Anyma at Sphere

photo courtesy of Encode Talent

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From the minute that Sphere – the future-leaning, state-of-the-art venue in Vegas – was announced, fans have been throwing around theories about which massive acts would best utilize the groundbreaking technology the room has to offer, including the world’s biggest screen and a mind-blowingly precise sound system. Until recently, the answer was retro-leaning rock acts that have always had an eye towards creative presentation: U2’s highly-publicized debut of the venue showcased an LED-enhanced stage and massive desertscapes; Phish utilized both tactile and lighting effects to prove that improvisation was a Spherical concept; Dead and Co. literally made the 17,000 fans feel like they were flying high over San Francisco together; and The Eagles firmly placed its audience inside 70’s-era Los Angeles, making sure the sound system was tweaked to hear their signature harmonies just-so.

But Sphere’s current resident, the Italian-American DJ/Producer Anyma, is going for something completely different with his new Sphere show “The End of Genesys” – rather than looking towards the past, he’s imagining the future, via a cinematic presentation that ties his untzy house songs together via four distinct chapters about two cyborgs falling in love with visuals that call to mind everything from “Prometheus” to “Alita: Battle Angel,” all while utilizing all-encompassing CGI landscapes and “whoa”-drawing dramatic moments. The shows – which continue January 10 and 11 – feature Anyma (nee Matteo Milleri) standing abroad two keyboard setups, atop one of three giant platforms overlooking the audience, suspended many stories in the air. On the other two platforms are two industrial robots playing cello (yes, you read that right), all of which may or may not be playing actual live music – which isn’t the point.

Instead, the focus is on the immersive power that comes from the brand-new live-show art form of having a screen that dwarfs everything in sight. At various times in the show, the audience witnesses a giant robot cracking through the atmosphere, a future vision that cycles between dystopia and utopia, a gigantic version of pop star Ellie Goulding’s face being manipulated digitally by swarms of hands, and a takeover of thousands of bulging eyeballs that was psychedelic, engrossing, and instantly triggering for anyone with ommetaphobia. The latter was set to “Voices In My Head,” a vibey bounce with the repeated lyrics “I know that I should sleep but the voices in my head go…”, the bass beat reverberating not just through 170,000 speakers but the venue’s haptic seats, whole-bodies throbbing in time as those eyeballs opened and closed.

This show ended with a guest spot from Empire Of The Sun’s singer Luke Steel, donned in his requisite future attire and lip-synching their new collab with Anyma, “Human Now,” while blissed-out concertgoers reached to the sky. If that sounds familiar to anyone who’s been to the other shows at Sphere, well, it should: like the rock shows that came before it, the whole point is to take the audience on a journey that they couldn’t experience anywhere else. Whether or not the music speaks to you is sort of secondary: with “The End of Genesys,” Anyma is re-imagining the scope of an EDM show in the same way the rock bands that preceded him have found creativity within their genre in the new space. It’s a beta test for the future – and, at least inside the Sphere, the future already looks amazing.