Immersive experiences are the name of the game in 2022, and likely will be for quite some time. As technology continues to improve and evolve, so will the types of immersive environments that event producers are able to create, as we’re seeing more and more exciting event concepts emerge as in-person experiences return post-pandemic.
Nashville’s newest innovative venue, Nightscape, opened this past spring and has hosted both original programming developed by the Nightscape team as well as private client events.
The venue is outfitted with state-of-the-art tech powered by disguise, including 360 projection mapping, and uses real-time rendered Unreal Engine graphics.
XLIVE spoke with Mike Weinberg, Founder and CEO at Nightscape, about the new venue and the future of immersive events and entertainment
XLIVE: How were plans for Nightscape impacted by the pandemic? Do you feel that the past few years have accelerated demand for new, immersive experiences?
Mike Weinberg: As difficult as the shifts were during the pandemic, it led us to two primary developments that are crucial to what Nightscape is today. The first [development] came when we pivoted to real-time rendering, which has placed us at the cutting edge of content development not only in the venue, but also for our Creative Studio business. The additional time during the pandemic allowed us to develop that workflow and propelled us down a path to push the boundaries of tech and entertainment further than ever before. The second [development] stemmed from the necessary decision to end a lease we had for a warehouse space on the outskirts of Nashville. Delaying re-leasing a few months led to us to the opportunity to revitalize the historic former 12th and Porter building in The Gulch, a thriving neighborhood in downtown Nashville. It’s been the perfect home for the venue given its location and the layout of the space.
We believe the events of the past few years have created a thirst for new ways to experience life with the people we care about, and immersive experiences have become the primary outlet for this. A founding pillar of Nightscape was to create a space that embodies the idea that people are always looking for reasons to celebrate. Whether it’s celebrating tacos on Tuesday because it’s catchy, or the one-year anniversary of a big life decision, we constantly seek the feeling of making a moment special. We’re thrilled to be able to bring these special moments to life in an entirely new way at Nightscape.
XL: What are you most excited about now that Nightscape is open for business? Are there any events you’ve held so far that you’d like to highlight?
MW: We are really excited to continue to host private events that shatter the expectations of what our clients thought was possible for their event. We had a lot of fun working with Warner Music Nashville to put on 4 unique artists' experiences in just one day during CMA Fest earlier this year. It was incredible to see the artists bring their personal aesthetic, both visually and musically, to life for their fans during those events. We also recently helped Navarre Beach execute a three-part experience in one day, which included yoga paddleboard classes at the beach, sound bath meditations in the cove, and a multi-course dinner for around 60 guests at sunset on the beach. It’s been extremely fun to see what our clients have come up with and for our team to be able to execute bringing those visions to life inside the venue.
XL: What types of private events is the space best suited for?
MW: The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to what the space can do, and with each event we host we’re seeing the truth of that more and more. For example, on a Thursday a client hosted an album release party for Christian artist Toby Mac. They held eight different showings of a 20-minute album experience for fans and industry professionals in the main room and an interactive merch and meet & greet activation in our lounge. Then the very next night the venue was transformed into a club for a Deep Tropics afterparty with artist Ben Böhmer, where we had a stage set up in the center of the room, four VIP booths along the sides, and a huge dance floor for guests to experience an immersive show like never before. We feel as though we’ve only begun to see the tip of the iceberg for what is possible in the venue!
XL: Can the space be completely customized based on what the client is looking to do?
MW: Absolutely, nearly every element of the venue has been designed to meet every unique client’s specific wishes. The projected visuals can be created from scratch based on the client’s vision by our in-house content development team. Along with the projection, we have hundreds of feet of ultra-programmable lighting throughout the venue, so lighting colors and patterns can be customized to match any visual or aesthetic the client would like. We also have scent diffusers that can disperse hand-selected scents throughout the space for an event, and our in-house catering team curates menus to match the theme. The furniture is also modular, so the physical set up of the space can change from an 80-person seated dinner to a lounge-style awards show watch party all with what we carry in-house.
XL: Something we’re exploring at our next virtual event is how the metaverse will “leak” into the real world and physical spaces — would you say that Nightscape is one example of how the metaverse and digital spaces can blend with reality?
MW: Great question — yes, we are blurring the lines between the physical and digital worlds. We are constantly bringing real-life locations into our main development platform, Unreal Engine, creating a digital replica of that environment, then bringing it into the physical space of the venue for people to experience. This allows that transition between digital and physical to be more malleable than ever before. We think of the venue as a hybrid metaverse environment: you can experience these digital worlds without the goggles. Instead of being isolated and interacting with avatars, you can live that digital experience with real people in the real world.
XL: What are your thoughts on how immersive events/entertainment will evolve and the impact that Nightscape will have on this evolution?
MW: Nightscape continues to push boundaries on what people expect is possible in a social setting. The same thing over and over again isn't as enticing as it used to be, so immersive events will continuously be challenged to meet the always-rising expectations people have for these experiences, and entertainment in general. The constantly changing immersive concepts Nightscape offers are at the forefront of that evolution. The digital capabilities inside Nightscape also mean that we are uniquely positioned to grow with demand and lean into what people are looking for. We aren’t stuck as a one-trick pony, we can become whatever someone wants us to be.