikal Sound System, Ballyhoo, Passafire, REGLDGRN, Kash’d Out, Joe Samba, The Supervillians, Of Good Nature, Quasi Kings, Cultivated Minds, and Ganja Cat.
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Presale details will be available on the festival’s official website starting Thursday, March 7 at 10 a.m. ET, with the general on-sale for tickets begins Friday, March 8 at 10 a.m. ET.
The Point Break Festival is produced by IMGoing, the Virginia Beach promoter and producer of concerts and events throughout the state of Virginia. IMGoing operates the Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion in Portsmouth and Virginia Beach Events, the entertainment and events program for the city of Virginia Beach. In addition, IMGoing promotes events at venues throughout the state, including The Hampton Coliseum, Chrysler Hall, Altria Theater, Roanoke Performing Arts Center and Carpenter Theatre. In addition to the nationally touring artists and festivals, IMGoing has produced many community and military events.
Reyna Tropical is set to release its first full-length album later this month — despite being a band for nearly eight years. Formed as a duo in 2016, and now the solo project of guitarist and songwriter Fabi Reyna, the act will release the 20-track Malegría via independent label Psychic Hotline this month.
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A stunning amalgam of inspirations including guitarist-singer Chavela Vargas and the cultural traditions of Columbia, Puerto Rico and more, Malegría “is something that I really needed to do for myself that’s full of life that I hope will continue far beyond my existence,” says Reyna, 32, who persevered with the band following the passing of its cofounder in 2022. “I hope that people listen to it from beginning to end, at least once. It’s a documentary piece to me.”
The 45-minute journey that includes spoken interludes between Reyna and collaborators that cover topics such as queer love, connecting and protecting the earth and detangling from the Western concept of “productivity.”
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“All the parts [of the album] have meaning,” says Reyna. “You can go as deep as you want with it or just dance to it and go to the beach with it. I’m excited to hear how it hits people.”
Foundation
At 9, Fabi Reyna had to fight to play guitar. The summer camp she attended in Austin didn’t want girls playing instruments — but she practiced tirelessly until she mastered the lead guitar for Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” and the camp relented. “Music, for me, is always alongside activism and having a purpose,” Reyna says. In 2012, she launched She Shreds Media, an outlet dedicated to women and gender-nonconforming guitarists and bassists. A few years later, at a Red Bull Music Academy event, she met musician Nectali “Sumohair” Diaz, and they formed Reyna Tropical, which combined her expert guitar playing with his production prowess. In 2022, Diaz died in an e-scooter accident, leaving Reyna to continue solo.
Discovery
With only four tracks released, all of which featured Afro Indigenous drum patterns and environmental samples, Reyna Tropical scored a major break in 2018 when Li Saumet of Colombian group Bomba Estéreo asked the duo to join the act on tour. Reyna and Diaz had never played live together — and Reyna had yet to cultivate her commanding stage presence — but they filled the opening slot by improvising and playing beats, some of which inspired the 2019 six-track EP Sol y Lluvia. A steady drip of tantalizing singles followed, and Reyna Tropical soon began to sell out domestic and international shows before realizing, as Reyna says, “we hit our capacity of what we could do by ourselves.”
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Future
By 2021, labels came calling — but the duo wasn’t ready to sign a deal. After Diaz’s death, Reyna spent a year meeting with one team in particular: Psychic Hotline, an artist-run recording company founded by Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn. On March 29, Reyna Tropical will release its debut album, Malegría (which combines the Spanish words for “bad” and “happiness”), on the label. While the album features familiar Congolese, Peruvian and Colombian rhythms, it also showcases Reyna’s growth. And although she is still getting used to performing alone — Reyna Tropical will tour with Portugal. The Man this spring — she’s finding comfort in the unknown. “I’ve opened the doors to be available for anything this album wants to take me into.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the March 2, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Gregg Alexander‘s music career could have taken a much different path had he not had a very bad night in Detroit 30 years ago. The reclusive singer/songwriter and leader of the New Radicals recently revealed that his band’s signature 1994 debut single, the up with (positive) people anthem “You Get What You Give,” almost didn’t make the grade thanks to an equally catchy song he ended up handing off.
“I had a moment of annoyance that I couldn’t go to the house clubs in Detroit. So he reached for the acoustic guitar in the back, channelling his emotion into a song beginning ‘It’s murder on the dancefloor, but you’d better not kill the groove,’” Alexander told the Guardian about a 1994 night when his old blue Ford Mustang wouldn’t start, depriving him of an evening of clubbing.
What he got instead, though, was the groove for “Murder on the Dancefloor,” the song that became a No. 2 hit for Sophie Ellis-Bextor in the UK and then hit the top 20 again this year after it was memorably used in the viral hit movie Saltburn. “You know how Paul McCartney originally sang about scrambled eggs in ‘Yesterday?;” Alexander said. “‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ wasn’t anything deep from my subconscious. It was just a dummy lyric that was kind of sung for fun, but then I couldn’t better it.”
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Alexander’s lost-to-time demo of the song has the same driving disco meter, but shot through with his signature keening vocals and his band’s eternal sunshine vibe, enhanced by a string section played on a keyboard. Alexander and the Radicals only released one album, 1998’s Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, which featured the equally bouncy “You Get What You Give,” which hit the top five in the U.K.
