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With or Without U2 – The Sphere Is An Unforgettable Fire In Tech

Whether you like the band, U2, or not, The Sphere and what they’re doing is a technological leap forward in innovation.

Before digging into this, go to TikTok or YouTube and search for “U2 The Sphere”… prepare to have your senses sparked.
The Sphere is that big round orb venue in Las Vegas that you may have seen in the media and build-up to its grand opening this past weekend.

The tech and build of The Sphere is wild:

The Sphere cost $2.3 billion to build.
It seats 18,600 fans.
Billed as the largest 16k LED screen in the world, it has 268,435,456 pixels, the equivalent of 72 HD televisions.
The more-than-semi-circular screen is about 35 stories tall (it really captures your entire field of vision).
You can’t see any speakers. The audio system consists of a complex matrix of speakers – 167,000 in total – seamlessly integrated behind the screen and throughout the venue.

The Sphere will also be built in London and smaller ones are planned for other markets (and here’s a great read about this all: Wallpaper – How to conquer the Atomic City: the story behind U2 at the new Las Vegas Sphere).

If you have, at least $1000 USD, you can check out U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, which will run September 29th – December 16th 2023 (but will, surely, be extended) to celebrate the opening of The Sphere and celebrate the band’s Achtung Baby’s 30th anniversary.

With that…

What bands will be able to afford to play here (rumors are Harry Styles might be next)?
How can any other bands do this at the level that U2 committed?
How different is this tech from current live band productions?
Does all of this perpetuate the inability for most people to afford a great live show?

And, perhaps, my biggest fear/concern/excitement: Does all of this tech take away from a live band performing?

What is Tech Tuesday?

Every Tuesday – for just a few minutes – I join Heather Backman (my old buddy from her days on CHOM FM and Jack 103) on the air at 95.9 Star FM to give a quick blast about the current state of technology, media and Internet culture.
We call it Tech Tuesday (and we do it in just a few minutes).

Once the segment goes live on 95.9 Star FM, I will post it here for you to listen in, learn, share and engage.

Mitch Joel · With or Without U2 – The Sphere Is An Unforgettable Fire In Tech

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Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.