Country music is headed to The Sphere.
Las Vegas has created the most unique concert and mind-blowing concert experience on the planet by opening the 2.3 billion-dollar Sphere. The circular building is covered in LED panels, both inside and out, creating a state-of-the-art visual experience inside the venue, as well as a very valuable piece of marketing real estate on the exterior. It’s truly one of a kind.
While the Sphere holds more than just concerts (most notably, Dana White held a UFC fight there), musical acts are having an absolute blast thinking outside the box to transform their shows into a visually striking masterpiece.
Really glad I did the Dead and Co at the Sphere. So much different from Phish (duh). The way they designed the whole experience felt like being in a movie, down to the end credits. pic.twitter.com/75fmj3THMi
— brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) August 4, 2024
U2 opened the venue with a residency and has since been followed by shows from The Eagles, Dead & Company (the visuals from those shows looked unreal), EDM artists, and most recently announced, Kenny Chesney.
No Shoes Nation will be immersed in a beach experience during Kenny’s shows at the Sphere, and he’s stoked to bring his music to the legendary venue. When the shows were announced, Chesney shared that he was always looking for ways to improve his shows, and when this opportunity presented itself, he couldn’t say no.
“I’m always looking for ways to deepen the way No Shoes Nation experiences this music. Over the years, they have shown me through their own response to these songs how passionate they are about what they mean, how these songs are part of their lives.
When people give you that much heart, I want to give them even more. When we started talking about all of the possibilities playing Sphere offered, I was all in.”
I mean, when you’ve spent the past 15 years playing football stadiums, how else can you take it to the next level?
Although his residency does not start until May, Kenny Chesney recently expressed his excitement about the shows, giving some more information about the show when appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“I just feel like it’s such a… what’s the word? Immersive thing. It’s such a shared moment. I walked in there… I haven’t seen a show yet. I haven’t seen The Eagles. I haven’t seen U2. I signed up… without seeing a show. But I went there, and they showed me a little bit of what was possible. And it’s like we are… the band, the audience, is all in a completely different state of consciousness.”
Chesney then explained to Fallon that he couldn’t use any of the concert clips he had collected or visuals he’d used over the years; he had to re-shoot because everything was displayed in a very high resolution, 36k, to quote Chesney exactly.
“I mean, everything is shot, you know, getting technical is shot in 36k. So we have all this footage that we’ve used over the years, in our stadium shows or whatever, and can’t use a frame of it. We got to reshoot everything, which is good because it just makes it really new and fresh.
That’s one of the reasons I agreed to do it. We are already in rehearsals. We are going to be rehearsing; it’s a lot to put together. Once we are there, it will be a lot of fun, but getting there is a lot of work. But that’s great.”
Any show at the Sphere will be unlike anything concertgoers or fans of the artists have experienced before. Still, from what Chesney is saying, it appears that he is diving in headfirst to ensure that every aspect of this show is new for the No Shoes Nation.
I cannot wait to see what the final result is come May.
Kenny Chesney Sphere Las Vegas Dates
Thursday, May 22
Saturday, May 24
Sunday, May 25
Wednesday, May 28
Friday, May 30
Saturday, May 31
Wednesday, June 4
Friday, June 6
Saturday, June 7
Wednesday, June 11
Friday, June 13
Saturday, June 14