“I almost flipped a coin between the two songs,” Alexander, 53, told the Guardian. “The record company wanted something urgently and I didn’t have the time or the budget to finish both. I felt like ‘Murder’ was a monster but ‘You Get What You Give’ was a masterpiece. It was everything I’d always wanted to say inside five minutes.”
In a way, Alexander won on both accounts, since the co-write with Ellis-Bextor (Alexander also co-produced “Murder”) has now become as iconic as the New Radicals’ hit, which has more than 440 million Spotify plays to date. “A publisher told me that in January it [‘Murder’] was the most heard music on the planet,” Alexander said of the track for which he recorded a “master quality” demo at the time. “That’s just incredible.”
Just two years after writing the double dose of pop wonderment, Alexander disbanded the New Radicals and receded from the spotlight to focus on songwriting, penning a Grammy-winning track for Santana (2002’s “The Game of Love”), as well as writing and producing tracks for Enrique Iglesias, Rod Stewart, Hanson, Ronan Keating and S Club 7.
After moving to Notting Hill, England following the New Radicals’ break-up, Alexander’s demo got into the hands of Ellis-Bextor, at which point they finished the track together. “‘Murder’ was a song I always wanted the world to hear,” Alexander said, recalling that during sessions for the song he would walk down the halls at the studio and see people dancing along to “Murder,” which made him think they were on to something. “And when I met Sophie we embarked on a creative journey, the first of three or four Top 10 hits we had.”
The original demo also had the “I know, I know, I know” ad lib, which Alexander said he’d been told was a songwriting no-go. “I’d been told you can’t use the same words over and over because it’s too repetitive,” he said. “So I used ‘I know’ seven times.”
The reboot of “Murder” has also reconnected him with Ellis-Bextor, with Alexander realizing that sometimes things work out just as they were supposed to. “She’s so talented and humble but a great pop star. I think her genius, slightly deadpan delivery helped make it a hit,” he said. “Everything would have been different if I’d put out ‘Murder on the Dancefloor,’ but I feel that everything happened as it was meant to be.”
Listen to the “Murder on the Dancefloor” demo here (paywalled).
Brit Turner, a founding member and the drummer for rock band Blackberry Smoke, died on Sunday (March 3). He was 57 years old. Turner was battling glioblastoma, a form of cancer in the brain, and in November 2022, underwent a surgery to remove a brain tumor. The band confirmed the news of his death via […]
Co-op Live, the Oak View Group-owned and operated entertainment arena set to open next month in Manchester, U.K., announced Monday (March 4) that The Black Keys will perform at the arena on April 27, during its opening week.
The acclaimed duo is preparing to release their 12th studio album, Ohio Players, on April 5 via Nonesuch Records, just two weeks before taking the stage at Co-op Live. The new record features collaborations with friends and colleagues including Beck, Noel Gallagher, Greg Kurstin, Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and more.
Gary Roden, executive director and general manager of Co-op Live, says: “We are thrilled that a band of The Black Keys’ caliber will be taking to the stage. The show will be part of an amazing week of performances that kicks off a jam-packed opening season.”
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Co-op Live’s opening season will see the arena feature more than 30 artists across more than 50 shows, including a seven-night Take That residency, a five-night U.K.-exclusive residency as part of the Eagles’ final tour, Barry Manilow‘s only U.K. arena show and Eric Clapton’s first Manchester performance in 10 years. Legendary comedian and Manchester local Peter Kay will open the arena with two shows on April 23 and 24.
In addition to seeing an array of international artists perform, Co-op Live was recently announced as host of the 2024 MTV European Music Awards – the first time music’s biggest global awards show will be staged in Manchester – and the awards return to the U.K. for the first time in seven years.
Co-op Live, a joint venture between Oak View Group and City Football Group, will be the country’s highest-capacity arena and the U.K.’s most socially responsible arena, operating 100% electric, with pledges for zero waste direct to landfill, rainwater harvesting and use of reusable cups to significantly reduce plastic usage across the site.
Co-op members will gain first-in-line access to The Black Keys tickets through a designated pre-sale from 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 6. General sale tickets will be available through Co-op Live from 10 a.m. on Friday, March 8. Tickets available here.
With a title like All Born Screaming, you’d be forgiven for assuming St. Vincent’s upcoming new album might be a dark affair. But according to the artist, one song in particular pays loving tribute to a late icon. Speaking to The Guardian in an interview published on Saturday (March 2), the singer — otherwise known […]
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.”
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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.”
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SOME NEWS: Bono takes U2 on a break from Achtung Baby to perform “All I Want is You” and dedicates song to all women in world, on their crew, women experiencing hardship in world. Then he dedicates it to special guest in Sphere audience…”your First Lady, Jill Biden.” pic.twitter.com/CF4nGlYmYV— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) March 3, 2024
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.”
NEWS: Bono announces they will break from Achtung Baby for experiment: Next song will be recorded as they perform new rendition of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream it’s Over” thanks to Neil Finn who sent in vocals so they could dedicate it to Alexei Navalny widow Yulia. For freedom! pic.twitter.com/kv0Mma41jb— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) March 3, 2024
Following the U2: UV Achtung Baby residency, the Irish rockers are said to be focusing their attention on a rock heavy album. As for Sphere, U2 will be replaced on the schedule with upcoming dates by Dead & Company, Phish and other special events like Darren Aronofsky’s immersive film experience Postcard From Earth.
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This article originally appeared in THR.com.