A Second Sphere Is Coming To Abu Dhabi
They’re coming for us. These mysterious glowing orbs are about to start popping up in cities all across the world, especially those with money and without heavy labor codes or environmental regulations. The Las Vegas music venue known as Sphere is a weirdly unique engineering feat, at least for now, but it will soon have company.
James Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Entertainment Company has been trying to figure out how to bring more Spheres to the world, and London mayor Sadiq Khan shot down plans to build one in that city’s Olympic Park. There’s talk of another Sphere in the South Korean city of Hanam, and now Dolan’s company and United Arab Emirates’ tourism authorities have officially announced plans for a second Sphere in Abu Dhabi.
As CNN reports, H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, talked about the second Sphere in a news release: “By embracing cutting-edge entertainment like Sphere, we’re not only elevating our global profile but also setting new standards in immersive experiences and cultural offerings.” James Dolan talked up his plan for a “global network of venues.” Abu Dhabi’s Tourism board will pay for this Sphere, and part of the budget is the “franchise initiation fee” that the government will pay to Sphere Entertainment. There’s no timetable, and the final papers haven’t been signed yet, but it’s official enough to announce.
I saw the Sphere for myself this past weekend, and it really does feel like a hallucination. Taking off from Vegas at night, it’s like aliens have landed and like they’re just flashing psychedelic patterns at the world in a vain attempt to communicate. As sheer spectacle, it’s not not cool.