The Las Vegas Sphere continues to bless humanity with its wonder and majesty (and it will continue to do so until all of us are Sphere and The Sphere is all of us), with U2 still rockin’ and/or rollin’ through its ongoing Achtung Baby-themed residency. But if we as a society thought that nothing could be better than the show’s opening night earlier this month, where one critic said it had “the best visuals and sound you have ever seen and heard” and another mentioned its “hitherto-unimagined degree of grandiosity,” then the mighty Sphere has once again made us look like fools. That’s because U2 brought in Lady Gaga as special guest at last night’s show, who the opening night show did not have, and Bono even got her to sing “Shallow” with him. Remember “Shallow”? You love “Shallow.”
This comes from Variety, which says Lady Gaga joined Bono for “All I Want Is You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” in addition to “Shallow,” which may have even been a surprise to Gaga based on the way Bono apparently gestured for her to stay on stage right before he jumped into it. Also, Bono reportedly yelled a bunch of very Bono stuff at Gaga, with him introducing her as “the most audacious, vivacious woman in any room she’s ever in,” telling her to take her vocals “to the Elvis chapel,” and declaring that she’s “the vestal virgin of Las Vegas.”
And while it was surely euphoric, life-changing, and consciousness-rattling to have this all go down within the blissful embrace of Her Grace, The Las Vegas Sphere, this was also another step in Lady Gaga’s campaign to collect collabs with some of the biggest rock bands in the world. Just last week she joined the Rolling Stones to celebrate the release of their new album by performing “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” with Mick Jagger, and several years ago she sang “Moth Into Flame” with Metallica at the Grammys—though technical difficulties hampered the live performance of the song. Maybe they should’ve done it at The Sphere instead? It didn’t exist in 2017, at least in a physical space, but The Sphere can’t be held back by limitations like that (and it never shall be again).