What do you do if you are a big fan of U2 but have missed their concert in the legendary music building Sphere in Las Vegas? U2 fan Jeffrey Verberne from Helmond loves the Irish band and wanted to experience the legendary concert so much that he has now set it up himself. In the dome-shaped film theater Museon-Omniversum, no fewer than six concerts from the Tribute Band U2TWO will be built.
The unique spherical Concertgebouw in Las Vegas opened at the end of 2023 with a series of concerts from U2 as the first. Those who wanted to be there had to be very lucky and a big wallet. The 30-year-old Jeffrey, who has been a fan since his fifteenth fan, could not get cards and was disappointed.
He fantasized what it would be like to simulate the concert in the Netherlands in a dome -shaped hall with a U2 cover band. He immediately thought of Museon-Omniversum in The Hague. The museum has a cinema where the screen is a hemisphere around the audience and gives a special experience. With three hundred seats, the room is much smaller than Muziekzaal Sphere (more than 18,000 places). “But that also makes our concert more intimate,” says Jeffrey. “And so Dutch people who couldn’t go to Vegas could still experience it.”
He started this master plan on his own and contacted the museum where they immediately responded enthusiastically. He went looking for makers for film images that will be projected in the dome. Because that is a major technical challenge. “A television is rectangular and flat but now you are in a sphere. Everything is bent, there are no corners. ”
He contacted the creative vocational school SintLucas in Boxtel. There, making the dome images was bombed into a internship project. At the beginning of January the first images were ready, they have since been tested. In the meantime, Jeffrey contacted U2 tribute band U2TWO. It will also be a unique experience for this band. “They are the first tribute band to simulate this concert in this way.”
“I am also there in the week that they rehearse, I don’t want to miss it for a moment.”
And then it went fast. The Museon-Omniversum and U2TWO put their heads together for concert data, resulting in four performances at the end of March. “They were sold out within half an hour. Two more concerts were added in May, “says Jeffrey proudly. The cards cost 49.50 euros each, that money goes to the museum and the band. “I only asked for a small expense allowance for traveling.”
For a year and a half he has been busy getting the concerts done, says the U2 fan who is a data analyst at an accounting firm in daily life. “It’s really a hobby for me. I did this with a lot of love, I wanted this to work. ”
He is therefore determined to visit all concerts. “I am also there in the week that they rehearse, I don’t want to miss it for a moment.”
“I hope he sends the message to Bono and says” Hey, you should see this. ”
But does the real U2 already know that this is about to happen? Jeffrey sent the band a message, but has heard nothing from them. He also reported Bram van den Berg, the drummer of Krezip who was allowed to temporarily replace U2 drummer Larry Mullen jr. During the concerts in Sphere. He has approached Anton Corbijn, this photographer has been taking pictures of the band since the 1980s. “I hope he sends the message to Bono and says” Hey, you should see this. ”
View images of U2 in Sphere here.
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