The Sphere

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2023/12/22/the-sphere/

by firloop • 3 years ago

71 18 3 years ago

My musical heroes Phish will be playing four unique shows at The Sphere in April. Tickets are ridiculously expensive.

I learned recently that Phish puts on world-class light shows, with some pretty sophisticated hardware, and one on-stage performer dedicated to controlling it.

I wonder what they'll do with the sphere interior?

soupfordummies• 3 years ago

Hit up a show sometime. Nothing like it!

Scalestein• 3 years ago

The whole fanbase is wondering the same! They have done a variety of multimedia experiences beyond light shows at their festivals and New Years Eve shows so are no strangers to using different tech.

The most interesting thing will be how the improvisation is handled. A large chunk of Phish shows are all improvised which means no pre-programmed visuals. This is very different to U2 which has the entire show planned and programmed.

paul79863• 3 years ago

Friend and I just saw the U2 show two weeks ago at the Sphere. Well worth the cost of the two tickets as there is no concert experience like it.

She sorta got a deal for all the Phish shows there when they first went on sale.

If you don't buy them directly from the Sphere/Ticketmaster (sells out really quick) then its going to cost you a ton more via Seatgeek, Stubhub, etc.

seandoe• 3 years ago

She sorta got a deal for all the Phish shows

What does that mean? That shit was impossible. I don't know anybody who got tickets-- lottery or general.

jmkr• 3 years ago

The sphere would have been my 50th.

Definitely my musical inspirations as well. Top musicians that make me appreciate music, just all music, better.

Still hyped from summer tour.

Hope to see you in a couple of days.

simbolit• 3 years ago

Elena Buckley can write; this was a well written text. But I didn't find anything much interesting in the writing. Sad.

I think this will be the only bit I remember:

[Fifteen-year-old] Landon thought for a second and nodded. “I do think the Sphere is cool,” he said, looking me in the eye. “But it means more light pollution. I’m trying to see the stars.”

Fezzik• 3 years ago

The light pollution from Vegas is wild. My buddy and I were heading towards Las Vegas from Boise on 15 about 20 years ago and, at around 2:00 am, I thought I was hallucinating because it appeared that the sun was rising. It took us a few seconds to realize it was the lights of Vegas… because we were still nearly 70 miles away.

dclowd9901• 3 years ago

My friend and I became frightened, and as the light poured from the crest, our murmurs turned into screams. We stood there, clutching our heads, screaming. I knew this was the thing that was going to come and get me.

Lordy loo.

I guess we’re expected to just believe anything anymore.

hyperhopper• 3 years ago

I thought of this memory a few weeks ago while in a Lyft in Las Vegas, also at twilight. A man named June was driving me to the Sphere, the giant 20,000-capacity arena built just off the Strip by the Madison Square Garden Company

Oh come on. No, you didn't just happen to have this whimsical thought while somebody drove you to a random place that you ended up writing about.

The author is a journalist that got paid to go to this venue and intentionally did so. There was no happenstance here.

I'm sick of things being rewritten to be some lucky random experience. Don't lie to your reader, your did the thing for a reason, act like it and give a fair writeup.

elenasb• 3 years ago

I write in the piece that I booked a trip to Vegas and bought the Aronofsky tickets intentionally! All good that the essay isn't your thing, but I'll defend myself against the lying to the reader accusation, lol. (This is my first Hacker News post, I come in peace.)

beardedwizard• 3 years ago

It took me 3 sessions but I read the whole thing, and I still have no idea what I read. The best part was the edge of the screen? What?

I was at sphere 4 hours ago watching the same movie, if you ever went to the Omni in Dallas Tx you have seen a better show, but the massive led screen was impressive nonetheless. Of the ways you can vaporize money in Vegas, it was not the worst.

As an aside they will flat out lie and tell you that you can't bring bags in and that there is no bag check. There is, they just know they can't have everyone using it so they harass you on the way in.

isoprophlex• 3 years ago

Christ, this Sphere thing is some hubristic shit, escaped straight out of some David Foster Wallace novel. I'm glad the aliens will be able to see all our fucking whopper adverts from space.

seanmcdirmid• 3 years ago

The Gate in Beijing had (or has?) a huge ceiling for a semi-outdoor mall that is all LED video screen, so you would look up and see stuff, like space whales and such. Then there are so huge 3D video advertisements in Japan on building corners that look semi real (supposedly Time Squares in NY also has them?). Just because we can doesn't mean we should, but I don't see the huge harm in it either.

kordlessagain• 3 years ago

"In our pursuit of advanced technologies, we must remain deeply aware of the interconnected nature of all things and the importance of being fully present and mindful in our interactions with these technologies." Paraphrased from Alan Watts, by GPT4.

The Sphere

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