207 | The Vegas Sphere Blew My Mind—Here’s What It Taught Me About Podcasting

[00:00:00] So there I am in Vegas inside the Sphere, which is a giant glowing dome. Kenny Chesney's rocking out. I'm surrounded by video from the roof to the sides, everywhere. An entire dome filled with video. It felt like some music show video extravaganza. It was amazing. It was totally insane. But on the way out, I had this thought. And if you're a podcaster, this might make you flip how you think about doing your show.

[00:00:31] Sound matters. Be heard. Welcome to the podcast where you get exclusive behind the scenes tips to make your own show sound truly spectacular. This is Podtastic Audio.

[00:00:47] Hey, what's happening? How are you doing today? Thank you so much for being here. I truly do mean that. Thank you so much. I am Chris and this is the world famous, the one and only Podtastic Audio.

[00:01:02] No substitutes or imitations allowed. So I love podcasting. I'm sure you love podcasting too. I'm designing this show right here to help you design your amazing podcast. And one super cool tool to help you make that happen is Riverside.fm. Today's episode is brought to you by Riverside. And I want to tell you, this is a super cool tool to help you make your content look and sound amazing. So if you're recording interviews or maybe even doing solo episodes,

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[00:02:54] As I record this episode right now, right here today, last weekend, I was in the wonderful city of Las Vegas. Vegas, baby! Who doesn't love Vegas? Vegas is amazing. So many Vegas stories. I go to Vegas. Well, not as much as I used to. I used to go a lot, like twice a year, once a year. In fact, I didn't go last year, and I think about it. But I went there for the Chargers-Raiders game. And this trip was completely different because this trip I went by myself with my two kids,

[00:03:24] Jacob and Mason, age 13 and 15. We drove out to Las Vegas to see Kenny Chesney live at the brand new Sphere venue, which is totally amazing. So the way the trip started was that my youngest son, Mason, is still in Little League. And he was finishing up his Little League games. I think he had like the last game of the year he was playing on Friday night.

[00:03:52] And we were checking into our hotel room Friday day night because the show was on Saturday. So all day Friday, I get everything packed. I get the truck gassed up. We are ready to roll. So all I have to do now is just wait for Mason to finish his baseball game, grab him after the game, throw him in the truck, and take off to Las Vegas. This is exactly what we did. I think we left here in San Diego. We left probably around 7.30, 8 o'clock-ish.

[00:04:20] And I hightailed it to Vegas as fast as I possibly could get there. We didn't stop to get some energy drinks because it was late. You know, I think we finally arrived at the hotel at about 1.30. No, I think it was about 1 o'clock in the morning we got there. So when I find the resort, I find the parking garage just to the side of it. And, okay, great, parking. I go in there, park my truck, do all that. Then we walk on down to the casino, to the entrance of the place.

[00:04:50] And we try to figure out where the front lobby is. I finally find the front check-in lobby to the hotel. We go over there. This is like, you know, 1 in the morning or so. So it's kind of late, early morning, whatever. And so we get there Friday night. And I go to the front desk. And I say, I'm here to check in for Chris, tell my name and all that stuff. And he said, ooh, we're kind of booked today. Hey, well, we don't have a lot of rooms available. I'm like, oh my gosh, it's 1 in the morning. I got these kids. Like, I need my room. What are we going to do?

[00:05:16] And then she says, well, I might have to upgrade you to a suite. Let me check with my manager. And I'm saying, sure, why not? That sounds cool. It's better than what I paid for. I paid for just a basic room with two beds. And now they're going to upgrade me to a suite? Sure, sounds like fun. So that's exactly what they did. But here's kind of the catch. At this casino resort we stayed at, they have these themed suites.

[00:05:42] Meaning that the suite is, it's a suite for sure, but it's themed about something. It's got a theme to it. Like, for example, they've got a Christmas-themed suite, which is completely decked out for Christmas. Fireplace, Christmas trees, stockings, everything. Then they have like this Halloween-themed suite, I noticed. Then they had a few other ones too. But the one they gave us was this flower-themed room suite.

[00:06:08] And it had flowers, well, actually like fake flowers, everywhere, all over the place. It had this big dining room table, flowers all over that, flower wallpaper. It had a flower wall to do photos in front of. It had flower photos. It had flowers everywhere. It was like literally like the Barbie Dreamhouse. Flowers everywhere. But it was big enough because it was like over 1,000 square feet for a room in a hotel in Vegas. So it was pretty massive.

[00:06:35] Kitchen, the whole nine yards, everything, two bathrooms, all that stuff. But it didn't have an extra bed. It only had one king-size bed in the bedroom. So they did bring up an extra bed. So one of my sons, the younger one, slept on one of the couches because it had couches in the place. It's that big. And then my oldest son slept on the bed they brought in there. But it was fine. We made it work. It was amazing.

