Afterlife’s Anyma Becomes First Dance Act To Headline Sphere On New Year’s Eve

Afterlife, the record label and events company run by Italian melodic techno duo Tale Of Us, presents the first electronic music show at Sphere with a solo performance by Anyma (aka Matteo Milleri). Anyma and special guests will take the stage on Dec. 31 to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

In addition to being the first electronic music act at the venue, where Anyma will present the audio/visual “Genesys” show, the date marks the venue’s first New Year’s Eve performance. The performance will also be Anyma’s first time playing in Las Vegas.

The show will feature a solo set by Afterlife’s Anyma (who played the Sahara Tent and Quasar Stage at Coachella this year), with special guests teased. Afterlife’s shows are known for their renowned visuals, with Anyma’s sets often featuring a robotic body pounding against the screens in an attempt to escape.

Last year, Afterlife took place in Parque Bicentenario in Mexico City for two nights on May 6 and 7, 2023, the shows grossing over $7 million, according to CAA. This year, Afterlife did one night in Mexico City and sold 65,000 tickets grossing over $9 million. The show also had the largest screen ever built in Mexico.

Tale Of Us played Coachella in 2023. During Miami Music Week this year, they played two shows at Miami Marine Stadium on March 20 and 21. The show sold 32,000 tickets.

So far this year, they’ve performed in Tulum, Miami, Mexico City, Paris, Barcelona, Ibiza, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Medellin, Lima and more.

Anyma and Afterlife are booked by CAA’s Ferry Rais-Shaghaghi worldwide. Anyma is managed by Aurelia Ortiz at Encode Talent and Evan Baker at EAU-FORTE. Live Nation is continuing its promotion of the Afterlife series and Anyma’s “Genesys” with the promotion of the upcoming Sphere date.

Rais-Shaghaghi has worked with Anyma since 2022, with the goal to introduce Tale Of Us into North American markets following the duo’s success in Europe and South America. Shortly after he joined the team, he went to London for the premiere of the Anyma project.

“There was no mention about any visuals or any of that,” Rais-Shaghaghi tells Pollstar. “While I was waiting for him to start the show, I was getting myself prepared. And it was the very first song that he played, which was “Eternity” and where the robot came to life and moved, and I was like, ‘What did I just see?'”

Rais-Shaghaghi says it took some time before Anyma’s visuals began to go viral. The second night was when things started to pick up online.

“It just blew up across the internet,” he says. “And that was the moment I was like, ‘holy shit. This is something special. We’ve got to change what we’re doing.’ From there, we changed the blueprint of what the plans were as touring instead of going into traditional type of underground rooms. How do we turn this into a festival-style production? Buenos Aires was the moment where it really clicked of where this was going. The plan was to only do one show. We ended up doing three that blew out within three hours, we did 36,000 tickets. And from there we were like, let’s take this seriously and to the next level.”

As he searched out more unique venues for Afterlife’s performances, Sphere was preparing to open its doors. Rais-Shaghaghi tells Pollstar the idea “instantly clicked.”

“The conversation started in March 2023, where we were just trying to understand their venue and get in touch with the right people there,” Rais-Shaghaghi says. “We set up appointments to see the Burbank Studios and do a tour there. From there, putting together a presentation and plan of what we have in mind and why it makes sense for Sphere. At the end of the day, taking a techno show into a traditional venue like that is not something that happens often, let alone in a venue that just opened and is one of a kind. It’s been a year-long process, but everyone’s super excited and on board about this. I think what we have in store and what we’re about to execute there is going to be really groundbreaking.”

The whole process from initial conversations to when Anyma finally stands on stage at Sphere will have taken 20 months. Rais-Shaghaghi shares that explaining Afterlife to Sphere felt like a bit of an education process, as oftentimes dance acts remain in more underground venues rather than jumping into brand new, arena-sized venues.

“The good thing is as we were developing our business globally in North and South America, we’re able to have the right partners,” he says. “Live Nation is involved and was part of seeing what this could be and how serious this is. They were able to stick their necks out and be part of the process of bringing on the Sphere team and letting them know what an incredible experience this could be for the fans that are able to come in and see this show.”

While Anyma’s shows are already viral for their audio-visual experiences, the team is planning to bring that to the next level with Sphere.

“It’s about showing people an experience like this could be much more pleasurable than just seeing a DJ behind the decks,” Rais-Shaghaghi says. “It’s a full-blown audio-visual experience that’s really thought out carefully and executed in a two-year process with some of the most creative and talented people in music and animation. For people to be able to experience that with a screen that is at that size and quality, in an atmosphere like Sphere, it’s going to be a surreal feeling that I don’t think people have been able to have before. Hopefully it creates a whole new trail for everyone else to follow and leads to bigger and better things as we continue to develop the show.”

Presale begins July 22 at 9 a.m. PT, with general onsale available at 9 a.m. PT on July 23.

Sphere has already featured acts including U2, Phish and is currently featuring a run by Dead & Co. The Eagles’ will then appear at the venue throughout the fall, with dates from September through January, with the band announcing four new January dates today on Jan. 17, 18, 24 and 25.