鈥淚magine having 20 iconic nightclubs, theatres or art galleries all in a world that鈥檚 not dissimilar to the interface of Grand Theft Auto, but instead of violence and nihilism, it's about culture and connection with other human beings around the planet.鈥
That鈥檚 the proposition from the creative team behind independent arts venue Lost Horizon HQ in Bristol.
The 350-capacity converted warehouse in St Jude's is set to host DJ Fatboy Slim on Friday (October 22) ahead of his 海角视频 arena tour.
The business is also hoping to raise 拢1.5m over the next year during a newly launched Series A funding round to help it develop virtual reality(VR) technology that it hopes can 鈥減ush the parameters鈥 of live events.
The establishment is seeking to be one of the world鈥檚 first fully hybrid live music and creative spaces and has developed an exact digital twin, capable of replicating performances in VR in real time.
Lost Horizon HQ was opened by the same organisation behind the Shangri-La area of the Glastonbury festival site in June.
It was previously launched as a VR festival last summer, after the pandemic forced the postponement of live music events across the country.
The two-day event attracted a global audience of 4.36 million people and featured virtual versions of Shangri-La鈥檚 real life stages at Glastonbury, with sets from DJs including Carl Cox, as well as the physical venue鈥檚 incoming headliner.
Lost Horizon's commercial director Robin Collings and the venue's creative director Kaye Dunnings told BusinessLive during a tour of the venue before Friday鈥檚 show, as well as a demonstration of its virtual platform, said it had been 鈥渟lightly reckless鈥 establishing a venue during the pandemic they previously hadn鈥檛 considered opening.
Mr Collings said: 鈥淚 have a converted double decker bus that we were using as an office during lockdown, as working from home was just too much.
鈥淲e started looking for an office and soon realised they were a lot more expensive than we thought. Then I was driving down the motorway and saw this place and thought it looked amazing.
"It was much bigger than we needed and was only about 拢5,000 a year more than the office I had seen the week before that we were considering, even though that was too expensive.
鈥淪o I chatted to the landlords and they were really interested, so we decided to just do it. We started off with the idea of having a green screen studio in here, or a number of studios that was big enough for an audience.
鈥淎nd then we thought if we were going to have an audience, then we would need to have a bar, and if we鈥檙e going to have a bar, then we would need to have a license.
鈥淚f we were going to have a license on this great big warehouse that鈥檚 full of sound kit, and we鈥檙e going to invite artists to play for an audience, it鈥檚 not a massive leap from that to being a venue that has its own economic set-up. So suddenly we realised we鈥檙e basically opening another business.鈥
Ms Dunnings said: 鈥淲e weren't ever planning to open a venue, it鈥檚 not like we had six months or a year to get everything together, decide what it was going to be, sort out duty of care, everything you need to do when you鈥檙e making a space that is open to the public.
鈥淲e knew we wanted it to have our vibe that we bring to Shangri-La, because that鈥檚 who we are, whereas other venues have a two or year-and-a-half backlog of things they haven鈥檛 been able to put on, but they鈥檙e booked.
"We were starting from scratch. We were trying to book acts and they would say they were catching up and still hadn鈥檛 done a show that was booked in late 2018.鈥
Mr Collings and Ms Dunnings revealed that Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, had contacted the venue about the possibility of playing at there as a warm-up for his 鈥榃e鈥檝e Come A Long, Long Way Together鈥 arena tour.
The DJ, who in 2002 headlined a free event attended by 250,000 people on the beach in his home city of Brighton, will stop at 10,000-15,000 capacity venues such as Wembley Arena and Glasgow Hydro over the coming weeks.
Mr Collings said: 鈥淭he fact that Fatboy Slim wants to come and play here, is testament that we鈥檙e doing the right thing.
鈥淗e wanted to release some of the rust in front of a live audience, and a slightly friendly audience, we鈥檝e been in extended networks of each other for years.
鈥淗e鈥檚 played in Shangri-La, usually in the crew bar at 5am a week before the festival. I don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 played on one of our main stages, not for a long time.鈥
Ms Dunnings said: 鈥淗e did for Lost Vagueness, which was our pre-Shangri-La event at Glastonbury, I was involved then and that was brilliant.
鈥淎lso, he performed for free for us at the first Lost Horizon VR event. We took a green screen around to his house in Brighton and recorded him at home with his daughter there behind the decks. So he鈥檚 kind of part of our extended family really.鈥
Mr Collings added: 鈥淔or him to be a part of that, and then, when he鈥檚 about to do a show, to ring us up and say 鈥楥an I come and play?鈥 - it felt like validation.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 helped us to get into the minds of the city. Everybody who is aware of Fatboy Slim in the city at some point will have seen we have a venue that鈥檚 here.鈥
The duo said that while the events and hospitality sector had suffered during the pandemic it had also 鈥渟haken up鈥 the industry to allow 鈥測oung entrepreneurial energy鈥 from tech into the sector.
Ms Dunnings said the need for a VR headset and a high-performing computer to attend its digital events created a 鈥渞eally high barrier to entry鈥, and the company was looking to develop its technology for it to be more accessible to a greater number of people.
She added that the business was also looking for funding to create digital lab space for other creative businesses to use and collaborate on more digital twin venues.
Mr Collings said the venue also was keen to create more opportunities for young people in the venue鈥檚 surrounding areas of Easton, St Paul鈥檚 and St Jude鈥檚, whose aspirations to work in the events industry had been disrupted by the pandemic.
The pair said that while having a digital business arm would not work for every venue, technology could allow for 鈥渧ast '' creative and economic possibilities.
Mr Collings said: 鈥淲e are developing a standalone open world games platform where we could host iconic venues around the world. The opportunity that presents to those people in this particular digital twin project we are working on, will create new income streams.
鈥淚f you imagine with this place, we can sell 350 tickets, that鈥檚 our economic bubble. 350 people max, they can pay whatever they are willing to pay to get into the club, and they will spend whatever they want to pay on the bar.
鈥淗owever many nights we do that a month or a year, that鈥檚 our economic workings as a venue, and that鈥檚 the same for every venue out there.
鈥淲e are building this digital twin where every show that is on that stage is now accessible to a global audience, for probably a lower price point, but we could have the same number again in the digital venue, they can interact with people in the venue through these VR stations, and that doubles our economic bubble straight way.
鈥淲e were talking to a Bristol-based band that has a big following in South America. We could do a show here that鈥檚 lower than your normal capacity, but it will feel like a nice small occasion for the Bristol audience, and we could probably sell 15,000 tickets across South America to attend virtually.
鈥淪o the economic bubble or our venue is no longer limited by our physical capacity. Economically, that鈥檚 a vast thing.鈥
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