“There’s nothing to stop us coming back next year to do this again with Larry,” enthused U2 sound engineer Joe Herlihy after U2’s opening weekend at the new $2billion venue Sphere in Las Vegas.

And U2 guitarist The Edge then told Buzz.ie: “I wouldn’t rule it out. I mean we can’t predict the future but we’d love that.”

And he added: “You know, this is going to be the only place in the world where we can play on a show like this probably for another 10 years. I’d say there might be Spheres popping up over the next few years, but it takes so long to build one and the technology involved is so expensive that you know, they’re not going to be around for a while.”

Edge was speaking after the first night of an opening weekend in which the band broke the internet and the celebrity A-list came out in force to the 18,000-capacity high-tech superdome on Friday and Saturday night as U2 reinvented the live entertainment experience.

He added: “It was way better than I could ever have expected or hoped for. It’s a theory until the audience comes in and then it’s for real. You’ve expectations about how it’ll play, everything just connected and we were blown away.”

High-profile superfans in attendance across the weekend included Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, Oprah, Paul McCartney, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Jeff Bezos, Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon and Maria Sharapova. Insiders said a lot of them have asked to come back again. The band will play a further 23 shows in 2023 between now and December 16.

Bass player Adam Clayton said the new venue has changed the game for everyone, artists and fans alike. “You just don’t know what’s gonna happen when you mix the sound and those images but a lot of people I spoke to were saying it’s hard to imagine a normal concert. This has changed it for everyone and it’s exciting to be the first.”

He told Buzz.ie that working with stand-in drummer Bram van den Berg was initially scary.

Adam said: “It was pretty scary without Larry in so many ways. But we’ve done a lot of work with Bram. We’ve been playing together for six weeks now. We did some initial rehearsals way back in March. And I kind of knew he had my back which was what I was concerned about because Larry’s always there for me.

“And he was there for me and he’s got a great attitude. You know, he’ll adapt to whatever I need or whatever the band needs. And he’s quite fun to be around.”

Edge chipped in: “He’s a huge Larry fan. He’s not out to reinvent the wheel. He wants to stay true to the spirit of the songs, the arrangements and he did a great job. He was probably the least nervous [before the shows] I’d say.”

And Adam joked about the drummer’s sense of calm ahead of the opening weekend at the 18,000-capacity high-tech dome: “These Dutch people, they’re different, they’re not like us.”

The stunning visuals are only one element of the futuristic nature of the venue. The clarity of the audio from the 1,500-plus speakers is astonishing. Edge confessed: “There’s no hiding place. The sound is so clear. Every single mistake, every little imperfection, is audible so we’re having to raise our game a little bit.”

Legendary stage set designer Willie Williamson has been working with U2 since the groundbreaking Zoo TV tour in the early 90s and he said: “The great thrill last night was watching 18,000 people come into a space that no one has been in before and with absolutely no idea what was going to happen. You don’t get that very often. People lost their s**t.

“There were some really magical moments. It was remarkable. We’ve had no time to do anything other than high five each other. We had lots of challenges.”

He added: “Bono had an early night on Friday, we had an after show drinks thing and it was nice because half the world was here. We were aware of the buzz, but a bit surprised it went so far. It pretty much broke the internet this morning.”