Fourth of July Weekend Down in Nevada

Fourth of July weekend, back half of it, and the reason was Dead & Company at the Sphere. The morning was still Truckee — Gateway Station 92 had its bay doors open with flags hung off the eaves and half the town in red, white and blue — and then it was out to the airport for the flight down to Las Vegas, tie-dye already on for the occasion.

Walked the Bellagio in the afternoon to stay out of the heat, past the Gucci window and the casino carpet, then over to the show. The Sphere only opened last year, and inside it holds about 18,600, most of whom seemed to be in Steal Your Face shirts of one vintage or another. Populous designed it as a venue built around immersive sound and visuals, and it earns that; hard to describe what the interior screen does without sounding like you're exaggerating.

Outside afterward the Exosphere — the 16K screen that wraps all 366 feet of the building — was still running, throwing light over everyone filing out toward the garage in their Hawaiian shirts.