[00:06:59] Now, the main reason for us traveling to Las Vegas for this entire trip was to see Kenny Chesney at Sphere in Las Vegas. Now, the Sphere show was on Saturday, the very next day. So that day leading up to the show, we hung out at the pool, big pool party, met people from Ireland for some reason. It was a big Ireland-Irish party going on for some kind of thing going on there. Everybody there was from Ireland and had these really thick accents. I couldn't understand what they're saying. Like really thick dialogue.

[00:07:30] But it was all good, though. I had a good time meeting people. It was great. But the reason why we went there was to see Kenny Chesney, which is one of my favorite artists. And I've seen him like twice already way back in the day. I used to be a huge Kenny Chesney fan. Had a bunch of his CDs back in the day and went to a few of his shows. And, of course, this is all before the kids were even born. I went to these shows. So going to see Kenny Chesney with my kids in a place like Sphere is amazing.

[00:07:57] So if you're not familiar who Kenny Chesney is, is that he is a country music artist who kind of got started probably in the mid-90s. In fact, his debut album was In My Wildest Dreams in 1994. And it was kind of a simple start, really. He was a little bit more twang country back in the day. His breakthrough album was All I Need to Know in 1995.

[00:08:22] And then his first chart-topping single was She's Got It All in 1997. And then his first platinum album was Everywhere We Go in 1999. But ever since then, he has had a string of albums, a string of concerts. He's done big stadium tours. He is pretty much pretty massive in the music industry. And he's pretty massive in the country world.

[00:08:50] In fact, this year, 2025, he was just named number one top country artist of the 21st century by Billboard this year. But ever since he got started, his music has kind of evolved into this rock, beach vibe kind of mix of country, a mix of rock, a mix of beach songs and beach vibes. I think he got really invested in the Bahamas.

[00:09:19] And he's actually owned property down in the Bahamas. He's owned boats down in the Bahamas. And he likes to stay down in the Bahamas when he's not touring here in the United States. So he's really invested with the beach life and down in the Bahamas and things like that. So that's really his vibe, which I think would be great for the kids because the kids love the Bahamas. They love that kind of stuff. They love boats. They love the ocean. They love that kind of stuff. So why not? It's a perfect fit. And music's great. Everything's fantastic.

[00:09:47] So when I first heard about Kenny Chesney playing at the brand new Sphere venue, I was like, take my money. You know, because I wanted to see a show at Sphere ever since I heard they announced Building the Place. And I watched a documentary on them building the place. Now, if you're not familiar with what Sphere is, it's literally a Sphere building, like a round building. On the outside, they have this video screen that you can see all kinds of images and commercials, all kinds of cool graphics.

[00:10:17] On the outside of the building, which really are just these LED lights that look fairly simple when you look at them up close. They're just like this little light thing with like, I think there's like 40 or 20 different lights inside the light, the size of a hockey puck. And these little hockey puck things surround the entire sphere. And when they're all lit up and they change colors, when you stand back a ways, they look like an image or a graphic. When you're up close, it's hard to really see it.

[00:10:45] But that's how it does it on the outside, which is a great show for everybody to see on the outside of the building. But once you get inside the building, it's a movie screen that is so big. I think it's like the most expensive, biggest movie projection screen theater in the planet. I think they spent somewhere around $2.3 billion to build this thing.

[00:11:08] And it's got like 20,000 speakers, 16K video that wraps from the ground all the way up above you and to the sides. You're basically inside a globe looking out. So the screen wraps up around you. And anything that's shown at the sphere is basically aimed for the visuals. It's a whole visual experience. And they do have the sound. They have like 20,000 speakers and all that stuff. Oh, and the seats vibrate too.

[00:11:38] I didn't know this until I was at the sphere and watching the show. And one part, the bass hits and the seat starts vibrating. I'm like, whoa, what's that? And it wakes you up a little bit. It was kind of cool. It was an amazing experience. So like I said, any major venue or any artist or any band or anybody that's going to play at the sphere, they're relying like 100% on the visuals to really enhance the music of the show.

[00:12:05] Because let me tell you, the visuals at sphere for the Kenny Chesney concert were amazing. And I'm trying to figure out how they did it. Because it's not just like a regular concert where you'd like see the big like Jumbotron video screen of the artist. You see Kenny, they would like have a camera pointed at him and they project that onto some big screen. So everybody in the way back could see Kenny Chesney. You can see him playing and see the show, right?

[00:12:34] So they kind of did that. But here's a trick is that they actually did that by projecting his image in different spots on the screen within the image they already laid out. It's kind of hard to explain. So imagine if they had a bunch of like images of TV sets all over the screen. And inside each of the TV sets would be a video of him playing live at the show.

