Phish at the Sphere was always going to be wildly different compared to U2\u2019s opening residency at Las Vegas\u2019 immersive venue. Both bands are known to push the boundaries of live performances. But they\u2019ve rarely approached it the same way. U2\u2019s 40-show Sphere run was a polished, extravagant rock show with (nearly) identical set lists the whole way through. The Sphere<\/a> was a perfect canvas for making rock stars like Bono and The Edge appear not just larger than life but supersized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n By contrast, Phish is only doing four performances and has no plans of repeating even a single song. And judging by recent interviews, Abigail Rosen Holmes, the show\u2019s co-creative director, didn\u2019t want to risk overdoing the visuals; her goal was always to keep the focus on Phish and the music, while using the Sphere\u2019s 160,000-square-foot LED screen to enhance the tunes \u2014 not distract from them. \u201cWe wanted to absolutely make the most out of the room and also support Phish doing what Phish does best,\u201d she told The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>. And what Phish does best are jams, improvisation, and showcasing the group\u2019s next-level musicality. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But that was before night one, back when Holmes and Phish frontman Trey Anastasio<\/a> were keeping mum about what the show would entail beyond saying all four nights would be linked by a particular theme. Now, the first show is in the books, and it went off without a hitch. Fans in attendance seemed enamored by the experience, and those livestreaming from home praised night one as among the best-sounding Phish shows they\u2019ve ever heard \u2014 even if they didn\u2019t get to live through all the immersion firsthand. The visuals spanning the Sphere\u2019s humongous screen were suitably trippy but never went overboard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This morning, as Phish\u2019s legions in Vegas were resting up for round two tonight, I chatted with the show\u2019s other<\/em> co-creative director, Jean-Baptiste Hardoin, and producer Daniel Jean. Both work at the Montreal-based Moment Factory. Skim through the company\u2019s projects<\/a>, and it\u2019s immediately clear that Hardoin and Co. are comfortable working in one-of-a-kind venue spaces. They\u2019ve done domes before. But four nights of Phish at the Sphere called for a lot of preparation and visualizations that would be flexible enough to keep up if a 10-minute song suddenly stretched to 25 minutes. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt was pretty clear, the dos and donts, with the band,\u201d Hardoin said. \u201cPhish was working more than ever with visual creation. It was interesting to pave this road together and explore.\u201d Four completely different shows made for a daunting challenge \u2014 U2 ran the same playbook every night \u2014 and there wasn\u2019t a ton<\/em> of time between when the Sphere run was announced in the fall and this week\u2019s performances. \u201cWe had to kind of reinvent our production pipeline,\u201d Jean told me. \u201cSo we went to our innovation team to see how we can hijack some technologies to create content at a more fast pace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe started with the idea of doing 70 percent pre-rendered scenes, which is done more in a traditional way with CG and all, and 30 percent real time using Unreal Engine and Notch<\/a> and some AI,\u201d Jean said. By the time the shows rolled around, that balance ended up looking more like 50\/50. This is Phish, after all, and jams don\u2019t exactly lend themselves to pre-rendered video. \u201cIn fact, we\u2019re now playing real time content in 16K by 16K, which we believe has never been done before,\u201d Jean said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some moments<\/a> last night felt like you were seeing enormous versions of the old visualizers from Winamp or iTunes. Others brought the crowd into intricate, dazzling scenes<\/a>. \u201cThis place is very theatrical,\u201d Hardoin said. \u201cSometimes you just put a nice environment in the space, and people are surrounded by this environment. You don\u2019t need to be so hectic about movements and stuff happening. You just need to leave them for awhile to enjoy the music.\u201d There are always going to be people who expect more. But you\u2019ve also got to consider that a fair percentage of these audiences will be under the influence of something<\/em>, and you can only push their senses so far. The Sphere is IMAX on steroids. It can be a lot, even when you\u2019re stone-cold sober.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The team got a chance to preview how the show would look at the Sphere in March. But their in-person collaboration began much earlier: Anastasio told The Associated Press<\/em><\/a> that he first met with Holmes for early planning back in June. According to Hardoin, there were also get-togethers in Montreal and New York City. Even when apart, Holmes, Hardoin, and Anastasio touched base constantly (often daily) to discuss art direction, stage \/ lighting design, potential set lists for each night, and so on. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s only one full-size Sphere. But a miniature version was built for the purpose of nailing the hyper-directional audio mix, which is handled by Phish\u2019s soundman, Garry Brown. He told The Washington Post<\/em> that Phish would have \u201ca soundscape that is a lot wider than what U2 did.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Moment Factory also built a mini-dome for test viewings at its Montreal home base. When not there, the company\u2019s artists and designers spent many hours in virtual reality, working with a digital representation of the Sphere to sample how their visualizations and CGI set pieces would look from every angle in the place. \u201cAs much as we can prepare for a show like this, there\u2019s no way we can see the outcome before it\u2019s happening in real time,\u201d Jean said. Reading that vibe and responding to it is where the Unreal and Notch-powered animations can prove valuable. The team can dial things up or down at will. \u201cWe knew that we could adapt to what we feel in the room at this specific moment.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n So far, the Sphere has only had two bands grace its stage. Dead and Company will become the third next month. I asked Hardoin what his advice is for anyone lucky enough to dream up a future event there. His answer was simple. \u201cTry stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a new paradigm for live experiences, music shows, and so on. Some things have been challenges in the creative process. We\u2019re not used to such environments [and considered things like] would people experience motion sickness? Is it too fast? Is it not immersive enough? My advice would be to try stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Phish\u2019s remaining three nights at the Sphere can be livestreamed from the band\u2019s website<\/a>. If you\u2019re only interested in the audio side, SiriusXM is broadcasting each show the following day on Phish\u2019s station<\/a> and will go live for the final performance on Sunday. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n