Sphere venue rejected for London finds a home in Abu Dhabi

It would appear that Stratford’s loss is Abu Dhabi’s gain, as it was announced that the controversial Sphere venue once destined for east London has found a new home in the United Arab Emirates.

The original $2.3 billion Sphere, which sits like a massive illuminated eyeball just off the Strip in Las Vegas, aims to reinvent live entertainment.

When U2 started an “immersive residency” there last year, the band’s guitarist, The Edge, said it offered “a quantum leap forward in the sense of what a concert can be”.

However, the location for the world’s second Sphere has been the subject of controversy, after Sadiq Khan pulled the plug on long-running plans to build what would have been the UK’s largest concert arena on