Teaser spot
Justin Bieber's first concert in the metaverse. A free, live performance of songs from Justice, captured in real time on November 18, 2021, and seen by 10.7 million viewers worldwide.
Everything viewers saw was captured live, with no prerecorded footage. Ten songs across five environments. Justin wanted it grounded, with room for a few magical moments. The show travels from a downtown city and car inspired by the Peaches video, out into the desert, through rolling fields of flowers to the shore, where he finally rises into the clouds.
The audience moved the show along and got real chances to send love to the stage. Hearts streamed toward Justin, chat messages floated in as orbs of light that brightened the desert, and fans sent the flowers that turned the field from bare to full. Each round of fan energy powered him up: glowing clothes first, then light trails, and finally a full turn into a being of light.
Three interludes in a video dome put audience webcam feeds on the walls, so Justin could play directly to his fans. The finale used the same feeds, scattering fan faces through the clouds.
I built the pitch deck for Justin’s team, asking early what was coming next (new music, tour and video looks) and matching the show to it. In production I did paintovers and reviews of his likeness under brand approval. We checked in weekly with his management, and he signed off at milestones on likeness and scene direction.
The environments were co-developed by the Wave team and outsource partners, with daily reviews of the environments, VFX and above all the interactive moments. Going fully live meant we had to know the tech and the performance needs well ahead of showtime. We worked closely with his performance team and choreographers to learn how he moved, how he held the mic and what actions to expect. I oversaw the tuning of the capture systems so the avatar and the environment held up cleanly on show night.
I also directed the broadcast intro sequence and the marketing for the avatar reveal, which played in Times Square ahead of the show.
Animatrik captured the performance live, and Wave ran rebroadcasts on wave.watch and YouTube across four regions. The show won a Clio and was nominated for an MTV VMA and an MTV EMA. The YouTube upload alone has passed 1.5 million views.