At their first concert of the year at the Sphere, U2 also gave a rare rendition of the 1987 B-side, “ The Sweetest Thing “.
U2 resumed their residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday night after a six-week hiatus, and the mid-show acoustic set included their first-ever live performance of Crowded House’s 1986 classic ” Don’t Dream It’s Over “. This song was dedicated to Neil Finn, the band’s frontman, Tim Finn, his brother and longtime creative collaborator, and their mother Mary.
Over the past forty years, Crowded House has recorded numerous successes in Europe, Australia and its home country of New Zealand. But ” Don’t Dream It’s Over ” is one of their few songs to have made a strong impression in America. “ There are two ways of looking at thingsNeil Finn told WECB in 2021. Obviously there’s some frustration, because I know I’ve produced a lot of what I consider to be very good quality work over the years. When a song gets this much attention, sometimes I want to say, “Hey, look over here.” But I don’t dwell on that. I’m actually grateful that this song did what it did. It feels special…I just think having a song that has traveled this far is a wonderful thing. The other thing I’m really grateful for is that I still love the song. »
U2 also played their 1987 B-side, “ The Sweetest Thing », for the first time since 2017 during Friday’s concert at the Sphere. The song became an unlikely hit for them in 1998 when they released an edited version of it on their compilation The Best of 1980-1990.
On February 4, part of their concert will be broadcast live at the Grammys. The band’s Las Vegas residency ends on March 2, at which point the band will hand over the keys to the Sphere to Phish.
