Meet the Sheffield man whose U2 stage show at Sphere is taking Las Vegas by storm
Willie Williams speaking from Las Vegas
It is a long way from Sheffield to Las Vegas, but that's just part of the journey taken by U2's creative director Willie Williams as the band undertakes a residency at the Sphere, an eye-boggling new venue.
The unique 18,000-seat venue, which boasts the world's largest 16K x 16K LED screen, was inaugurated by the veteran Dublin four-piece last week (SEPT 29).
For Williams, who grew up in Ecclesall and went to the local comprehensive, it is a proud moment and one that underlines the four decades he's spent designing and directing U2's shows.
They include the 1990s extravaganzas Zoo TV and PopMart, in which he introduced multi-screen video imagery to concert touring.
The 64-year-old said: "I never forget that I’m a lad from Sheffield and there I am in this premier venue, in Las Vegas, which is now the toast of the world.
"I have no idea how I got from A to B, but I’m very happy I did."
Williams, who's also delivered conceptually and technologically groundbreaking partnerships with David Bowie, R. E. M. and George Michael, spent two years creating the new show, and was confident of its delivery.
Nonetheless he revealed that the overwhelming feeling after the first night gig was one of relief.
He said: "We spent a lot of time on this show, more so than we would normally, partly because it was in a new building.
"There are kind of four sections to the show and when we got through it we were all high-fiving each other. Relief was the overwhelming feeling on night one, but [we were] also just incredibly proud."
Footage courtesy Sphere Entertainment
Standing 366ft tall and with a width of 516ft, Sphere is the world's largest spherical structure.
U2 are playing a residency with UV Achtung Baby Live, their 1991 album. Williams describes the experience as a "balance between spectacle and connection - or intimacy and connection".
He's been with the band since the early days when, as a teenager in the mid-'70s, he left Sheffield for London at the height of the punk rock explosion.
He said: "There was nothing on the cards, really, to predict what I’d do. The great saving grace was that punk rock happened.
"I was 'helping’ different bands to do pubs and clubs. I don’t know what I was doing. But it was the freedom of that time that really worked.
"Sheffield then had the most extraordinary music scene, as well - all the early electronic bands with The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire. It really was about the music and the energy of that time."
He recalled the steel city's sense of musical and geographic independence - and how he found kindred spirits in four young men from Dublin. Asked if he was influenced by Sheffield, he answered: "Completely".
He added: "Sheffield is part of Yorkshire but it’s also very independent. When punk hit, the whole of the rest of the country just picked up a guitar and learnt three chords and they were off.
"But in Sheffield they just sort of legitimised the things that everybody was doing. Cabaret Voltaire didn’t get into guitars. They absolutely carried on, and the same with The Human League.
"That’s the spirit of it, really. It’s a place that encourages independent thought and that’s absolutely what I’ve run with because I’m not really interested in doing anything twice. With U2 they haven't really repeated themselves."
Reflecting on his ongoing collaboration with Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr, Williams likens their Dublin sensibility to his roots in Sheffield.
He said: "I was very fortunate to meet them when I did. They were at the very beginning of their career and I just recognised a kindred spirit.
"And it’s funny: the part of Dublin that they come from – that Bono’s from – sort of feels like Ecclesall. It feels like that same sort of spirit.
"The Sheffield attitude definitely informed my early career and [still does] to this day, I think. I still feel very connected to Sheffield."
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