The Sphere-Las Vegas
A 21st Century Entertainment Venue
You may have seen or heard of Las Vegas’ newest monstrosity, The Sphere. It opened on September 30, 2023 with a 3+ month residency by the mega band, U2. The venue is a property of Madison Square Garden Entertainment and cost $2 billion to build, $1 billion over budget. It is part of the Venetian Resort & Casino. There are rumors of additional Spheres to be built worldwide, specifically London, UK.
Once the reviews started coming in regarding the opening, I knew that this was something that we (I) needed to see for ourselves. The very frugal Amy Jo objected to spending $$ on something so frivolous, but I forged ahead nonetheless. Five minutes later, I secured 2 upper deck tickets to the 12/13/23 show on StubHub. More on the cost later.
Whenever we have to go to Las Vegas for anything. we generally make at least half a day of it to include shopping (or poker) at Trader Joe’s, REI and anything else we can’t find in Mesquite. With shopping completed, we repaired to Capo’s Italian Steakhouse & Speakeasy for dinner.
Picture the darkest, coziest restaurant you’ve ever seen in any mob movie and this is it. It even has the back secret entrance, buzzer and little window for them to check you out before they let you in. The food, service and live music were fantastic and definitely worthy of a return visit.
After a 15 minute drive, we arrived at The Sphere, parking in the Venetian self parking garage. From there, it’s a completely indoor (albeit long) walk to The Sphere.
Once inside, there is a large atrium on the first level.
Word to the wise; don’t show up here light in the wallet. A 24 oz. domestic beer will set you back $18, so you can imagine what the rest of the drinks might run you. Fortunately, we had a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey procured during the earlier shopping so we arrived properly fortified.
Following are photos taken during the concert. Unfortunately, this blog doesn’t support video. Please visit my Facebook page for some video I took during the concert.
The Sphere is also showing a movie, Postcards From Earth, on an ongoing basis for people who aren’t interested in seeing U2. Following is my favorite photo from the part of the concert featuring an Elvis tribute.
All in all, it was a great night. Following is an accounting of the financial damage.
2 Tickets Row 13 Upper Deck $584
Dinner at Capo’s $160
Parking $ 30
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Total $774
What the hell, you only live once. If I don’t spend it, my kids will spend it on $8 coffees and avocado toast.
Travel posts coming next month. Stay tuned!