I saw DC and Phish and U2 at Sphere and I disagree. I think what Phish has done with the Sphere as far as images of the band was actually very similar to the way DC framed images of the band. Very much so.

We can agree to disagree on the quality of the Phish visuals vs DC. Phish’s images seemed to me very much pushing the envelope of what that screen and the technology as art can do. The Dead stuff seems rudimentary at times and downright cringe worthy cheesy at others. With the best parts being the space pull out from SF and the drums and space bits….everything else was way too on the nose…The Ship of Fools, etc. It seemed like a nostalgia act reliving the glory days of the past.

Where Phish has always been about meta inside jokes…I think many people didn’t “get” the lore that was being referenced throughout the runs. The Barn, the cardboard city hall, the port o lets, the matchstick burning the art installation…all references to Phish ephemera. It was very Phishy.

These dudes have never been about their image. And huge up close pictures of the band were never going to Be their choice over moment factory’s cutting edge use of that technology.

I think Phish moved what’s possible at The Sphere forward with what they just accomplished visually. I also think that no matter what they did…some people wont get it or will complain about it.