{"id":175850,"date":"2025-07-30T12:12:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/07\/30\/inside-eric-prydzs-holosphere-2-0-a-show-and-eventual-tour-five-years-in-the-making-2\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T12:12:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:12:42","slug":"inside-eric-prydzs-holosphere-2-0-a-show-and-eventual-tour-five-years-in-the-making-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/07\/30\/inside-eric-prydzs-holosphere-2-0-a-show-and-eventual-tour-five-years-in-the-making-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Eric Prydz\u2019s Holosphere 2.0, a Show (And Eventual Tour) Five Years in the\u00a0Making"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tSix years ago this month, Eric Prydz<\/a> debuted his technological masterpiece of a show, Holosphere, at Tomorrowland 2019. The Swedish producer and his team spent two years conceptualizing and building the structure, visuals and music for Holosphere, which Prydz then performed exactly one time. This had not been the plan.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe internet was instantly aflame with videos<\/a> of Holosphere spinning, glowing and pulsing (or at least appearing to) during the Belgian dance festival\u2019s first weekend. But between weekends one and two, the roof of the stage where Prydz was performing collapsed, destroying the Holosphere rig.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe were all a bit like, \u2018What the hell just happened?’\u201d Prydz tells Billboard <\/em>over Zoom. \u201cEveryone had worked so hard. It was a big let down. We didn\u2019t really know what to do from that point. Are we going to rebuild? Are we going to wait? Is insurance going to cover this? It was a big question that lasted for years, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe final answer has come in the form of Holosphere 2.0, the Prydz show that debuted last month at [UNVRS] Ibiza, the island\u2019s newest mega-club. While he and his team initially considered rebuilding the original show, Prydz says they ultimately decided \u201cit would be better for us to look ahead and make a new version of the Holosphere instead of duplicating the first one. That\u2019s basically what we\u2019ve been doing for the past five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you\u2019re a dance music fan who\u2019s even just casually online, you\u2019ve likely seen many hyped social posts about Holosphere 2.0, which finds Prydz playing from inside a 26-foot tall metal ball. Using new LED technology, this structure flashes with imagery that makes it look like a glowing orb, or an eyeball, or any of the show\u2019s many other space-influenced visuals. It also emits actual holograms.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe [UNVRS] residency runs every Monday through September 1. But those who can\u2019t jet to the white isle will still get a chance to see Holosphere 2.0 when Prydz takes it on tour. While the details are still being worked out, he says the Ibiza run \u201chas been a stepping stone for us, and we\u2019re very excited to find other places where we can do the show.\u201d And when Holosphere 2.0 goes on tour, it will be even bigger.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Holosphere<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tHolosphere 2.0 at [UNVRS] Ibiza<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Eric Prydz<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe primary reason Prydz and his team \u2014 a group that includes longtime manager Michael Sershall and longtime creative director Liam Tomaszewski \u2014 decided to make an entirely new show is because of how much technology has advanced during the last six years. \u201cIt got to a point where it felt that going back and building something we started in 2017 didn\u2019t really feel like us or what we want to do, which is try to push forward\u201d Prydz says. <\/p>\n

\n\tA major difference between the 2019 and 2025 Holospheres is how they use LED lights. While the original used low resolution LED ribbon, the best material available at the time, 2.0 uses curved, double-sided and transparent LED panels that have never been used anywhere else. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing off the shelf,\u201d Sershall of this equipment and designs, all of which the team has trademarked. \u201cIt\u2019s all been manufactured for this show.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese panels more than double the imagery resolution, allowing for brighter, more detailed and color accurate visuals. While Tomaszewski calls the differing distances between pixels on the screen \u201ca real headache\u201d to figure out, it resulted in a surface with no breaks in the imagery that fans can look it it from any angle and any area in the club and still see the same view, a feat Tomaszewski says that \u201cwe worked really hard to make possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIncredibly, the team also accomplished the \u201cvery difficult\u201d task of making the whole structure and lighting system transparent, so audiences can still see Prydz inside it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sphere also contains an inner LED panel that Prydz plays in front of, a new feature he says \u201copens up crazy possibilities for us to do things we couldn\u2019t even think about during the first version of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Holosphere<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tHolosphere 2.0 rendering <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Eric Prydz<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tFor 2.0, the team also partnered with Belgium\u2019s PRG Projects on design and execution. They worked especially closely with PRG\u2019s VP of global scene Frederic Opsomer, whose portfolio includes the rigging cube system for U2\u2019s famous 1992-93 Zoo TV Tour, the stadium pixel displays<\/a> at the 2012 London Olympics and stage structures for Daft Punk, Coldplay and more, all of which were on the bleeding edge of tech at the time of their debut. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the team declines to say exactly how much Holosphere 2.0 cost, Sershall says, \u201cIt\u2019s expensive, but it\u2019s affordable, and something we want to invest in. We\u2019re not really going to make money on it, but it\u2019s a passion project and something Eric wants to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLanding the show at [UNVRS] was largely a function of relationships. Over the years Prydz has had myriad residencies at H\u00ef Ibiza, another giant island club owned by [UNVRS] founder Yann Pissenem and his company The Night League. The two teams are in conversation year round, so it was natural to bring 2.0 to the new club. Pissenem\u2019s brother Roman, whose company High Scream specializes in event production, also happened to be in the audience for the one and only showing of the first Holosphere.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe said it was the best-looking show he\u2019s ever seen,\u201d says Sershall. \u201cHe got wind of us discussing building Holosphere again, so the team was straight in like, \u2018Guys, can we make this work?