Sphere & Loathing in Las Vegas
I saw Phish play the Sphere and it blew my mind
I took my first trip to Las Vegas this past weekend to see my favorite band, Phish, play that brand new venue you’ve surely heard about: The Sphere. My brother and I were able to buy face-value tickets from the band directly, so the trip was on the books.
This trip was a bit of a celebration after officially closing on a house in New Hampshire! More on that soon.
Sin City
It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that I kinda hated Vegas upon arrival. It’s hot, smokey and expensive. The only places to sit in any casino or public place are bars or slot machines. I’m not a gambler, so I spent my first day walking probably 5 miles with my luggage, exploring The Great Indoors.
I avoided eye contact with scantily-clad models trying to get my picture with them for a small donation. I bought a chipotle burrito for a hungry man that just got out of jail. I got lost in rows of slot machines and chuckled at the two twenty-somethings heading into the IV bar at 11am, paying $155 each to “not let a hangover ruin your weekend”, as the sign promised.
What surprised me was that I did come around to it and actually enjoyed myself in Sin City. Embracing the open container laws, playing a little blackjack and dining at some celebrity chef restaurants was a refreshing break from the monotony of small mountain town living.
We ate some amazing buffalo chicken sandwiches at 2am, which is a nice change of pace. Not a sustainable one, but a delightful embrace of excess. That’s what Vegas is all about.
Besides the Sphere, our other stops included Penn & Teller, Momofuku and Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart. I’d highly suggest all of those to anyone heading to Las Vegas.
The Sphere
It can’t be overstated - this venue is the future of live entertainment. The hype is real. If any band you like is playing this venue, it is totally worth the trip to Vegas.
The experience barely translates to video and you have to be sitting in the venue to see it, hear it and feel it. Phish is the perfect band to push this venue to its creative limits. This run of shows was nothing short of historic.
For some context, Phish are the second band to perform here after U2 did over 40 nights of the same show there. Phish, true to their style of improvisation, played four unique shows, not repeating any song or visual throughout the entire run. There is a great article and interview on CBS Sunday Morning about the planning process.
The Show - 4/20/24
We attended the Saturday show and sat in the 300 level. The screen filled my entire peripheral vision, so all the visuals are immersive. The undulating stars seem to be sucking you into a black hole. The rotating gold temple illustration convincingly seems physically real, as a crown rotates against the spinning panels.
It almost defies language.
We were lucky enough to be there during one of the standout songs Taste, which featured a spinning golden temple, full of unique illustrations by Jim Pollock.
And then there is the sound. The sound system at the Sphere is the dream-come-true of the Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound. The clarity of every instrument was unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Each seat has a perfect high fidelity sound with every instrument perfectly heard in every seat.
The sound also can move through space! At certain points, Fishman’s cymbal was dancing throughout the room. You just have to be in the room to experience it. I can only describe it as 3D sound.
My favorite feature of the theater was probably the haptic vibration in the seats. There were not many fans seated, as the phanbase loves to get up and dance, so many people might have missed this.
When a song would open up into a big jam, we took a seat and looked up. Every note of Mike’s bass could be felt, with a gentle undertone of the kick drum too. Sitting down, with the visuals still above, the sound just as clear and the precise vibrations in the seat was the most immersive musical experience I’ve ever had. Pure bliss.
Post show, we walked to The Stage Door, a dive bar with $1 budweiser and $2 hot dogs. Vegas can handle the craziness of 20,000 Phish fans, who quickly dispersed into the Saturday night scene of cigarettes, gambling and rowdiness.
The Sphere, Phish and Vegas were a perfect fit and I’d do it all again next year.
Well if you made it this far, thanks for reading. As I said above, we closed on a house in New Hampshire and are moving in May. I’ll be returning to a bit more regularly scheduled writing and themes for the next post. If you did (or did not) like this brief detour, please let me know in the comments.
Love this. Incredible title.
loved it!!
will follow you on any detour you take ❤️