Rihanna and her bump may have proven one of the biggest talking points of yesterday's Super Bowl, but as always, the ads and trailers during the show generated a few headlines, too.
One of them confirmed the rumour that U2 will play a residency at the new Las Vegas venue the MSG Sphere this autumn. 'U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere' will focus on their acclaimed 1991 album 'Achtung Baby', although it is not known how many dates they will play.
The Dublin band's residency will open the $1.8 billion state-of-the-art venue at the Venetian Hotel, but they'll be missing a familiar face: drummer Larry Mullen will not be joining them.
Mullen had previously said that he was suffering from various health issues related to drumming, and had used the downtime during Covid to address them. He told the Washington Post that he would not be performing with U2 this year.
Instead, he will be replaced for the Vegas gigs by Dutch drummer Bram Van Den Berg, who plays with the Tilburg-based band Krezip.
Not much else is known about Van Den Berg, but it is certainly an unusual choice to go for a drummer that is not necessarily a big 'name'.
In a statement, the band said:
"It’s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg, who is a force in his own right.
"U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019, and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again. And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert. … We’re the right band, Achtung Baby the right album, and the Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level."
U2 release 'Songs of Surrender' - a collection of reworked songs from their back catalogue - on March 17th.
