The Sphere didn’t fall flat on opening night. The Las Vegas venue debuted Friday night with U2 as its resident artist, and drew foaming at the mouth raves from reviewers.
Paul McCartney, “Breaking Bad” costars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre were among the A-listers at the grand opening. Sphere owner James Dolan was saluted on the night, dubbed “a madman” from the stage by U2’s Bono for his vision and planning in the venue’s construction.
Reviewers were beside themselves to come up with superlatives that could adequately convey the venue’s multimedia. They called the $2.3 billion Sphere a “stunning spectacle” (USA Today), “mind blowing” (The Verge), and “utterly astonishing” (The Guardian), among other media kudos.
The visual and audio effects of the 16-foot-wide, 17,500 seat Sphere were so overwhelming, they seemed to eclipse the actual attraction of the night, namely U2’s music. The Irish rock group has 25 more shows at the venue to change that, but even they seemed overwhelmed at times at the stunning visuals.
“Look at all this stuff,” Bono said at one point as he looked about the arena. “Elvis has definitely NOT left this building. It’s an Elvis cathedral and tonight there is a password to enter: flirtation.”
Some of the online reactions:
