U2 Shouldn’t Be Superstitious

I am not an overly superstitious person. Black cats don’t faze me. Broken mirrors aren’t an issue. Horoscopes are a complete waste of time, as are fortune cookies. Walking under a ladder doesn’t give me pause, and I don’t throw salt over my shoulder. Finally, my mother’s back should be broken in a zillion places due to all the cracks I stepped upon in all my years. It isn’t.

So, Friday the 13^th? Bring it on big guy. You don’t bother me.

With that said, the most recent news cycle has been beyond depressing. So much so, I haven’t had a casual conversation in recent memory without someone, other than me, saying something about how the headlines are bringing then down. Couple that with how nothing seems to work as smoothly as it once did, or at least should, and it is hard not to be a little pessimistic.

Perhaps my age and chromosomal makeup are finally coalescing to turn me into a grumpy old man. I suppose it is about that time.

Interestingly, though, despite all the negativity, people seem to be relatively happy in their day-to-day lives. I might be alone, but that has been my basic observation. Sure, the media might be all doom and gloom, but that doesn’t necessary apply to everyone or even most people.

This past week, as in a couple of days ago, my wife and I went to Las Vegas to catch the U2 show at the new Sphere music and entertainment venue. If you aren’t familiar with the rock band U2, it arguably is to Gen X what the Rolling Stones were to the Baby Boomers. While that might not be the absolute best analogy, it is decent enough.

While the band was the headliner, the arena itself is the real attraction. Make no bones about it, Sphere was the primary selling point to get me off my brains in central Alabama and on a plane to Nevada. After all, I had passed on seeing the band in far more convenient places on numerous occasions.

Here are some of the dimensions from an article in USA Today:

• “One block east from the Vegas strip, the record-breaking Sphere sits at 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide. In addition to being the largest sphere, the bowl reportedly also has the largest LED lights with 1.2 million lights the size of hockey pucks.

As reference, an American football field from end zone to end zone is 360 feet. The venue can seat nearly 18,000 people. A pedestrian walkway to the Venetian resort complex will connect the globe to the strip.

• “The screen goes from ground to 250 feet high, all the way around,” Claffey said. “It keeps you fully immersed when you’re sitting in that bowl. I used to love IMAX in New York City, but this will blow that away.”
• “Aside from being a visual wonder, producers promise next-level audio for guests as the Sphere has over 160,000 speakers spread around the bowl. The venue will also offer 4-D experiences with seats that vibrate and wind machines.”

Let me put it this way. IMAX is to Sphere what a Krystal burger is to filet mignon. If you don’t believe me, perhaps this clip will help you. Understand, what you are about to see is all completely indoors.

Even if you don’t like U2 or even rock music, do yourself a favor and try to make one of these shows. If you can’t just stomach the prospect of Bono and The Edge on a 250-foot screen, wait until someone you like plays there and go. Just go.

By all means, start putting pennies in a jar right now to save money. Throw a garage sale. Give plasma. Just do what you have to do to see a show in this arena at some point. The experience was that incredible, exceeding my already high expectations.

But what does this have to do with anything other than my bragging about having a good time in Vegas? Fair enough.

While there is currently only one Sphere, and it was a whopper to construct, it won’t be the only one for very long. In the decades ahead, the sensory overload it provides will become the norm for arts and entertainment. Non-Sphere performances will be akin to ‘acoustic performances’ today.

To be sure, places like Birmingham won’t have a Sphere the size Las Vegas does, but they will ultimately have one. Why? They simply won’t have the option if they want to get quality concerts, plays and conventions to come to their city. It will be a prerequisite on RFPs to get the major events.

Seriously.

Metropolitan areas like Nashville, Charlotte, Denver, Austin and others of that size will likely have Spheres which seat, say, 12,000 people. Smaller markets like Richmond, Birmingham, and Louisville could end up having Sphere experiences which seat 6,000-8,000. While that might seem farfetched now, it won’t be in several years.

But, with all the problems in the world today, wouldn’t spending this exorbitant amount of money on ‘circuses’ be foolish? After all, there are potholes in the roads, crime is on the rise, our children can’t read as well as they should and families don’t have enough food on the table. Also, Norris, in case you haven’t heard, the U.S. is already awash in debt.

From where is all this money going to come?

The same place we get the cash to put up domed football and baseball stadiums, I suppose. There seems to be no shortage of cash for those things, does there? But are they the highest and best use of limited dollars when we have all of the ills listed in the previous paragraph? I guess it depends on whether you have to answer that question on a Tuesday or a Sunday.

In the end, given everything happening in the world today, you could argue a U2 concert at a futuristic venue in Las Vegas is amazingly insignificant. You would be absolutely correct. I mean, on the mountain of pressing issues, it is at the base in the back of the queue. In fact, it borders on silly.

However, a lot of things border on silly. Fretting about black cats crossing your path or walking under a ladder is silly. So is wasting your time with horoscopes and fortune cookies. And Friday the 13^th? Believing that day is any more unlucky than any other is also, you got it, silly.

As for this week’s fluffier piece? You can read all the negative stuff you want elsewhere. There is no shortage of it, and it can really get you down in the dumps if you let it. However, thinking about new technologies and how they are going to change how we live our lives and entertain ourselves? That is far more fun to think about, and the reason I decided to do so here today.

 

Thank you for your continued support. As always, I hope this newsletter finds you and your family well. May your blessings outweigh your sorrows on this any every day. Also, please be sure to tune into our podcast, Trading Perspectives, which is available on every platform.

John Norris

Chief Economist