A BRIEF REVIEW: The Sphere, Las Vegas.

I get to visit a lot of places. And now you're gonna hear about it!

I get to visit a lot of places on my travels. So this is the first in what will hopefully become a series of reviews. Venues, restaurants, bars, meals, whatever I happen to come across.

Where better to start than Las Vegas, where I ended up this week due to a convergence of a conference, work meetings, and the GOP Nevada presidential caucus?

And how could one go to Vegas nowadays without trying to get to the Sphere? A freshly unveiled, $2.3bn venue which takes fucking forever to walk to. Especially frustrating if you get the start time wrong and have to walk back and back again. ESPECIALLY FRUSTRATING.

What struck me upon getting there, however, is how everything on the way is pretty black and white (and cheap). I suspect — or at least hope — some kind of conscious decision to sensory deprive you is at work here, so when you enter the lobby and see the robots and the screen itself, you’re even more impressed.

But screw the appetizer of robots and the exhibits in the lobby. The real action is the entreé, which, when seeing the hyper climate alarmist Darren Aronofsky’s docu-film Postcard from Earth, is the 16K screen, the haptic feedback technology in the seats, and the 1,600 speakers. None of it disappoints.

The Sphere is basically IMAX’s big brother. And I know plenty of people who dislike IMAX or get headaches from it. If that’s you, give The Sphere a miss. If not, it’s a seriously cool experience. I wouldn’t go to Vegas just for it. Except maybe if your favorite band is playing there. But as a seriously cool modern venue, it gets a weighty 8.9/10 from me.

What would’ve made it better? Better content options, comfier seats, and a far, far better experience getting there, and getting inside. Still some kinks there.

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