[00:13:01] A video on him or his band or a drummer or the guitar player. Somebody would be on a different area of the screen and you could see that. And they would change and move and have graphics. And it was very like three-dimensional. It was so amazing. The images were just like a wonder in itself just to watch this thing. Because like I said, it's completely immersive. There's this one scene where you're actually taken on a trip to the Bahamas. And you're flying over the beautiful water, the beautiful islands.

[00:13:31] You see the waves crashing on the beach. And it's like this big drone helicopter shot. But the entire time, it's completely done in 16K, wrapped all around you. You look up. You see the sky. You see the water to the right and left. You see the clouds. You feel like you're really there. It's really an immersive experience. Whether you see a concert or a video or show of some kind, any kind. It's literally an all-immersive experience. And there's literally nothing they can't do visually with this thing.

[00:14:01] I mean, I've seen them do pretty much everything you can do. And I'm like, wow, they actually did that too? That's quite amazing. Okay, I know you're thinking, hey, Chris, that sounds like an amazing trip. That sounds like a blast. I want to check out the sphere. Cool. But what does this have to do with podcasting? Well, let me tell you. Now, the Kenny Chesney show, I've seen him in the past. And I've listened to a lot of his albums. And when I'm listening to albums of Kenny Chesney and listening to his music, I'm just driving along the road.

[00:14:30] And I'm listening to his songs. And I'm enjoying them. And I've seen him at concert without the sphere. And it's a great show. And I've heard his music. And it's great. And it's fantastic. And I love listening to his music. So regardless of having it at the sphere, with all the visuals and all the cool effects the sphere can do, he still puts on a great show because his music and him and his show is great,

[00:14:59] regardless of all the visual fluff and all the visual noise that he puts on with his show at Sphere. So when it comes to podcasting, your message, your content, your delivery, the thing that you have to say, the things that make you important, the thing that makes your show amazing is not video fluff just for video fluff sake.

[00:15:26] You know, I mean, sometimes we get tempted to buy the greatest camera or the backdrop, or we use this software because we can blur the background or change the background. Maybe we get a green screen and we get all kinds of video fluff and video stuff. I know video effects can be attempting. I mean, look at the sphere. I mean, it looks amazing. It looks incredible. But without good content, good storytelling, a good message, then it's just a big fluff piece.

[00:15:55] It's hollow. It's nothing. You know, when I saw Kenny Chesney, he can do an amazing show. His music works, even if it's completely unplugged. And I think that your podcast should be able to hold its own without having to have all that visual fluff. If you can't hold a show without the visual noise, then you need to go back to the drawing board.

[00:16:21] And your show should be able to hold its own without having to need all this extra visual crap. You know, in podcasting here, your listeners, and I do say listeners, tune in for what you say, not what they see. Nail that first. And then the visuals, if you want them, they can come later. And I know everyone's saying that video is important and you have to do video and video this for podcasting and video that.

[00:16:50] And let me tell you right now, you do not have to do video to have a good podcast. And you do not have to have video to have a successful podcast. I don't do video on this show. This is audio only. I dabble with video. I play around with video. Video for me is like an extra fluff piece, but it's not the core message. It's not what I like to do. I like to do audio podcasting because I consume more audio podcasts and I do video stuff. And I just love listening to things.

[00:17:17] So you want to consider video for your show? Fine. That's fine. But do it after you got your audio podcast polished and consistent. Avoid letting the visuals distract you from your message. You know, they should probably amplify your message, not overshadow it. And when you get involved with video and you start adding all kinds of different visuals

[00:17:44] and maybe doing lots of B-roll and lots of other fluffy, fluffy stuff. And it can be distracting. It can be distracting your audience away from the thing you're really trying to tell them. And that's one thing I've noticed when I do interviews via something like Riverside, when it's a camera on, they got a camera on, I got a camera on. And I did notice that for me personally, I start to get a little distracted. I start to notice myself and my camera image and see what I'm looking like to them.

[00:18:13] And I start seeing what they look like. And I try to like, I get kind of more self-aware of my environment and what's in the background. I'm like, oh, what's that in the background? Oh, crap. I should have taken that down. Or, oh, my microphone's not sitting right. Or, you know, my shirt or something. I feel more like self-conscious, I guess is the better word, of what I'm looking like and what I'm doing in that moment because they can see me and I can see them. And it kind of starts to distract from the message or the content of what we're actually talking about.

