Month: October 2023

Las Vegas has always been a city that embodies the ultimate in spectacle and amusement. But musical entertainment in Vegas has now reached a futuristic level with the unveiling of their Sphere arena near the Venetian. Entertainment’s future has indeed arrived, and it definitely looks like a sphere. 

Announced by the Madison Square Garden Company in 2018, the massive 18,600 seat auditorium has taken 4 years and a whopping $2.3 billion to build. The sound system is surround sound on steroids.  (To put it in “geek speak,” it has the ultimate in spatial audio systems based on beam forming, Holospot, and wave field synthesis technologies). The Sphere’s interior wraparound LED screen is the largest and highest-resolution LED screen in the world. 

(https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-sphere-is-here-are-we-ready-for-more-high-tech-architecture-180983077/).

Its exterior screen is nothing short of extraordinary too. Las Vegas residents have been treated thus far to the Sphere’s spectacular changing display.  They’ve seen a giant basketball at the start of the 2023 NBA Summer League in July, along with the moon, the earth, and a huge eery eyeball watching the city. And of course, there’s already been advertising for You Tube’s NFL Sunday Ticket pro football package emblazoned on the Sphere. You just know there’s countless pumpkins, Christmas snow globes, and other scenes at ready for display. 

On September 29, 2023, the Sphere opened with Irish rock band U2 tour U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere– a 25-show residency.  After negotiating the minefield that is Ticketmaster to get tickets, I was able to attend the show in October. 

And it was a top-notch show- the ultimate pairing of a great band with a ground-breaking venue.

U2 was a perfect band to introduce the Sphere to concert-goers. Their music is big and soaring enough to lend itself well to creative graphic interpretations. But as incredible and overwhelming as the visuals are, the wonderful close-ups of Bono and bandmates make the performances very personal. Bono is intimate in his talk, drawing in fans with references to Elvis, Bob Dylan, or missing bandmate Larry Mullen. Bono confesses “Not since October 1978 have we played a show without Larry Mullen,” who is recovering from surgery for drumming-related injuries. (https://www.billboard.com/lists/u2-sphere-las-vegas-concert-review-best-moments/bono-lets-us-in-on-a-secret/).  The band even sang bits from Elvis’ “Love Me Tender,” the Beatle’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise),” and “Blackbird,” and a tribute to Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares to You.”

“With or Without You” was probably the best song of the night. It is a stirring song, made more awesome with a stunning visual of a huge ball floating in water up behind the band.  The ball gradually draws nearer and reveals an opening. Multiple drawings of endangered creatures eventually swirl out of it and overwhelm the whole dome, like a psychedelic Audubon sky-scape. “Angel of Harlem,” “Love Is Blindness,” “Beautiful Day,” “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” “Desire,” Where the Streets Have No Name”…there was a set list of 22 songs, each memorable, enhanced by mind-boggling graphics. 

As a vertigo-prone fan with previous U2 concert experience, I brought my earplugs for the Sphere concert. They were not needed. The sound system of the Sphere is definitely high tech. While the band’s music was loud per usual, it was modified somehow. I could find no visible speakers in the seats, but the acoustics are customized and individual. I could hear when Bono whispered.

Some fans have commented also that the 200-400 sections are the best levels to get the whole visual concert experience. This is a total diametric shift for concert-goers- from when the seats closest to the stage were the best seats. Since the overall visual is now an integral part of the concert, those tickets up front do not necessarily provide that full visual experience anymore.  

Amazingly, finding the Sphere took a little walking and wrong turns. I did not find that the Vegas city signage has caught up with this new arena yet. It is surprising how easy it is to lose a building as large as the Sphere, but I did.  I had to do a little wandering around to get The Sphere in my sight.  I felt better that I was not the only lost soul- other folks’ GPS phone robots were leading them hither and yon too. 

Additionally there is swag galore available for purchase at the ZooStation: A U2:UV Experience at the Venetian Resort next door.  There are lots of photo ops there too- a vintage Trabant car, a scale German subway car, and other backdrops. The pop-up’s hours are Tuesday through Sunday 11am-9pm. 

So entertainment’s future is here. It’s in Las Vegas, it’s sphere-shaped- and it’s awesome.  

The “Man from U.N.C.L.E” television show in the 60’s is a very fond childhood memory. My friend Gail and I discussed and re-enacted each episode on the school playground after it aired. It was great to have a buddy who studied all the cool dialog, and knew all the inside stuff.  You know,  the important background details. Not just details about what U.N.C.L.E. stood for (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement)- but what the bad-guy organization THRUSH stood for (the Technical Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity, of course!)

The U.N.C.L.E. show was a campy look at good guy spies battling the forces of evil in the world, using cutting edge technologies.  My friend was suave Napoleon Solo, and I was the mysterious Illya Kuryakin. We were saving up to buy that cool communicator pen. We enthusiastically followed our heroes until the show ended in 1968. As kids, the U.N.C.L.E. show was deadly serious, a glimpse of a world we were sure we’d face in an exciting adulthood. We of course would stand up for righteousness and good, fighting clear obvious evils to the end.

