Phish Conclude Groundbreaking Run at Sphere in Las Vegas

Phish just ended its highly anticipated 4-day run at the world’s most cutting edge venue, the Sphere in Las Vegas. The 420 weekend, four show extravaganza, featured 68 different songs over four sold out nights. Miracles were worth as much as $1,000, for that’s what they went for on ticket exchanges, like Vivid seats.

Each of the four sold-out Phish shows at Sphere featured unique setlists and visuals, making every performance an unprecedented, once-in-a-lifetime audio-visual experience.

WATCH CBS NEWS: CATCHING UP WITH PHISH AT LAS VEGAS’ SPHERE

Phish at Sphere

After U2, Phish is only the second band ever to perform at Sphere.

Phish brought their own utterly distinctive style, fusing the venue’s revolutionary concert experience with the organic, innovative vision they have forged over their epic four-decade career. Sixty-eight different songs were performed over the four shows, the band’s perpetually intricate musicianship made crystal clear via Sphere’s 1,600 permanent speakers, as well as 300 mobile speaker modules that use 3D audio beamforming and wave field synthesis technology to spread sound.

Each night saw Phish backed by spectacular custom visuals. The show was overseen by co-creative directors Abigail Rosen Holmes and Moment Factory’s Jean-Baptiste Hardoin, and presented on Sphere’s groundbreaking 160,000-square foot 16K-by-16K LED screen. As with the band’s famously improvisational musical approach, the inventive animations and graphics were manipulated in real time. It allowed for the breathtaking imagery to truly soar in tandem with the freewheeling sounds being played on stage. The event was made even more immersive with original entrance music created especially for Sphere’s atrium and hallways by Phish’s Trey Anastasio.

Critics widely praised the epic four day run.

According to Rolling Stone, “The evening saw no shortage of mind-blowing visuals. But tech aside, for the first night at the Sphere, Phish sounded tight and passionate as ever. They jammed with abandon, sounding fresh, focused, and clear as the sound from the 1,600-speaker system ricocheted across the room. Each stunning new visual display appeared behind the stage and above the crowd.”

The Associated Press called the event a “show that even the band’s most ardent fans have never experienced before.”

And Billboard said it was “one of the best-sounding Phish shows ever.”

Sounds like an epic run.

When the world feels a little bumpy, remember, it’s still a hell of a ride.

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J.J. Colagrande

Has written about Miami culture for twenty years, first with The Miami Herald, then Miami New Times and Huffington Post. He's the publisher of The Jitney and a full-time professor at Miami Dade College.