I couldn’t say I was a big U2 fan back in the 80’s, although saying that, I did (and maybe still do somewhere) have copies of their albums, War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Rattle and Hum. By the early 90’s I’d moved on and about to enter the ‘Dance/Techno’ phase of my musical tastes but I’d still argue that my taste in music is very eclectic. 

However, I’m currently re-evaluating my U2 fan status after catching glimpses of their latest concert at the newly opened concert venue, ‘The Sphere’ in Las Vegas. For those of you who haven’t had their FYP’s on socials flooded with viral videos of this spectacular building (both inside and out) The Sphere is the latest addition to the Las Vegas Skyline.

Conceived in 2018 The Sphere is an 18,000 capacity entertainment arena on the Venetian Resort complex on the Las Vegas Strip. Its most distinctive feature is its enormous spherical shape, which is unlike traditional concert venues or event spaces, and was designed to create a visually striking and futuristic architectural presence on the skyline. And it does just that reaching 366 feet high and 516 feet wide!

State of the art technology

The exterior of The Sphere is an exosphere made up of approximately 1.2 million ‘pucks’ which each contain 48 individual LEDs that can display 256 million different colours. Many videos have already gone viral showing various displays on the exterior both amusing and unnerving passers by…

Inside the Sphere is a massive 16K high resolution wrap around LED screen covering the interior of the dome providing a fully immersive visual experience for various types of events. Speakers with 3D audio beamforming technology deliver targeted audio to every seat in the house and speaking of seats, they’re also fitted with an infrasound haptic system that allows audience members to ‘feel’ various environmental effects such as the rumble of thunder or roar of a dragster car.

On 29^th September The Sphere opened its doors to the public and unveiled its magnificence to the world for the first time hosting a concert by U2. Watching the videos I’m seeing on my social feeds, the audience were awe struck and sometimes overwhelmed by the fully immersive experience.

Coming soon to London?

From various news reports I understand that the UK may see its own ‘Sphere’ with Stratford in east London as the location. However, although hoped to open a year after Las Vegas, it seems that construction for the London venue has not yet started due to significant opposition to the plans. So it seems that if I want to experience this wonder in the near future, I’m going to have to save up and take a trip out to Las Vegas! 

My only concern is deciding whether or not I like U2 enough to fork out $1400 for a concert ticket… 

If any EngX members out there have worked on The Sphere project (either in the USA or perhaps in the upcoming project for the UK) I’d love to hear more about the technologies used especially audio beamforming and infrasound haptics as it sounds fascinating!

So would you, like me, love to see the interior (or even just the exterior) of the Sphere for yourself? Would you like to experience a 'fully immersive' concert or show? Leave your thoughts in the comments!