Cass Anderson / BroBible
A Phish fan has been banned from every MSG property, including Madison Square Garden and The Sphere, after taking a historic bong hit and becoming the first person to ever smoke from a bong inside The Sphere in Las Vegas.
This occurred during Phish’s 4/20 show at The Sphere. Phish played 4 nights at The Sphere in Las Vegas from 4/18-4/21 and I was there on 4/19 and 4/20, sitting just one suite over from where this guy ripped the bong and posted it to Instagram on 4/20. I didn’t see him hitting the bong in the suite next to ours but the video went super viral in Phish circles and I saw it within minutes of the video being posted.
There were a LOT of people smoking and vaping inside The Sphere at these shows, as is the case with every Phish show since 1989, but it took some stones to sneak a bong into the venue, hit it, and then post that video to Instagram.
Phish Fan Banned From The Sphere And MSG For Hitting A Bong
The person who posted it goes by the name ‘acid_farts’ on Instagram and on Wednesday they followed up with a screenshot of the letter they’d received from the General Counsel of Madison Square Garden Entertainment informing him he had been banned from all MSG properties:
On that image, he jokingly wrote “The Sphere sent me a plaque to commemorate what is now officially the first bong hit taken in The Sphere.”
Jokes aside, getting banned from The Sphere and all MSG properties is a Phish fans worst nightmare. Phish has played 83 shows at MSG over the years and often perform 4 back-to-back nights there over New Year’s Eve and these are typically some of the best Phish shows of the year.
MSG Entertainment owns The Sphere and Phish is rumored to have a multi-year contract to perform at The Sphere for several years to come. And for anyone thinking it will be easy to sneak in, MSG uses facial recognition technology to identify and keep out people who have been banned from the properties. So while it might be possible to get in through the front door, it certainly won’t be possible for this person to see Phish at an MSG property ever again unless they find a way to get the ban dropped.
Looking at the Code of Conduct listed for The Sphere, there is this message at the bottom of the page: “Guests who violate the Code of Conduct may be subject to ejection without refund and, to the extent their conduct constitutes a violation of law, may be subject to arrest. We thank you for your cooperation.” At no point does it mention the possibility of a lifetime ban…
We shared this clip from The Sphere on the BroBible Instagram and I can’t imagine getting banned and missing moments like this just to hit a bong inside The Sphere…Though, being the first to do it certainly counts for something:
On Instagram, people joked that someone clever enough to sneak a bong into The Sphere is clever enough to beat the ban but that’s just not the case with MSG Entertainment’s facial recognition technology. And I was at The Sphere for the Phish shows and also sitting on the suite level.
My experience with security was incredible. It was a breeze. I think it would have been quite easy to sneak in a bong as once they saw your suite ticket they basically ushered you straight through to the VIP elevator. At no point did I feel like they were searching my pockets for anything even if there were advanced scanners on site.