#17「長田のラスベガス旅行～前編～」
Chocolate Planet's Nagata (長田) flew from Tokyo to Las Vegas via Los Angeles with his manager and two colleagues to pack three landmark experiences — Cirque du Soleil's KÀ, the Sphere's remade Wizard of Oz, and a Metallica concert — into a single overnight trip. The entire cost, from JAL business-class seats to a sprawling condominium-style hotel, was covered by Nagata alone, a bill he described as 'the kind of amount a company president could afford.' The episode recounts the journey from wheels-up at Haneda on September 30 through the late-night Denny's run that closed out Metallica night.
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What this episode answers
Why did Nagata choose to go to Las Vegas at this particular time?
Learning that his longtime favorite Metallica would perform a residency at the Sphere, Nagata locked in his schedule six months out and secured a ticket for the only date that fit — the October 1 opening night — in a fierce battle across a run of more than twenty shows. It was his third visit to the Sphere overall.
How did Nagata spend his time on the JAL flight and during the San Francisco layover?
He watched two films in JAL business class on fully flat seats, including the live-action Moana starring Dwayne Johnson, then during a roughly three-hour San Francisco layover ate pizza and a giant, chewy French cruller-style pastry that turned out to be 'intensely sweet, like gum — this is America.'
What was Cirque du Soleil's KÀ like?
Set in an Asian-tinged, Mad Max-esque industrial ruin atmosphere, the show's central spectacle was a tennis-court-sized stage that tilted to nearly 90 degrees, with performers descending its surface along protruding handholds as sand cascaded down in a dramatic rush.
What was the Oz experience at the Sphere like?
The remake preserved the original film's human footage but replaced every background with ultra-high-definition Sphere imagery; the tornado scene blasted wind into the auditorium and shook the seats violently, the shift from black-and-white to color was visually stunning, and foam apples actually dropped from the screen into the crowd.
How were Metallica's production, setlist, and fan service at the live show?
The show started on time and delivered three of Nagata's five most-wanted songs — Battery opened, followed by Master of Puppets and Nothing Else Matters — while One and Enter Sandman were not on the setlist; Kirk Hammett threw an entire bucket of guitar picks into the crowd and Lars Ulrich tossed out drumsticks one after another, and there was no encore.
The Ticket Battle and the Travel Party
The trip had one origin point: Metallica announcing a Sphere residency. Nagata has loved the band since his youth, and when he saw that more than twenty shows were scheduled he immediately checked his calendar — only the October 1 opening night was available. Tickets sold out at a ferocious pace, but he managed to secure seats. His travel companions were his manager, music producer Kawane-chan (川根美ちゃん), and YouTube director Takekawa-kun (竹川君), the same four-person crew that had made a previous Sphere trip together. For Nagata it was his third Sphere visit. He covered every expense himself — flights, hotel, and tickets — and described the total as "the kind of amount a company president could afford," signaling just how large the outlay was.
On the Plane and the San Francisco Layover
The group departed Haneda at 4:20 p.m. on September 30, flying JAL business class with fully flat seats. Nagata watched two films on board, one of them the live-action remake of Moana starring Dwayne Johnson (The Rock). A roughly three-hour connection in San Francisco gave the crew time to walk the terminal, grab pizza, and stumble upon a large, chewy, hole-free pastry that resembled a French cruller. One bite confirmed it: "intensely sweet, like gum — this is America." The group landed in Las Vegas at 3:46 p.m. local time. Their hotel was a condominium-style property, spacious enough to give each of the four a private room.
Night One: Cirque du Soleil's KÀ
At 9:00 p.m. on the first night the group attended KÀ, Cirque du Soleil's permanent Las Vegas show. The production has an Asian aesthetic, and even before the house lights dropped the theater felt like a Mad Max-esque industrial ruin, with rope performers already in the air shaping the atmosphere. The show's signature feat is a stage roughly the size of a tennis court that slowly tilts until it stands nearly vertical. As the platform rose, performers traversed its surface by gripping protruding holds and working their way down, while sand heaped on the stage poured off in a dramatic cascade. The show ended around 11:00 p.m. Dinner was Chinese food from Panda Express before the group turned in.
Metallica Day: Oz Wakes Up Every Sense
The next day — Metallica day — started with pancakes at a local spot, followed by time at the hotel pool. The water was colder than expected, nudging the group toward the jacuzzi to fend off jet lag. Before the concert they caught the Sphere's current feature, a remade version of The Wizard of Oz. The film keeps all of the original's human footage intact but rebuilds every background in the Sphere's ultra-high-definition format. During the tornado sequence, wind blasted through the auditorium, leaf-shaped props scattered through the air, and the seats shook violently. The jump from black-and-white to color was visually arresting, and during the apple-tree scene the screen opened and foam apples dropped into the crowd. A winged-monkey puppet flew above the audience on wires. The Sphere's full arsenal of physical effects — wind, vibration, falling objects — was deployed to turn a classic film into something closer to a theme-park ride.
Metallica Live: A Lifelong Dream Fulfilled
A few hours after Oz, Metallica took the stage right on time — a notable contrast to the Backstreet Boys show at the Sphere, which Nagata recalled starting more than forty minutes late. The standing pit holds roughly 1,000 to 2,000 people; total capacity including seated sections is around 15,000. The crowd skewed older; the room was on its feet for the opener but many fans sat down after two or three songs.
Nagata's personal wishlist was Battery, Master of Puppets, Nothing Else Matters, One, and Enter Sandman. The night delivered the first three — Battery opened the show — but One and Enter Sandman did not appear. Remarkably, Metallica changes the setlist completely for every one of their more than twenty Sphere dates.
Compared with the Backstreet Boys show, which leaned heavily on lasers and stage lifts, Metallica offered fewer overt Sphere spectacles — a natural consequence of the band format — but Nagata described it as the supreme experience of being completely immersed in music. After the final song, Kirk Hammett showered the floor with an entire bucket of guitar picks, and Lars Ulrich threw drumsticks into the crowd one after another. There was no encore; the show closed on a group photo of the members and the band's iconic "M" logo. The night ended with a late meal at Denny's.
Takeaways
- This was Nagata's third Sphere visit, and the trip crammed three major events — KÀ, Oz, and Metallica — into a single overnight stay.
- The Sphere pairs visual and audio spectacle with physical effects such as wind, seat vibration, and falling objects, and the quality of the experience shifts substantially depending on the content.
- Metallica impressed with a punctual start, a completely different setlist each night across a 20-plus-show residency, and generous crowd moments from Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.