U2 Surprises Fans With Vegas Street Performance

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, U2 surprised fans with a performance of a new song, "Atomic City," which they are expected to release before their September 29 residency starts. Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton along with Larry Mullen Jr. were on hand shooting a video for the song on Fremont Street. Mullen won't be with the band at the beginning of their residency, due to health reasons.   Bram van den Berg will play drums at the shows.

Of course, by now you know about U2’s upcoming residency at Sphere Las Vegas. “U2:UV” starts with sold out shows September 29th and 30th. With this in mind, one of the world’s greatest concert bands decided to debut a new song for their new city of “residency.”

In light of this fact, U2’s surprise performance on Fremont Street in front of the Carousel Bar doubled as a music video shoot. First,they performed an a capella version of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The music video for that 1987 song from The Joshua Tree album was filmed on Fremont Street in Las Vegas.

Then, with music video cameras rolling, U2 debuted their new song “Atomic City.” For one thing, the song is about Las Vegas. For the most part, all those glittering neon lights on Fremont Street are the perfect backdrop for a music video performance. If you’d like to watch a smartphone video of this surprise concert on YouTube, click here.

All in all, this was not an impromptu performance. With all things considered, you really can’t shoot a professional-looking music video with smartphones. You need lots of video equipment to get the look you want. In fact, according to a report on Variety.com, 250 extras were on the scene for the video shoot.

In case you’re not aware, “Atomic City” was once the nickname for Las Vegas. Basically, that was back in the days when scientists and the military were conducting atomic testing in the nearby deserts. Nevertheless, we do live in an amazing city that brings the biggest entertainment acts to town. And sometimes, they even ride in on a flatbed trailer.

U2 has been one of the biggest bands of the past 50 years and for good reason: Their catalog is a prime example of a band evolving and growing up before the eyes of the world.

So far, U2 has released 14 studio albums. Their catalog also features live releases, box sets, compilations and more. In total, they have sold over 175 million records worldwide.

The legend of U2 had humble beginnings. Its four members -- Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. -- were all students at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin.

One day in 1976, Mullen Jr. put a flyer on the school's bulletin board searching for musicians to start a band. He was only 14 at the time. Among the people who responded were Bono (16), The Edge (15) and Clayton (16). The band's first practice was on September 25, 1976 in the kitchen of Mullen Jr.'s childhood home.

Who would've thought all of this success started with a just simple post on a bulletin board and a practice in a kitchen?!

U2's list of accolades is nothing short of insane. They've won 22 Grammy Awards out of 46 nominations. In 2005, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The band received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2022.

In addition to those awards, they've been a massive tour draw. Per Pollstar, U2 has sold over 26 million tickets since 1980. Their tours have grossed a staggering $2.12 million. The only other act to make more money on the road is the Rolling Stones with $2.16 million.

With all of this mind, we thought we'd take on the daunting task of ranking U2's best song. Scroll through the list below to see which songs from their vast catalog we think are their 50 best!