\u2019 We had to look at the structure and the size of their venue and fit accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was also a more functional reason for doing the show at [UNVRS] versus another island club: \u201cThe only reason we can do this show there is because of the weight capacity in the roof,\u201d says Sershall. \u201cThe problem with a lot of Ibiza venues is they\u2019re very old and decrepit and can\u2019t take any weight in the roof. [UNVRS] can do the shows of the caliber they\u2019re doing because of the roof\u2019s weight loading and the fact it\u2019s so modern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sphere weighs roughly 16,000 pounds and, at just over 26 feet tall, is so big that it almost didn\u2019t fit into the club. This was due to a miscalculation that didn\u2019t consider the size of the sandbags used as a safety mechanism to keep the structure in place. Discovered a week before opening night, this error made it so the team was literally shaving down the structure by the micrometer to get it onstage. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn the end it just fit,\u201d says Tomaszewski, who posits \u201cyou could probably put a deck of cards\u201d between the structure and the floor.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNothing ever goes according to plan and everyone is millimeters from a panic attack every day,\u201d Prydz says of the issues that inevitably happen in the lead-up to a show of this magnitude. \u201cThere\u2019s so many elements, and so many new elements that can go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Holosphere<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tHolosphere 2.0 at [UNVRS] Ibiza<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Eric Prydz<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tAnd yet everything went exactly to plan on opening night, June 2, when Prydz stepped into the structure and the team closed the door behind him.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe first sphere we did was open in the back,\u201d he says. \u201cThis one isn\u2019t, so they lock me in. It\u2019s quite claustrophobic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom inside, Prydz can see the people in the first few rows but says taking in the audience isn\u2019t the point, because \u201cit\u2019s a production show\u2026 We want to move me in the background and have the visuals be number one, that and the music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe setlist weaves together Prydz\u2019s progressive house arsenal of hits made under his own name and as his Pryda alias, and thus far has closed every time with his 2016 masterpiece \u201cOpus.\u201d One song that has not yet slipped into the show is his 2004 classic \u201cCall on Me,\u201d which has been historically left out of his sets until this past March, when Prydz played it for the first time in 20 years at a show in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was just flicking through my SD card looking for music and I saw a special edit of the track I have,\u201d Prydz recalls of the moment. \u201cI turned around to my tour manager like, \u2018Stefan, should I play \u2018Call on Me\u2019?\u2019 It was almost like a joke. He looked at me, like, \u2018Yeah, go for it.\u2019 I was like \u2018Are you sure?\u2019 I was like, \u2018Well, it\u2019s in the same key as the track I\u2019m playing now,\u2019 so I just played it. There was no planning. I was as shocked as everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe adds that playing the song felt \u201cweird\u201d given that he hadn\u2019t played it for two decades, \u201cbut it was time\u2026 I\u2019ll wait another 20 years and I\u2019ll play it again.\u201d [Editor\u2019s note: Not long after the interview for this story, Prydz played \u201cCall on Me\u201d for the second time in 20 years at a July 19 set in Brighton Beach, UK.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tBack at [UNVRS], as the first Holosphere 2.0 performance ended, \u201cI think everyone just felt an enormous amount of relief and pride,\u201d says Tomaszewski. It was like \u2018Okay, we can sleep tonight.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Staff<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tThe 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time: Staff\u00a0List\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tNaturally, being the flashiest show at the flashiest new club in Ibiza does foster a certain amount of content creation in the audience, with most photos and videos of Holosphere 2.0 also showing thousands of phones thrust in the air as attendees record it.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs artists navigate this phenomenon and the effect it can have on the liveliness of crowds (other Ibiza clubs are doing some phone free shows, events that are getting rave reviews from the DJs themselves), Tomaszewski emphasizes that the visually forward Holosphere 2.0 is \u201cnot something we\u2019ve done to try and get views over social media. We just think it\u2019s cool. We were doing it before social media even was a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t see these shows as a progression from a DJ set in a club,\u201d adds Prydz. \u201cThey are a separate thing. It\u2019s obviously exciting to see how far you can push things, but to have a dark club with a DJ and one flashing strobe light \u2014 we never tried to take that and make it into something else. We wanted to make something new, adding almost a fifth element to what I was doing with my music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHolosphere 2.0 in fact joins a lineage of high-production Prydz shows that go back more than a decade and include his EPIC (an acronym for \u201cEric Prydz In Concert\u201d) productions and a show called HOLO that featured stunning visuals and holograms on a flat LED panel. Prydz toured these shows, as he will with Holosphere 2.0. Prototypes for the touring rig are currently being created in China, as the touring edition will feature an even bigger 10 meter structure. This will take the rig from just over 26 feet to nearly 33 feet, the height of a three-story building .<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the team isn\u2019t ready to share details about cities are dates, Sershall says that they\u2019ve played arenas before with EPIC shows, \u201cso there\u2019s no reason why we can\u2019t do arenas with the Holosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor now though, he adds, \u201cWe\u2019ve got an arena-level show going into a nightclub every week.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six years ago this month, Eric Prydz debuted his technological masterpiece of a show, Holosphere, at Tomorrowland 2019. The Swedish producer and his team spent two years conceptualizing and building the structure, visuals and music for Holosphere, which Prydz then performed exactly one time. This had not been the plan. The internet was instantly aflame […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}