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U2 (Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton with Bram van den Berg) lit up the Sphere stage with a mind-blowing opening night of their highly-anticipated U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere shows, reinventing the live music experience with the launch of the world’s most cutting-edge venue in Las Vegas, Saturday, September 30, 2023.
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023 | 2 a.m.
It’s hard to believe anything could happen to make Las Vegans forget, even for a day, that the entertainment capital of the world took another giant step in 2023 with the opening of a first-of-its-kind venue known as Sphere. But that’s how big Vegas has become — even the largest spherical building in the world and possibly the most technologically advanced entertainment venue ever built has to compete in today’s landscape.
Milestone sporting events like the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup win and the arrival of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix captivated the consciousness of the community (which includes Vegas visitors, of course), but when it comes to traditional entertainment, the opening of the 17,600-seat Sphere and debut of U2’s long-awaited concert residency stole the show in 2023. Even before that September arrival, Sphere lit up the skyline and went viral around the globe with the first illumination of its LED-covered outer shell.
A performer from Cirque du Soliel's "O" strikes a pose in Bellagio's lobby.
The 367-foot-tall orb at Venetian is also home to the Darren Aronofsky film “Postcard From Earth,” and it will be home to the 2024 NHL Draft in June and a series of concert performances from Phish in April. U2’s “UV Achtung Baby Live” shows will wrap up in early March.
This year also saw new residency shows from familiar acts Garth Brooks (at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace) and Maroon 5 (at Dolby Live at Park MGM). And a different kind of residency in a different kind of venue offered a fresh twist on this Vegas experience when global pop star Kylie Minogue opened her show at the brand-new Voltaire at Venetian. This intimate new room falls somewhere between a nightclub and a theater and will also host Christina Aguilera for New Year’s Eve weekend. Minogue returns to Voltaire in January, March and April.
Strip superstars Adele (at the Colosseum) and Carrie Underwood (at Resorts World Theatre) couldn’t help but extend their residencies after setting records for ticket sales. But the two biggest concert stars of the year also made stops in Las Vegas this year: Beyoncé performed at Allegiant Stadium August 26 and 27 during her Renaissance World Tour while Taylor Swift’s epic Eras Tour took over the home of the Raiders on March 24 and 25.
The Vegas-born Life Is Beautiful Festival celebrated a decade downtown with this year’s three-day music and culture fest, headlined by The Killers and Kendrick Lamar. And the city continued to expand its festival offerings with the inaugural Sick New World, a hard rock-focused event that will return to the Las Vegas Festival Grounds in April 2024.
It was a bit of a slow year for production shows on the Strip, with the flashy debut of Dita Von Teese’s burlesque spectacular “Dita Las Vegas” at the Horseshoe’s Jubilee Theater jumping to the top of the must-see list. Three Cirque du Soleil shows celebrated significant anniversaries this year as “Michael Jackson One” at Mandalay Bay turned 10, “O” at Bellagio reached the 25-year mark, and “Mystere” at Treasure Island celebrated 30 years of mind-blowing entertainment.
Closing out the year was the opening of Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a casino resort some 16 years in the making. The big Vegas version of the iconic Miami hotel has yet to reveal its full entertainment program, but the private opening party saw performances from Keith Urban, Paul Anka and Justin Timberlake, and Post Malone is set to ring in the new year at the 3,800-seat BleauLive Theater.
