Michael Flatley has gushed over rumours U2 could be set to take up a Las Vegas residency next year - saying the band will be “fabulous”.
The Dublin rockers are rumoured to be taking up residency in Sin City and will be the first act booked at the $1.8 billion, 17,500-capacity MSG Sphere when the venue opens, next to the Vegas strip, next year, according to Billboard magazine.
The Lord of the Dancer hoofer is no stranger to the bright lights of Las Vegas after he took up residency there back in 1997.
Speaking about U2, he said: “They will be fabulous. They’re huge stars. Irish legends and they deserve to be there and have a good run. Why wouldn’t they? They’re U2.
“We were there in 1997, we opened in Vegas, before Celine (Dion), before Elton (John). We were the first ones in there.”
The original Lord of the Dance sold out the MGM Grand Garden on the July 4 weekend of 1997. Flatley’s 2006 tour, Celtic Tiger, was booked for Las Vegas but cancelled, with much of the tour, after Flatley was hospitalised with a viral infection.
Asked if he had any advice to give the band, he said: “How could I give them advice.”
U2 have yet to confirm the residency but possible concerts at the venue will be part of a residency that will be spread out over several months and be performed on non-consecutive days.
Fan websites heavily reported that the band had asked previous crews they had worked with in the past to keep their schedules open for June 2023, suggesting that plans for a new tour was forming.
The band’s performances will be the first dates of a multi-show residency by U2 at the high-tech arena, which is being built by Madison Square Garden Entertainment chairman James Dolan near the Venetian off the Las Vegas Strip.
Officials with MSGE describe the MSG Sphere at The Venetian as the next generation of live entertainment, offering fans a multi-sensory experience of sound and light inside the largest spherical structure ever created.
For concerts, the MSG Sphere at The Venetian can hold 20,000 standing spectators or 17,500 seated guests, with 23 VIP suites.
The Sphere will include 160,000 square feet of video viewing space (Sphere officials describe the technology as “interior immersive display”), state-of-the-art spatial audio and an exterior exosphere that changes the building’s look via fully programmable LED technology. It will connect to the Venetian Resort via an approximately 1,000-foot-long pedestrian bridge.
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