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Faceplams: I'd pay good money to see NIN do a residency show at the MGS Sphere in Vegas. That seems like it would be a good fit for NIN's design.
Throbbing Member
I'd pay good money to see NIN do a residency show at the MGS Sphere in Vegas. That seems like it would be a good fit for NIN's design.
Active Member
Even though the economics don't really work at this point, I would love to see what Trent came up with for the Vegas Sphere.
Administrator
If I see one more post anywhere about "guys, what if NIN plays the vegas shpere?", I'm going to fucking lose it. That ain't happening, get real.
Throbbing Member
The Fragile, in its entirety, in the Sphere. It's gotta happen
Administrator
i can picture itOriginally Posted by ghostaustin
Captain Rustleboots
18600 person capacity. If he doesn't want to tour anymore just do a residency there - lets party.
she/her/hers
being in a giant room with that many people is literally a nightmare i've had
Active Member
...but doesn't that pretty much describe every indoor arena concert ever?
Coffee BREAK!
*Starts sweating while thinking about being in The Sphere when 'closer' begins*
she/her/hers
i tend to avoid shows at venues that big because i get panic attacks.
the aragon here in chicago which i guess is a mid-sized venue, has a capacity of 5,000, and even that is overwhelming to me.
i prefer places like the metro that have a capacity around 1,000.
Administrator
NIN don't even play venues this big anymore. With the exception of Cleveland, Vets Aid and the festivals, all 2022 venues were under 10K. Same picture in 2018.
Administrator
I think that was mostly an intentional choice though, and also why they played multiple nights at those venues. When they do their next comeback tour, I think they could do an arena tour if they wanted to.
Active Member
I think the days of arena-sized shows with tons of production are probably behind us now. Trent has mentioned on more than one occasion that he grew bored with having to top the last tour (and keep up with bigger acts) in terms of production. Also, that much production costs a pretty penny, which means having to tour more to make up the cost. Trent & Atticus don't seem keen on doing that type of touring anymore. They probably want the flexibility that they had during the last touring cycles. A few shows here, a few shows there, with space in between for family time and to work on film scores and other projects. Based on Trent's recent comments, I also think they're aware that the popularity of the band is not where it was many years ago. Respectfully, I don't think they could fill an 18,000 seat arena at this point, even if it was a one-off performance.
Stubby Member
They sold out Cleveland (20,000) in less than a couple hours.
Active Member
True, but that was also a reunion show.
Administrator
It wasn't advertised as such and likely not why it sold out.
It was announced ahead of all the other dates (except Hellfest and Primavera) as an exclusive one-time-only NIN+Ministry+Nitzer Ebb event
Throbbing Member
I think that was also initially announced before any kind of tour, then it got postponed due to the pandemic
Administrator
You literally qualified your criteria with "even if it was a one-off performance".
nindivinedebris
The Sphere isn't happening.
Could NIN fill a venue that size? Yes.
Could NIN fill a venue that size for a residency of at least two weeks in order to recoup the costs involved with creating a production that cannot translate to any other venue? No, I don't think so.
That's setting aside the question of whether or not Trent would even want to deal with creating a production of that size at this time, which from all we've seen, would also appear to be a no.
Active Member
Fair enough. I guess I'm just thinking about it as a general show, not necessarily a special event type of thing with special guests.
That right there is the big issue. As cool as it might be, it all comes down to dollars and cents. Even if they could sell out one show, would that be enough to recoup the production costs? I have my doubts.
nindivinedebris
I can almost guarantee one show or even a few shows would not cover the costs. Granted, you don't have the associated costs that tours incur with travel, but to make financial sense, I'm sure you'd need more than a weeks worth of shows to break even.
Also, the guy behind the Sphere is the same guy who owns/runs Madison Square Garden, and I have to think he has his sights on bigger acts than NIN to bring to the new venue during the first year or two. I'll be very interested to see who the next act is, and I'm guessing it will be an artist that has wide appeal and regularly fills arenas. I saw that U2 is extending their shows into February 2024, so who knows when the next thing will be scheduled.
Administrator
I can't find where I read it, but the Sphere is only doing residencies, because of the costs involved and setup required. Given the higher ticket prices involved, I imagine that it's only going to be big stars with broad appeal for a while. I'm not sure that NIN quite hits that threshold.
Stubby Member
I went to Vegas to see U2 at the Sphere and thought that place was beyond amazing and was thinking about how good would NIN be there, not so sure they could pull off multiple weeks/ months of shows but with seating at around 20k, possibly??
Tension tour would be amazing, yes I know they are in hiding these days..
Administrator
We might as well have a thread for the speculation because I feel this is gonna come up every once in a while. I moved some older posts from other topics here.
God is an American
NIN please announce something that isn't this immediately.
Stubby Member
In a way, LITS was the Sphere before there was a Sphere. NIN has blazed plenty of trails and has nothing to prove in the way of concert visuals, and I think their live legacy might actually be harmed if they didn't hit it out of the park, or struggled to sell out a residency.
24.24.1.1425 [Executed]
Yes, that would be a ridiculously incredible show.
Administrator
I feel like NIN has bounced between extremes when it comes to presentation. This is true of both their live shows and their music videos. When high concept music video ideas go poorly, Trent's default is "record the band playing the song in an unremarkable room" - but when you combine Nine Inch Nails with the right visual collaborators, you get the videos for Closer, The Perfect Drug, We're In This Together. On the live presentation, you get Fragility 2.0, Lights in the Sky, Tension 2013, whatever early 90s tour it was where there was chain link fence - but also stripped down tours like Wave Goodbye, Cold & Black & Infinite (the band playing against a "piss-stained sheet")
If NIN were to play The Sphere, they would almost be a secondary element. It's a space made to be a visual technical demo, something that's emphasized by the choice to have Darren Aronofsky direct the first, uh, film? for the space.
I think the trouble is, there's also a kind of visual dichotomy in Nine Inch Nails. You get those boundary-pushing clips of the early 90s - "let's make videos that will probably never get airplay" only to have Closer break through, and that visual identity becomes intertwined with Woodstock '94 to become the definitive pop culture snapshot of what Nine Inch Nails is. But you also have the artfuck side of things: David Carson and Bill Viola during the Fragile era, David Fincher's clip for Only, Rob Sheridan's photography for Ghosts. And of course, my secret favorite: Sci-Fi NIN. Bleedthrough! Year Zero! The EP Trilogy! That weird scrapped Every Day Is Exactly The Same "space station" video concept!
Given the Sphere, do you go "gritty industrial" or "sci-fi"? Concert length, I think that would be incredibly difficult to navigate without quickly devolving into self-serious parody. I think the choice I'd prefer is to go 100% artfuck. Bold colors, abstract video, optical illusions, tech trickery. But what partner do you entrust with a project that expensive, that limited in scope? It's a tall fucking order. I think I'd finally visit Vegas if it happened.
Active Member
Just imagining the chorus of stupid fucks screaming during a performance of Hurt in The Sphere gives me diarrhea.
Active Member
It's a pity that David Bowie still isn't with us to take advantage of this.
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