Truly, a picture can paint a thousand words. The image is of a beaming orb displayed as a giant eye that shines out across the urban landscape. It never sleeps, and neither will you if you are near enough to its glare. A dystopian, nightmarish sight, it is quite literally an eyesore. I am talking, of course, of the recently opened Sphere in Las Vegas, its LED screens displaying 360 degrees of video and adverts for up to 24 hours a day. The developer, MSG Entertainment, had hopes of building another one in Stratford, east London, which was proposed to be as tall as Big Ben.
That was until its dreams were dashed this week by the mayor, Sadiq Khan, following a committed campaign by residents and councillors. Khan argued that the Stratford Sphere would cause too much disruption to local people and wildlife, particularly in terms of light pollution. MSG Entertainment, which is run by Trump donor James Dolan, did little to alleviate residents’ concerns, at one point even insultingly offering blackout blinds when they expressed fears about not being able to sleep.
Earlier this year I wrote about noise pollution, and how it disproportionately impacts lower-income communities (why should peace only be for the wealthy?) and dreaded what the Sphere might do to an already noise- and light-polluted part of London, in one of the city’s most economically deprived boroughs. Stratford residents dream far more of affordable housing than, say, 360 degrees of DFS adverts beaming across their borough.
From across the political spectrum, people voiced their concern. Even Michael Gove issued a holding directive earlier this year, slowing the project’s progress. What a rare story of people power.
Alas, if only it were so simple. Already the kickback has begun. Critics argue the mayor was wrong to turn down such a substantial investment, not to mention the thousands of jobs it would have created, and that London risks falling behind as other cities race ahead with their live entertainment offerings. There was even speculation that Gove might intervene to approve the scheme, in a sucker punch to the Labour mayor.
I should probably say that the eyeball picture I mentioned earlier is actually one of the more dignified displays of the supposedly gamechanging Sphere. Other options would have been the orb as a cartoon helmet, an enormous yellow emoji, a giant pumpkin or the moon – which you can also see, for more than one night only, by simply looking up.
Nonetheless, perhaps the detractors have a bit of a point. Putting aside my preference for independent venues and the sort of homegrown nightlife the UK has traditionally excelled at (and remains a leader in despite the Conservatives’ best efforts), it got me thinking. If something like the Sphere weren’t the brainchild of a company that clearly had no respect for the community it sought to enter, and if there were a way around the energy-guzzling and environmentally unfriendly aspects of it, and the egregious levels of advertising – might it actually be quite good?
Maybe. Watch any of the live shows that have taken place inside the Las Vegas space, and it is undeniable that the Sphere is state of the art – the 160,000 speakers ensure that wherever you are sitting you hear the same sound. The floors vibrate to match whatever is happening on the screens that surround you in high definition, taking an immersive watching experience up several gears. And people are willing to pay a considerable amount of money for experiences that feel one of a kind. Is it so over the top as to be unpleasant? Well, it is from Vegas. But we cannot know how beloved it might have become.
Not that we can change the result: MSG Entertainment has said it is done with London and will go to more “forward-thinking” nations to create its three-dimensional migraine. “It really is the end of the line for London,” Mr Dolan said. “Why doesn’t London want the best show on Earth?”
But somehow, I think the Sphere won’t be the last mad entertainment proposal from an international developer. So for next time, I have the solution. If it’s true that Britain needs to have these venues to compete on the world stage – and that if it weren’t for woke mayors or moany residents, everyone would be delighted – I say, go ahead and build it … in Chipping Norton. A quick Google tells me it is short of a few massively soulless and corporate £9-a-pint venues, and that seems very unfair given just how many London has. I’m sure Lord Cameron would love a giant Google Chrome logo following him around, wiggling in his eyeline, all day and night.
Somehow I suspect the entrepreneurial geniuses of our ruling class might have a change of heart about its necessity. And that would be a picture.
Coco Khan is a freelance journalist and co-host of the politics podcast Pod Save the UK
