https://www.icloud.com/photos/#0dbyfWD8DhdR-btS7GrFDpHTw
I feel a lil bit like I've been hit by a truck, but I'm back from seeing Phish do 4 nights at the Vegas Sphere. The link above is all 191 photos/videos I took during that time (annoyingly I can't share them forever it seems, that link expires on May 22nd... so take a peep before then)
Kinda the only way to break this down is by section so here we go:
The sound at the Sphere is in fact incredible. Believe the hype you've heard about it, its true. Phish talked a big game in pre-show interviews (oddly, this is the biggest mainstream media/news push Phish has gotten in 41 years, between these Sphere shows and a new album coming in July) about trying to even best U2, which Trey found to be "mono and booming from the stage". So Phish's mix was much wider and more stereo. They also ping ponged sounds around the room... which... didn't sound especially great at first but got dialed in over time. Similarly that "wider and more stereo" mix was... off... until song 3 of night one. Voices sounded like they had a filter or were coming from a radio. This very much was a "hey we're figuring this thing out along with you all" aspect of the show, and by nights 3 and 4 it was effectively locked down.
So the seats at Sphere shake! 10,000 of the 20,000 seats were hooked up to bassist Mike Gordon's bass, and if you sat in your seat (the best "full" effect was if you had your back flush against the seat back), you could feel the bass along with the jams. When Mike let loose "bass bombs" (overwhelming booming bass) it *slams* you. Scared the hell out of me a few times. They also seemed to (but I can't quite confirm) use the "extreme temperature change" effect the Sphere has, making the room cold a few times. Not sure if it was just me or if they really did use it... I can confirm they didn't use the scent wafting tech... or at the very least the smell of weed overpowered it.
As for the venue itself... there are some aspects that have revealed themselves over a 4 night run of shows that wouldn't have been apparent for the single nights people were seeing U2 or that movie (which I wish I saw but didn't get around to. No daytime shows of that when concerts are happening). I was in the high 400s and it's steep. People were saying it was exceptionally steep but... seemed like regular stadium seating steep to me. There are reports of at least one person tumbling 10 rows on 4/20, but I don't know how accurate they are. Also... the bathrooms. Boy howdy how did they goof this up. At the 400's at least (apparently it's slightly different on lower levels) the bathrooms have a *door*. It's not the standard "open hole in wall" entrance that most stadiums have. They also didn't put the paper towels (no automatic dryers) anywhere logical, making you have to go towards the urinals to dry your hands... nor is there an exit door to the bathroom. Just a single door for everyone. Similarly, the water fountains are just the standard drinking kind, they didn't go the extra mile to put in those fancy bottle filler ones. This place cost 2.3
billion dollars, and these oversights makes that number seem... ridiculous. Also they don't play the show out in the lobby/bathroom, instead they had some dynamically generated ambient music based on loops that Trey made. Why can't I hear the show I paid money for if I want to slip out and get a beer or use the bathroom? Madness!
And here's the reason why we're all there, the screen. It... really is jawdropping. It doesn't come across in pictures or videos well at all, there's just something to it, whether its the sheer resolution (16k x 16k), the curvature, or how the visuals were made (clever use of parallax?) but there's a
depth to it. It seems to push further back than the actual dimensions of the room. Phish handled visuals in one of two ways: there were preset visuals made for specific songs, a lot like U2. These were mostly used for ballads (they somehow made me actually
like Phish ballads, what the heck?) or songs that visuals would have very obviously matched to. They also had visuals that could have fit with *any* song, akin to a winamp visualizer or a screensaver but amped up to 11. Both these styles of visuals were able to be controlled and edited in real time, so if the band decided to jam for 34 minutes (which they did... longest Down With Disease of all time!), they can add or subtract elements on the fly, move things faster, slow things down, change colors etc. And somehow each night it revealed new surprises. The depth inward was more of a factor for nights 2-4, and night 4 introduced 3D going into the audience with giant robots leaning over the audience, as well as the fact that... SURPRISE! you can hide a light rig behind the screen and it shines through! The giant robots shot out "laser eyes" made of standard, yet hidden spotlights.
- The Actual Shows Themselves With All Of The Above
In hindsight (and.... admittedly at the time) Night 1 was a disappointment. The sound issues mentioned above were in full force and the screen wasn't used to its fullest potential. It was cool, but there was a thought in the back of my mind that was going "I paid how much for this?". In retrospect, this was effectively more of a "tutorial" night, the band saying "here's what we can do with this thing".
Night 2 the gloves came off and we got better playing, better sound, and better visuals. Most people are in agreement that Friday was probably the best night of the 4, and I might be inclined to agree.
Night 3 saw the second ever longest Fuego (and I was there for the first!) and the first standalone I Am Hydrogen outside a Mike's Groove since 1987. It was also this night, 4/20 that I tried 2 edibles instead of one. Do not recommend. It is... a lot at once.
Night 4 was the band now fully confident in their ability to use this thing to melt faces, and was truly extraordinary.
The band webstreamed all 4 nights and have been uploading official pro-shot snippets to their youtube... complete with new footage from drones that were zipping around all 4 nights... I have to wonder if they plan on selling these shows (perhaps with some sort of surround mix to capture the audio effects from the venue themselves) with this drone footage inserted. Here's what they've uploaded so far (I have a feeling more are coming)
Is it worth it? Yes. All of it. Every penny. Holy cow. Fantastic shows and a fantastic venue, albeit a venue with some problems to work out. By all accounts the thing is hemorrhaging money, but to whomever is taking a wash on it: its so worth it. I'll definitely be back for next run, hell or high water, and I'm considering going back for the Dead and Company show on my birthday (July 6th). There's just something to how it all comes together that really is unlike anything else