A Weekend in Vegas

Part 1: The Sphere

A walk on the Strip

I went to Las Vegas last weekend, a destination I thought I was done with, and lo and behold, it was absolutely amazing. Crazy, over-the-top, exhausting, exhilarating. Now, who knows, maybe I will go back. I hope so. The weather was fabulous (T-shirts by day, with a sweater or hoodie by night). It was clean, seemed unexpectedly safe, and more fun than I ever anticipated. Friendly people – both the tourists I encountered and locals who were eager to chat us up. Lots to see and do, but walking is practically mandatory. (More about all this in Part 2, and maybe 3.)

A few months ago, I wrote here about wanting to see the Sphere, a new entertainment venue there. Now that I have seen it, I can report “The Sphere Experience” was disappointing. (And it cost $124.)

From Euronews:

Inside the 516-foot-wide (157-metre-wide) Sphere, a high-resolution LED screen (the largest on earth!) wraps halfway around the 17,600-seat audience. 

Out of these 17,600 seats, 10,000 provide an immersive experience with a specialised sound system capable of making guests "feel" sound vibrations.

While the two-part “experience” starts with a trip inside a most impressive architectural atrium, the holographs and humanoid robots inside are little more than interesting. It’s stuff you have probably seen on TV documentaries or Disney. Yes, you can interact with Aura (I asked her how old she was, and she replied, “1 year old,” with the help of her human assistant repeating my question.) Meet Aura.

There are huge holographs, and you also can wait on line to have your “avatar,” aka photo, taken. This video will be emailed to you, and your image will be placed into the landscape that you see in the movie that follows. Yes, I wish I had worn a different outfit. Just FYI if you go! Dress for the part.

Kids will probably love all this; they are building robots in a lot of schools these days and growing up with technology we never imagined, so I see it as inspiring for youngsters.

From the Robb Report link coming up later:

(ticket price) may seem steep for a movie with a 50-minute runtime, which might explain why there’s an hour of interactive programming in the venue’s atrium beforehand where you can talk to robots and check out interactive art displays. The robots are fun, but won’t surprise anyone who’s been to Disneyland in the last couple of decades.

“Postcard from Earth,” the glorified IMAX-type movie, albeit with impressive visuals, amazing resolution and vibrating seats, is the second part of the “experience.” Photos and videos during”Postcard” are not allowed, but many were ignoring that.

The story line? Weak. As a “Star Trek” geek and a professional and published writer (See me at linked), I believe with some time and a good creative team, I might have come up with a better story line. (And I don’t think I’m a genius or anything, and not to take anything away from the art team or director Darren Aronofsky.) Aside from that caveat, I won’t spoil it if you plan on going. Some people seemed impressed. Maybe I saw too many IMAX movies when the kids were young and now I’m jaded. You can decide yourself.

And here’s a good review of the film from the Robb Report.

However, the exterior of the Sphere was something I could watch all day. The ever-changing display space is mesmerizing. Instead of the show, a full-on view from a hotel room would have made me happier. (The Venetian and a few other hotels offer it, I am sure.)

Sphere info here.

Wait, there’s more. I went on this weekend trip with Julian, the ex. We buried the hatchet a while ago, and no, since a few friends have asked, no, we did not remarry! Though I admit that would have been funny, and maybe a better story. He had some kind of time-share sales promo deal and knew I wanted to see the Sphere, so when he asked, I went along for the ride.

He also had a ticket to see U2, the price of which makes “the Sphere Experience” cheap. (I’m not telling how much; it’s too ridiculous.) From his descriptions of the visuals, he got to see what I had been hoping for: a very different show from “Postcard.” See this link to get an idea. The U2 visual effects were created by artists who were specially commissioned for this show by U2.

So that’s the Sphere.

The last time and only other time I visited Vegas was in 1983 during a five-state road trip that Julian and I took before we were married. Awesome trip, but I did not think I would go back to Vegas. Now, so glad I did.

More about the latest Vegas trip coming to you in my next blog, including the monorail and how to find it (not kidding, it is not easy), the “Fremont Experience,” which used to be Fremont Street, the Neiman Marcus Cafe, and lots more.

Catch CNN tonight (Sunday, March 3) for an episode in the series, “Sin City.” Also available on demand I believe.

I’ll be watching.