Sphere of Influence

Unscientific breakdown of Pink Floyd and a few other artists that unfortunately for their fans pre-dated the Sphere.

Pink Floyd

With Phish in the middle of their second pilgrimage to the Sphere in Las Vegas I realized that Pink Floyd would have been the optimal band for the Sphere experience. Before Phish and its accompanying Chris Kuroda led mind-melting light show, Pink Floyd had the ultimate immersive stadium / arena show decades before the Sphere technology was developed. I even attended a rinky-dink laser Pink Floyd light show at a planetarium once upon a time - and enjoyed every minute of it. With David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters all thankfully still with us, it would be technically feasible for a Pink Floyd Sphere residency to occur. However, the reality of the schism between Waters and Gilmour and their respective ages would make this a slim likelihood on par with a Morrissey and Johnny Marr reconcilitation of The Smiths.

Whether it would be the full Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Richard Wright lineup or one of the latter Gilmour-lead versions of Pink Floyd sans Waters, the Sphere could have led to an extensive Pink Floyd residency. One could envision Pink Floyd setting up two different shows - one dedicated to The Wall and a separate show centered around Dark Side of the Moon with another set covering the rest of their extensive discography. Perhaps they could even follow the forthcoming Metallica model of different shows each weekend night.

As a band that always had the light show and spectacle with 1970's - 1990's technology their crew would have a field day with the Sphere screens. Turning the Sphere screens into the Wall falling down might cause audience members to have to grab onto something to prevent buckling under the influence; or turning the Sphere into a planetarium for various Dark Side of the Moon tracks.

Alas, MSG came up with the Sphere tech a few decades too late for Pink Floyd.

Queen

I went back and forth deciding whether Queen would be appropriate for this given that Freddie Mercury was such a force of nature and the North Star for any Queen concert. I ultimately end up as yes; the theatrics of their songs would translate well to the Sphere walls and it could even include the Wayne's World scene playing during Bohemian Rhapsody. The biggest hurdle might have been keeping Freddie Mercury contained to that small stage while the visuals play along with their extensive discography.

Jimmy Buffett

This one might seem a bit out of left field, but despite his laid back vibe and beach themed songs, Jimmy Buffett was for the last few decades of his career a capitalist at heart. As the New York Times wrote years ago (paraphrasing here) - how does Jimmy Buffett sell the Jimmy Buffett experience when he does not really live that way.

While Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band seemingly toured all the sheds and amphitheaters every summer to their legions of Parrotheads, they did hit up the arenas from time to time. A winter Jimmy Buffett residency at the Sphere could have been a mid-winter retreat for all his Northeast parrotheads longing for the summer and beach weather. I was sad to learn that there is not currently a Margaritaville Casino in Vegas, just a Margaritaville Vacation Club. If he was still with us, his fans could have made it an immersive weekend turning Vegas into a Pacific Time Zone Key West. Jimmy Buffett also could easily leverage all the visuals Kenny Chesney used for his countrified Buffett-light catalog, or some that Zac Brown Band probably used for his Buffett inspired songs.

Talking Heads

Another residency that could theoritically still happen but very unlikely given that the members have not toured or played despite some recent de-thawing of their relationship issues. David Byrne is still hitting the road for solo shows in his own idiosyncratic manner.

I could foresee taking the Stop Making Sense movie and amplifying it 10x for the Sphere. David Byrne rocking the big suit with videos of the big suit taking up most of the wall. The graphic designers would have a field day trying to make visuals for Talking Heads songs even if they just took the lyrics literally.

Finally, Led Zeppelin

One of the original arena rock bands that could probably just show scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy during their sets and it might sync up pretty well.

Who did I miss?