LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Sphere’s Las Vegas debut has created a buzz like none other. And that’s just the outside.
The Fourth of July brought a spectacular display rivaling fireworks on the Vegas Strip, and people were mesmerized by the color, the motion, and the variety. Everything about the images that night and what followed as Sphere dazzled Las Vegas is a build-up to the Sept. 29 event when “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere” takes the venue to new heights. That’s the first of 25 sold-out performances extending into December.
You can almost hear Bono now, singing, “I’m ready for the shuffle, ready for the deal, ready to let go of the steering wheel” in the album’s first track, “Zoo Station” … but what will it look like?
Our only hint comes from material that’s nearly a year-and-a-half old now:
“The massive interior LED display plane is starting to take shape,” a press release said on Feb. 23, 2022. At the time, a crucial step in construction involved work on the “mohawk” section — so named because of how it arches in a strip from behind the center of the stage up 240 feet above the floor, reaching behind the seating area.
This photo from a May 25, 2022 tour of the still-under-construction sphere shows the structure of the building, providing a hint as to what the final product could look like | Photo: KLAS 
This rendering of a cross section of Sphere shows what the completed venue will look like under the dome. | Photo: Sphere Entertainment 
This photo from a May 25, 2022 tour of the still-under-construction sphere shows the structure of the building, providing a hint as to what the final product could look like | Photo: KLAS 
This photo from a May 25, 2022 tour of the still-under-construction sphere shows the structure of the building, providing a hint as to what the final product could look like | Photo: KLAS 
This photo from a May 25, 2022 tour of the still-under-construction sphere shows the structure of the building, providing a hint as to what the final product could look like | Photo: KLAS 
A screengrab from a “sizzle reel” for the Sphere shows what the completed venue could look like for audience members watching a production on the massive screen. | Photo: Sphere Entertainment
“The highest sections are partially supported by catwalks that connect to the underside of the domed roof, which is how the nearly four-acre LED display will eventually wrap up, over and behind the audience to create a completely immersive visual environment,” according to the release.
Next steps involved the completion of the 730-ton steel framework.
You need that much steel to support the 160,000-square-foot LED screen. That’s about 4 acres of video.
Nick Tomasino, senior vice president of construction for MSG Entertainment, told us, “The entire LED on the inside is the size of three football fields and will have the highest resolution in the world.”
And don’t forget the 170,000-speaker HOLOPLOT multi-layered audio system.
Oh yeah, there’s space for people, too. Seating for 17,500 includes 23 private suites — all inside a domed monitor to provide an immersive experience.
So if you were entranced by the 580,000-square-foot “exosphere” — each LED is the size of a hockey puck — get ready for a high-res experience like nothing you’ve ever seen on the inside. As U2 guitarist Edge reminds, this place was built for entertainment, not sports.
And if U2’s not your thing, “Postcard from Earth,” an original immersive production directed by Darren Aronofsky, is scheduled to premiere Oct. 6.