U2 Releases New Video, ‘Atomic City,’ Ahead of Las Vegas Residency

U2 will kick off their Las Vegas residency at the MSG Sphere tonight (Sept. 29), and the band celebrated with the release of a brand new song, “Atomic City,” filmed in Vegas.

Fans of the band know the group’s relationship with Las Vegas and its history, having filmed a video for “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” on the strip. The video is directed by Ben Kutchins, and features drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who will miss the shows in Vegas as he continues to recover from back surgery.

“It’s a love song to our audience …’where you are is where I’ll be’,” U2 front man Bono said of “Atomic City”, which was produced by Steve Lillywhite and Jacknife Lee.

The video features drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who will not perform with the band during the residency as he recovers from a medical procedure. 

The forthcoming shows in Las Vegas will mark a return to the band’s Zoo TV era with a full performance of songs from the 1991 album, “Achtung Baby.”

“Having presented ‘The Joshua Tree’ as an album show [on world tours in 2017 and 2019], we didn’t feel obligated to do that with ‘Achtung Baby.’ We didn’t feel beholden to the album structure or doing it in one chunk, so it’s a more integrated approach,” Willie Williams, U2’s creative director of several decades, told Variety. ” But it’s all there and it’s wonderful. I mean, I haven’t heard that solo in ‘Love Is Blindness’ for 30 years. And it’s as remarkable as ever.”