[00:18:42] Not that long ago, I was interviewed on a show and I thought it was going to be video. So I had the camera and everything set up, ready to go. And they wanted to do it audio only. And I was like, thank God, because everybody should all those camera stuff off. Don't need it. And I think the interview went so much easier and so much more smoothly having the video shut off. Which sounds weird because everyone talks about how they have to see each other when they do an interview. Like they can't do an interview if you can't see that person. Like, how do you do that? I don't know, but it worked for me.

[00:19:13] And it made a better interview not seeing the other person, not being distracted by all the video fluff, and just focusing on what you want to talk about. Focusing on the words, listening. Listening becomes a key ingredient to all of this stuff. When you can't see the other person and all you can do is hear them, you start to focus on what they're saying and not being distracted by all the visual fluff behind them. Like, oh my goodness, your shirt looks funny, dude. Oh, check out your hair.

[00:19:41] What's that sign behind you say? Oh, what's on your bookshelf? Oh, your camera is kind of dark. I barely could see it. You're like you're in a shadow or a cave. All those things that happen, all those things that can be totally distracting from your content. And your content should come first. So when it comes to creating your podcast, I do say podcast. I mainly am talking about audio. But like I said, you can do your video show. You can do your YouTube thing. You can do whatever. And that's fantastic.

[00:20:08] But you probably should build your podcast on a strong message and connection. And if you want to do the visuals, if you want to do a lot of fun fluff video stuff, great. But they should probably be secondary. They should be supplemental to your core messaging. Now, Kenny Chesney's Fear Show proves that enhancement only works if you have good content or good substance or good music to go with it.

[00:20:38] His show would have been a fantastic show to see regardless if they had the Sphere visuals. But the Sphere visuals enhanced everything to another level. It enhanced things. It wasn't the only thing there. So you really need to ask yourself right now. Ask yourself, would your podcast stand up on audio only? Would it? And if it does not, well, then congratulations. You're not doing a podcast.

[00:21:08] You're doing a video show. You're doing a YouTube show. You are a YouTuber. Congratulations. Be proud. You're one of the many, one of the millions that has a YouTube channel. Hallelujah. Amazing.

[00:21:21] You know, in fact, I was thinking about this, that if I did a YouTube channel today or tomorrow, however you look at this, the way I would do it is that it would be me in front of a camera showing you things, either places I'm going to, like a travel vlog, like here we are at this location. Or perhaps maybe vehicles or cars. It would be something outside of this office.

[00:21:48] It wouldn't be me talking head into a Zoom camera chat thing. It wouldn't be like that at all. It would be a physical YouTube channel with me doing stuff physically in the real world. It wouldn't be like just a talking head show. That's how I would do a YouTube channel. If I was going to go all in on video, it would be like that. It wouldn't be this podcast like this. I kind of like to keep the podcasting space separate from like the YouTube video space.

[00:22:18] And I know everyone wants to blend them together. Make it like, oh, they're the same thing. YouTube and podcasting. It's all the same. It's all talking head video stuff. I don't want to do that. I want to keep the podcasting like radio, like audio and audio format and the YouTube stuff, just keeping it to the visual stuff. The visual outside showing you things, not needing to be here watching me talk on camera. Like, do you really want to see me talking on camera? I mean, you can listen to me.

[00:22:48] It's the same stupid thing. It's the same thing. So why would you want to see me do this? See me screw up all the time and have to re-edit everything. That'd look horrible. Who wants to see that? Nobody wants to see that. So I just make it an audio podcast only. But if I were to do video, like I said, it'd be somewhere outside doing something outside of the real world, showing you real world things. Because that's what's great about YouTube is that you get to explore places and things that you're physically not at in that space.

[00:23:16] And that would probably be the kind of show that I would actually make for YouTube. If I was going to go video only, and if I was going to go YouTube only, it would be a show like that. Not a, quote, video podcast. It wouldn't be like that at all. But hey, thanks for listening all the way to the very end of this episode here. I appreciate you so much. You know, I do the show for you, like I said. And I love audio. And I think your audio needs to be amazing.

[00:23:46] Your show needs to be amazing. It needs to stand on its own. Audio only. Before you start adding in all the visual fluff. Not saying video's bad. I'm just saying it's not necessary. You don't have to do that. If you don't want to. Maybe you want to. Maybe you want to kick it up a notch. That's fine. That's amazing. I mean, Kenny Chesney did it. The Sphere looked amazing. The show was incredible. And the visuals were really like world-class visuals. I can't even explain it on an audio podcast, obviously, how amazing they were.

[00:24:15] But I've been posting stuff on social media over the last few weeks. And it just looks incredible. So I hope you have an amazing week. And I hope that your podcast is doing amazing things. You have something to share. You have something you want to get off your chest. Then put it in your podcast. And be real. Be authentic. And you keep on making your amazing podcast. And we'll catch you next time. Happy podcasting.