Musicians and record labels are constantly searching for ways to make shows more spectacular for gig goers.
But one particular experience promises to be out of the world, after a space tourism firm revealed plans for zero-gravity music concerts starting this year.
Florida-based Zero-G, which has been offering microgravity flights aboard a modified Boeing 727-200 since 2004, has already put on a rave flight, but now wants to host performances by DJs, rap artists and pop stars.
One day it also wants to invite instrument groups, too.
The one stumbling block if you do want to attend may be the cost, however, as tickets are priced at an eye-watering $9,000 (£7,100) each.
Gigs out of this world: Florida-based Zero-G, which has been offering microgravity flights aboard a modified Boeing 727-200 since 2004, has already put on a rave flight, but now wants to host performances by DJs, rap artists and pop stars
During the concert flight, passengers will be played three or four songs while the aircraft is ascending and as the zero-gravity intervals begin, despite the aircraft not actually going to space.
‘From the artist’s perspective, it’s a way for them to push the boundaries of what’s been done in live performances,’ Greg Melon, director of marketing and consumer sales, told Space.com.
‘Everyone has some new crazy light show or onstage prop and it’s just rinse and repeat. This is a way for them to host not only a memorable live music experience, but to host an unforgettable one.
‘From the audience’s side, it lets them have a unique experience listening to one of their favourite artists playing their favourite songs, but also doing it while floating in zero gravity with that artist only feet away in a more intimate setting considering that we only take 28 passengers at a time.’
Zero-G came up with the concert idea and was met with a positive response when it reached out to a few record labels and artists to gauge interest.
Allison Odyssey, Zero-G’s chief operating officer, said the company was already in touch with some likely candidates.
‘Zero gravity concerts offer an unforgettable experience for both the artist and their closest fans,’ she added.
‘Just imagine Dua Lipa singing “Levitating”, while in zero gravity. As a musician how do you even begin to top that?’
The company’s flights last around 100 minutes and include 15 parabolas, each one simulating 30 seconds of reduced gravity.
Each passenger is given a Zero-G flight suit that they get to keep, meaning they will own the same outfit as previous celebrities who have flown over the years.
These include Elon Musk, Titanic director James Cameron and model Kate Upton.
During the concert flight, passengers will be played three or four songs while the aircraft is ascending and as the zero-gravity intervals begin
The one stumbling block if you do want to attend may be the price, however, as tickets are priced at an eye-watering $9,000 (£7,100) each
Proposal: Zero-G reached out to a few different labels and artists directly to gauge interest
Zero-G ultimately wants to offer three zero-gravity concerts a year, but as yet has not confirmed any dates for them to take place.
The firm plans to be able to launch from wherever in America an artist wants to host a concert from, including Los Angeles, Houston, or Miami.
‘We fly all around the country, so it’s really just a matter of which date and location best suits the artist’s schedule,’ said Odyssey.
The only stipulation is the destination needs to have an 8,000ft-long runway.
For more information, including details of when any upcoming concerts will be taking place, visit the Zero-G website.
The announcement comes just days after another space tourism company revealed plans to offer diners the chance to travel to the edge of space on a huge balloon, where they were be treated to Michelin-starred cuisine at 15.5 miles (25 km) above the Earth.
Ambitious: Zero-G ultimately wants to offer three zero-gravity concerts a year, but as yet has not confirmed any dates for them to take place
Flexible: The firm plans to be able to launch from wherever in America an artist wants to host a concert from, such as Los Angeles, Houston, or Miami
Another venture: The announcement comes just days after another space tourism company revealed plans to offer diners the chance to travel to the edge of space on a huge balloon, where they were be treated to Michelin-starred cuisine at 15.5 miles (25 km) above the Earth
Pre-sale tickets for the 2025 flight have been priced at £105,000 (€120,000) per person.
Zephalto plans to launch the balloon from France on a six-hour experience that will include three hours at its highest altitude — above 98 per cent of the atmosphere and twice as high as the average commercial jet.
The balloon’s capsule, which has a large panoramic window and can carry six passengers and two pilots, ascends at a speed of 4m/s and takes an hour-and-a-half to reach its peak altitude.
