‘Spellbinding’: Does Vegas’ Sphere live up to the hype?

Anyone who has been to Las Vegas knows that the city’s particular brand of make-believe screams anything is possible. So why not a manufactured spectacle that’s so daring it might be some time before it’s matched in scale or sheer audacity?

While Vegas’ theatrics have no bounds – a mini St Marks Square with serenading gondoliers, anyone? – Las Vegas is where every new attraction tries to outdo the last. But the city may have (at least temporarily) met its match with Sphere.

Sphere’s exterior surface (ExoSphere) is nearly 54,000 square metres of fully programmable LED screens that project a rotation of video and images.

Suppose you haven’t been paying attention or simply geek out on stats. In that case, Sphere is a $US2.3 billion ($A3.61 billion) orb that spans more than 157 metres, is 111 metres tall and is a mega-entertainment venue – outside and in. Sphere’s exterior surface (ExoSphere) is nearly 54,000 square metres of fully programmable LED screens that project a rotation of video and images.

Sphere’s ExoSphere is sometimes a giant emoji that, according to some guests at the Venetian resort, feels downright pervy when they wake to the big yellow guy’s stare. The ExoSphere transforms randomly to a healthy planet Earth spinning contentedly, a huge human eye and much more.

While technically on Sands Avenue, this gigantic ball dominates the Strip’s perpetual glitter. It might be Vegas’ ultimate distraction.

While the occasionally surreal exterior show is free, concerts and Darren Aronofsky’s science-fiction-meets-science-fact Postcard from Earth film are not. Sphere officially launched in late September, with U2’s residency.

Inside The Sphere.Credit: Getty Images

With seating for 17,600 and standing room for about 3000 more, the walls function as one colossal screen – a giant, blank canvas for filmmakers, artists, performers and sports teams to create magic. I knew it would be a spectacle. I didn’t reckon on it making me smile, wonder and delight at our fragile world.

Postcard from Earth debuted on October 6, and we arrived at Sphere a week later. Conveniently connected to the Palazzo at the Venetian where we’re staying, we are forsaking Renaissance-lite splendour for a new-world experience; we’re guided through a shopping mall and past signage for McDonald’s ‘The Power of US’ convention.

Sphere’s outer limits include a series of moving walkways – that aren’t moving, neither are the 10,000 or so ticket holders in front. Next, we enter the Main Atrium, where towering holograms keep the crowd entertained as we all board the equally towering escalators.

The Star Trek vibe is further reinforced when ticket holders are welcomed with a soft but robotic, “Welcome carbon-based life forms!” Described as “the world’s most technologically advanced robots”, the Auras are here to explain Sphere’s science and double as “spokesbots” for announcements on social media.

The venue’s Aura robots are described as “the world’s most technologically advanced”.

Our seats are situated on the second level. But first, a vertigo-inducing climb. My silent incantation, “hold on to the handrail” does little to calm my acrophobia. Sitting so high and at such an angle, I wonder if Postcard from Earth would be better-named Postcards from the Edge?

The curved wall is the 270-degree screen. Billed as 22nd-century technology, it wraps over up and around the audience. At 16K by 16K, it is the highest-resolution LED screen on Earth, according to Aronofsky.

A little lightheaded, I take in the vastness. It’s awesome. As the movie (or “multi-sensory AV production”) begins, it’s not only the screen that wraps over and around us; an infrasound haptic system with 167,000 hidden speakers makes us “feel” the experience.

Some of the Exosphere’s projections might leave you feeling like you’re being watched.Credit: Getty Images

An African elephant thunders slowly by my face, and each movement vibrates my seat. I soar above the clouds, and then I’m immersed in a gigantic swirl of bait fish interrupted only by an enormous shark swimming millimetres over my head. It’s surprisingly meditative rather than alarming.

Not so the colourful but peculiar beetle that makes the entire audience jump from our seats as it springs at our faces! I float over Cappadocia in a balloon that hisses and bellows and marvel at Utah’s mesmerising rocky desert landscape. I didn’t notice a breeze or a wafting fragrance that’s also a part of Sphere’s immersive arsenal.

But the soundtrack ominously changes as I watch the planet go dark.

Without giving too much more away, Postcard from Earth is a warning. We’re responsible for the climate catastrophe. It’s sobering and perhaps more than a little ironic in this megalithic construction powered by fossil fuels.

I’d been travelling for more than two action-packed weeks, and I was tired. I knew Sphere would verge on the unbelievable. Still, I didn’t reckon on it making me smile, wonder and delight at our beautiful, irreplaceable world.

Sphere immerses, pulses, enthrals, entertains and is most definitely spellbinding. Yes, it is sometimes Disneyesque, but don’t miss it if you’re travelling to Las Vegas. Remember to check your cynicism at the door or at the Pyramid, the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty down the road.

Postcard from Earth runs three times a day (though not on days U2 is playing) with tickets from $US69. U2’s Achtung Baby Live at Sphere has been extended with shows scheduled up to February 18. General Admission tickets start from $US320. See thespherevegas.com

What else is new in Vegas

These days, Las Vegas is less about sin and more about bigger, bolder and “what happens here only happens here”, don’t-miss experiences.

The Paradox Museum tricks the brain and the eye in a series of reality-defying contradictions through 90 mind-bending activities. From the Upside Down Room, where gravity doesn’t seem to exist, to the Paradox Sofa, which makes you feel you’ve gone to pieces. paradoxmuseumlasvegas.com

Disney Immersive From the people who brought Van Gogh’s canvases to life, you can now sing like Frozen’s Elsa or Encanto’s Mirabel. You can take a magic carpet ride with Aladdin and Jasmine, and while some of it might be all new for the kids, it’s a welcome trip down memory lane for the adults. lighthouseimmersive.com/disney/las-vegas/

The Punk Rock Museum gives your inner punk a chance to relive punk’s most significant moments and bands through memorabilia, video and more. Guest rockers host tours, and after seeing Joe Strummer’s iconic 1966 Fender Telecaster you can proclaim your love with a Till Death Do Us Punk wedding. It’s Vegas after all. thepunkrockmuseum.com

And the hottest table in town? Sydney’s own chef Tetsuya Wakuda has opened Las Vegas’ finest restaurant. Wakuda brings the energy of Shinjuku’s Golden Gai to Vegas with class and style and the freshest Australian and Japanese seafood. wakudajapanese.com

The writer was a guest of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.