Saw the U2 show there on 2/2. First time I had seen U2 also. Great show by U2, but the visuals within the Sphere put it over the top.
I live in a major metropolitan area and we get a great number of concerts, and we take advantage of that by going to approximately 10+ concerts a year. As such, I don’t really travel to other cities to see performers, but if there was a performance of somebody I would see in my hometown and they were playing at the Sphere, I would definitely consider going to see them in Vegas, again for the experience.
I definitely don’t see the Sphere being used for one showing of any artists on a tour. The costs of creating the visual effects that would only be unique to the Sphere would likely be prohibitive for a one showing only.
I believe Phish is doing a 4 night run in March, and then Dead & Company are doing a 2 month residency this summer similar to U2’s run.
I flew through Las Vegas a couple of months ago and when I do I’m amazed at how much of the strip you can see from the plane as it taxis from the runway to the gate, including the Sphere, the new football stadium, the pyramid casino and others. Most other cities don’t seem to have their airports that close to the central city.
The Strip was built near the airport not the other way around. And both aren’t technically in Las Vegas. They are in Paradise which is an unincorporated area of Clark County.
Is there a unified law enforcement agency, or separate Paradise Police force from LVPD? I ask because, to the tourist, there are no clues that you’re not in Vegas when partying on the strip.