Once at the edge of space, guests aboard the Céleste stratospheric balloon will get to take in a breathtaking panorama of the Earth, sun and the stars that has previously been reserved only for astronauts.
Travellers even get a luxury culinary experience, with meals cooked by famous French chefs and wine that is selected by a renowned sommelier.
THE BILLIONAIRE SPACE RACE: HOW BRANSON, MUSK AND BEZOS ARE VYING FOR GALACTIC SUPREMACY
Jeff Bezos in front of Blue Origin’s space capsule
Dubbed the ‘NewSpace’ set, Jeff Bezos, Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk all say they were inspired by the first moon landing in 1969, when the US beat the Soviet Union in the space race, and there is no doubt how much it would mean to each of them to win the ‘new space race’.
Amazon founder Bezos had looked set to be the first of the three to fly to space, having announced plans to launch aboard his space company Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft on July 20, but Branson beat him to the punch.
The British billionaire became Virgin Galactic Astronaut 001 when he made it to space on a suborbital flight nine days before Bezos – on July 11 in a test flight.
Bezos travelled to space on July 20 with his younger brother Mark, Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old physics student whose dad purchased his ticket, and pioneering female astronaut Wally Funk, 82.
Although SpaceX and Tesla founder Musk has said he wants to go into space, and even ‘die on Mars’, he has not said when he might blast into orbit – but has purchased a ticket with Virgin Galactic for a suborbital flight.
SpaceX became the first of the ‘space tourism’ operators to send a fully civilian crew into orbit, with the Inspiration4 mission funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman.
His flight was on a Dragon capsule and SpaceX rocket built by space-obsessed billionaire, Elon Musk and took off for the three day orbital trip on September 16 – going higher than the International Space Station.
SpaceX appears to be leading the way in the broader billionaire space race with numerous launches carrying NASA equipment to the ISS and partnerships to send tourists to space by 2021.
On February 6 2018, SpaceX sent rocket towards the orbit of Mars, 140 million miles away, with Musk’s own red Tesla roadster attached.
Elon Musk with his Dragon Crew capsule
SpaceX has also taken two groups of astronauts to the |International Space Station, with crew from NASA, ESA and JAXA, the Japanese space agency.
SpaceX has been sending batches of 60 satellites into space to help form its Starlink network, which is already in beta and providing fast internet to rural areas.
Branson and Virgin Galactic are taking a different approach to conquering space. It has repeatedly, and successfully, conducted test flights of the Virgin Galactic’s Unity space plane.
The first took place in December 2018 and the latest on May 22, with the flight accelerating to more than 2,000 miles per hour (Mach 2.7).
More than 600 affluent customers to date, including celebrities Brad Pitt and Katy Perry, have reserved a $250,000 (£200,000) seat on one of Virgin’s space trips. The final tickets are expected to cost $350,000.
Branson has previously said he expects Elon Musk to win the race to Mars with his private rocket firm SpaceX.
Richard Branson with the Virgin Galactic craft
SpaceShipTwo can carry six passengers and two pilots. Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows – one to the side and one overhead.
The space ship is 60ft long with a 90inch diameter cabin allowing maximum room for the astronauts to float in zero gravity.
It climbs to 50,000ft before the rocket engine ignites. SpaceShipTwo separates from its carrier craft, White Knight II, once it has passed the 50-mile mark.
Passengers become ‘astronauts’ when they reach the Karman line, the boundary of Earth’s atmosphere.
The spaceship will then make a suborbital journey with approximately six minutes of weightlessness, with the entire flight lasting approximately 1.5 hours.
Bezos revealed in April 2017 that he finances Blue Origin with around $1 billion (£720 million) of Amazon stock each year.
The system consists of a pressurised crew capsule atop a reusable ‘New Shepard’ booster rocket.
At its peak, the capsule reached 65 miles (104 kilometres), just above the official threshold for space and landed vertically seven minutes after liftoff.
Blue Origin are working on New Glenn, the next generation heavy lift rocket, that will compete with the SpaceX Falcon 9.
