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The Sphere has been under-scheduled since it opened in September 2023, but we’re hearing The Weeknd, nee Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, will announce a new residency at the eye-catching venue soon.
U2 recently ended its residency at The Sphere, and the New York Post says The Eagles will follow in their footsteps. We’ve also been told Beyonce is set for a Sphere residency, but it hasn’t been announced yet, either.
We’ve heard about The Weeknd’s Las Vegas residency from multiple reliable sources.
U2 had a successful and buzzworthy run at Sphere at Venetian, but the venue only got 10% of ticket sales, so it’s hard to say if they’re making any headway toward paying off the $2.3 billion it took to build the high-tech theater.
The Sphere’s movie, Darren Aronofsky’s “Postcard from Earth,” has proven surprisingly popular, with one longtime Vegas show producer saying, “There’s nobody coming to Vegas right now who isn’t seeing that movie in The Sphere.” Tickets are in the $100 range for the 50-minute film, basically an IMAX nature film. Which we should probably see so we aren’t ridiculing something before we know what we’re actually talking about. There’s a first time for everything.
Anyhoo, Weeknd at The Sphere!
Also finalizing a deal for a Sphere residency: The Weeknd (sic).
— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) March 19, 2024
Doing a residency at The Sphere is tricky stuff.
Some pretty big names have passed on signing with venue, despite the favorable financial arrangement. It takes a very big (and very confident) performer to risk getting swallowed up by the 160,000-square-foot LED screen inside The Sphere.
The Weeknd could fare well at The Sphere, given the success of his recent global stadium tour with Doja Cat (at least until she had to bail due to tonsil surgery).
Weeknd is one of the world’s best-selling artists, according to the Internet, with more than 75 million records sold.
His hits include: “The Hills,” “Love Me Harder,” “Call Out My Name,” “I Feel It Coming,” “Can’t Feel My Face.” Yes, there are other hits, but our curated list tells a chronological story, in the off chance you’re paying attention at all.
All we really care about is this one, because he shot it at the Plaza and Caesars Palace. Weeknd also licks a frog. Nobody’s perfect.
That video is also the one burned into the the memories of our friends at Fremont Street Experience, because Weeknd shot the Viva Viva screen with a test screen.
Fun fact: In 2022, the Weeknd hosted a haunted house at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood, as part of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. Interestingly, Universal is bringing “Universal Horror Unleashed” to Las Vegas at Area 15. We’re predicting a future collab, if collabs are still something the kids are doing.
More clues Weeknd is coming to Las Vegas? He’s already played Ball Arena (in Denver). Because balls are round, like spheres.
Yes, The Sphere is more of a hemisphere than a sphere, but let’s not get bogged down with details. It’s a jaw-dropper.
Aside from the giant eyeball, our favorite video segment on The Sphere. @SphereVegas pic.twitter.com/5ZnmQJLk7k
— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) December 22, 2023
There are more details to come with the official announcement, including residency dates, a playlist and possible if “The” is supposed to be part of the Weeknd’s name, or if that’s optional.
Today we learned Weeknd left the last “e” out of his stage name to avoid a trademark kerfuffle with the Canadian band, The Weekend.
The same thing happened back when we started this blog and wanted to use the Twitter handle, “@VitalVegas.” A guy named “Vitale” (who lives in Las Vegas) was using it, but had shortened it to “Vital,” we are glad he did. And glad he was up for selling it for a mere $300.
So many fun facts, so littl tim.
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