Just a quick question: how does the Sphere plan to make money? It was claimed in November that the venue had lost almost $100 million since it opened in September of last year. United States has been the only band to play there.
That didn’t change tonight, when the band streamed a show from what I can only guess is now their home to the Grammys. Some people got motion sickness from the smooth performance, which looked a lot like an ad for a tech business.
Phish and Dead & Company are the only other artists set to perform at the venue at this time. The Darren Aronofsky film Postcard From Earth, which was made just for the venue, will be shown every so often in between.
A few jam bands might be able to keep the $2 billion building going for a while, but if that well goes dry, it doesn’t seem like artists would stop there on their tours (since they’d have to make a new show that uses the Sphere’s features).
With only 18,000 to 20,000 seats, it’s also too small for big names like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, who are known for putting on big shows. And after tonight, it doesn’t look like Sphere CEO James Dolan got any new people to join.
No amount of LED screens will make the Sphere’s future look good unless he starts charging U2 rent.