Brooding Russian character Illya Kuryakin was my first childhood crush. So after the “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” show, I grew into a lifelong fan of the actor David McCallum. And the Scottish actor never disappointed me. He was as gracious in his interactions and personal life, as any fan could ever hope. He was in some notable films and shows, pursued good causes such as the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and had family that he doted on.

As I followed McCallum’s career, he became a catalyst for experiences I would never have had otherwise. I count him as an integral part of my life from my childhood on. I gained many fine memories and happy experiences with loved ones as we pursued our common fandom. There was volunteer work at a Boston bike race AIDS fundraiser that David rode in, and NY trips to see him in various plays (“Amadeus,” “The Comedians” – even “Julius Caesar” in Central Park).  There’s a framed playbill on the wall, with an autograph obtained in a side alley with my friend as McCallum left the Broadway theater. And there was a crazy just-in-the-nick-of-time travel adventure with more friends, just to get to a little Cape Cod theater in time to see David perform in “Angel Street” there.

Later I did a trip to a fundraising event in frosty Omaha, NE. The fundraiser was built around a movie viewing of the German war camp drama “The Great Escape.” That movie btw was a fateful event in David’s personal life. The classic movie was filled with many great actors- Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn. On the set, David introduced his then-wife Jill Ireland to friend Charles Bronson. Subsequently, when their marriage ended in divorce, she married Bronson. David fortunately got through that rough patch, and later found Katherine Carpenter, who was his wife for 56 years. David and I both got through some ups and downs in life, sometimes together it seemed.

In 2016 in Los Angeles, I went to David’s book signing of his mystery book “Once a Crooked Man.”  This new writing facet was not surprising, as McCallum was multi-talented. (A classically trained musician, he’d conducted instrumentals on 4 albums for Capitol Records in the 60’s). Of course by this time I was a faithful NCIS fan, looking forward weekly to his appearances as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard on the top-rated series. He developed his eccentric medical examiner role when he was 70, gaining new generations of fans for two decades.

David McCallum, so intertwined with my many good life experiences, is gone now. It makes me sad- like a big piece of my childhood and life is departed now too. But I take out my pen communicator, because I just have to say: “Job well done, David. You are greatly missed. Out.”

I think that “old-vertising” is moving in new directions. The marketplace is realizing that there are more facets to an older person’s life than needing Life Alert devices, reverse mortgages, and medicines for multiple obscure ailments. Apparently there’s lots to be made by recognizing that seniors have love lives. The senior population has increased longevity and a healthy net worth. (Raja, Sarah. June 8, 2023. “Average Net Worth By Age for Americans: How Do You Compare?” https://www.lexingtonlaw.com/blog/finance/average-net-worth-by-age.html).  As a result, society lately has been paying more attention to their elders. Last year’s best picture was “Top Gun: Maverick” starring 61-year old Tom Cruise. Sports Illustrated had 81-year old Martha Stewart as its cover model earlier this year, while Jamie Lee Curtis (at 64) snagged an Oscar.

It was only a matter of time before “The Golden Bachelor” entered the television scene, spotlighting senior dating. The makers of “The Golden Bachelor” are counting on a 72 year old grandfather from Indiana to spark some interest in the flagging “Bachelor” franchise. Bachelor Gerry Turner is courting 22 bachelorettes to find his true love. He’s also combatting ageist stereotypes about the vitality of older Americans, since the average age of his suitors is 67. Can “The Golden Bachelor” program take the stereotype of seniors from cutesy or crotchety- to sexy? (Kingston, Jennifer A. Sept 28, 2023.“Can ‘The Golden Bachelor’ Make Seniors Sexy?” https://www.axios.com/2023/09/28/golden-bachelor-spinoff-abc-dating-show). 

“The heart has no wrinkles.” (unknown)

Program ratings thus far reflect an audience open to older people taking a chance at love. Some are fascinated with contestants not searching for a love with whom to start a family or establish their career, but finding that special someone with whom to spend life’s final chapters. The show offers hope that the so-called golden years can indeed be golden, no matter what has preceded them. 

There seems to be disagreement among viewers over the open “French kissing” that took place so far. Some viewers (myself included) wanted seniors to set a little more respectful example on screen. Others saw the older contestants as being comfortable in their own skin, not afraid to be sexy. Were the televised kissing scenes raunchy or realistic? The vote is still pending… Make note though, for those that have watched this franchise in the past, any blatantly televised sexual element should come as no surprise. Sex, at any age, still sells. And the Bachelor franchise has heavily depended on sex over its 27 seasons.

“You don’t have to be thin to look great.” (columnist Lisa Kogan)

Another note by some viewers was that the women contestants were mostly skinny athletic types. The only plus-sized woman was Jimmy Kimmel’s aunt Chippy, clearly added as a comedy stunt. Like its predecessors, this show highly emphasizes appearance and looks. The show is unlikely to depart from its formula of overly romanticized love and relationships, based mostly on looks.  But some viewers wistfully wish for different. 

In the end, “The Golden Bachelor” is showing the world that seniors have love lives too. It is offering a more nuanced view of seniors as dating and dateable, worthy of achieving happiness at any age. This is a good thing. But I hope that seniors, even while being blatantly marketed, can still break stereotypes along the way. They can contribute some class and wisdom accrued over the years.