Zoo Station at the Venetian
Chapters: Achtung Baby Live • The GA Line • Zoo Station at the Venetian • Sphere Experience and Postcard from Earth • Vegas Legends • Venetian and Tao Beach • Vegas, Baby! • Acrobat
“Time is a train, makes the future the past. Leaves you standing in the station, your face pressed up against the glass.”
Zoo Station from Achtung Baby, lyrics by Bono
“In Zoo Station, I was like a fly on flypaper. Captivated. Um. Yeah. I’m straining the Fly connection, but you get the gist. Right?”
Mattopia Jones
(comment made to the Times via the Satellite of Love from parts unknown)
When I arrived in Vegas on 28 September, the day before the first U2:UV show at the Sphere, I wanted to take in all that was going on. At the Sphere, the 24/7 external display. At the Venetian, Zoo Station. In Vegas, the atmosphere. Even when I checked in at Treasure Island, they were excited to hear I was going to be at U2’s opening night. Little did I know, as I basically had the run of the place, that hands-on, all-access experience would be fleeting. As the concerts started, the crowds descended en masse.
ZOO-TV and Achtung Baby have had such a profound influence on me, I wanted to document every aspect of not just the show and the Sphere, but the complete U2:UV experience.
Here’s a catalog of the Zoo Station experience, nestled near the luxury shopping area of the Venetian and a short stroll down from the casino, where U2’s music can be hear around the clock.
At Zoo Station:
- Pop-up shop (with nifty dramatic lighting that’s also horrible for shopping)
- Satellite (Dish) of Love
- ZOO-TV B-Stage photo opp
- Trabant with disco tech
- Photo booth
- Anton Corbijn photo gallery
- ZOO-TV Cinema (ticketed screenings including concerts from various tours, music videos and documentaries)
- Fly Bar
- Mock Trabant for digital graffiti
- And, of course, the Vibee check-in space (Vibee packages are not recommended and the Vibee staff is not friendly and not helpful)
It would’ve been cool if they brought back the video confessional from the ZOO-TV tour. Lord knows, in this day and age, the confessions would be so very enlightening and a reflection of how much the times have changed.
Regarding the shopping and swag, it was inexplicable how limited the inventory was for the first weekend. Programs, posters and hoodies sold out with the first show. And yet there were still 24 more shows to go!
As the series continued, stocks were replenished, new items added (more T-shirt styles, more poster options). But even so, items continued to sell out, including the U2:UV water bottle. And that’s regardless of the price tags. T-shirts: $50 each. Posters: $30 each. Tote bags: $40 each.
The pop messaging on display in Zoo Station
Shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max
A Trabant pimped out with disco tech. Get it?
Shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max
I Go There With You...
U2
Mattopia Jones covers the world's loudest folk band:
5 continents • 19 countries
39 cities • 11 tours • 48 venues
77 shows • 1 Sphere
3 special appearances
6 boys dreaming out loud
0 restraining orders
Bono: Author, Actor, Factivist
The Stories of Surrender one-man theatrical stage show was conceived as a promotional book tour for Bono’s phenomenal “MEmoir” and the tour expanded into an extended series of shows on Broadway.
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