U2 resumed their residency at Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday evening (January 26, 2024) after a six-week break. Midway through the show, they played the 1986 Crowded House classic “Don’t Dream It’s Over” live for the first time. The piece was dedicated to the band’s frontman Neil Finn, his brother and long-time creative collaborator Tim Finn and their mother Mary.
Crowded House have scored many chart hits in Europe, Australia and their native New Zealand over the last four decades. But “Don’t Dream It’s Over” is one of the few songs that made a big impression in America. It is the only New Zealand song that can be heard on classic rock radio there today. “There are two ways to look at this,” Neil Finn told Rolling Stone in 2021. “Obviously there is some frustration as I know I have produced a lot of what I consider to be really good quality work over the years. When there’s so much interest in a song, sometimes I want to say, ‘Hey, look here.'”
He continued: “But I don’t deal with it. I’m actually grateful that the song is as successful as it is. It seems special… I just think it’s a wonderful thing to have a song that has traveled so far. The other thing I’m really grateful for is that I still like the song. I think there are some people who are in the unfortunate position of having a joke song they wrote become their most famous song. I’m a little worried about people in that regard. At least I’m proud of this song.”
U2 also played their 1987 B-side “The Sweetest Thing” at Friday’s Sphere show for the first time since 2017. The song became an unlikely hit for the band in a re-recording in 1998 when they performed a modified version of it released their compilation album “The Best of 1980-1990”.
The band continues the Sphere show on Saturday evening. A portion of her show will air live at the Grammys on February 4th. The band’s Las Vegas residency ends March 2nd, and that’s when they’ll hand over the keys from Sphere to Phish.