Coldplay‘s 2021 album may be called Music of the Spheres, but Chris Martin has no intention of playing music in the Sphere anytime soon.
In a new interview with Audacy Check In that aired Friday (Aug. 23), the pop-rock frontman revealed that he made a personal vow not to play the Las Vegas venue until the dust has long settled on U2’s historic residency there in late 2023 and early 2024. “I’m a big, big U2 fan,” Martin said, noting that he saw one of the group’s U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere shows.
“It was among, if not the, best thing I’ve ever seen them do,” he continued. “It took me to this place of being a total fan again. It made me so inspired, but unfortunately, it made me swear to not play the Sphere for a long time because they nailed it and I don’t want to compete with that!”
“It’s like following Usain Bolt,” the “Fix You” singer quipped. “You wouldn’t want to be in the event after that.”
Following U2’s inaugural run at the 20,000-seat, $2.3 billion venue — which opened in September with the “With or Without You” band’s kick-off residency show — Phish set up shop for four nights of shows in April. Dead & Company then took over for 30 shows, and Eagles will soon follow with a residency starting Sept. 20.
For those who missed out on U2’s 40 shows at the ball-shaped arena, the band announced earlier this week that V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film at Sphere Las Vegas will premiere at the Sphere on Sept. 5. “The goal was to give the immersive moviegoers as close to the live U2:UV concert experience as possible — and then some,” The Edge said in a statement Wednesday (Aug. 21).
Martin’s interview comes a little over a month ahead of Coldplay’s upcoming album Moon Music. It follows Music of the Spheres, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
