Charli xcx & Troye Sivan’s SWEAT Tour Coming to Meta Quest VR
If you didn’t get a chance to catch Charli xcx and Troye Sivan‘s SWEAT tour in person, you can still “feel the rush” and soak up the Brat Summer vibes at home. The superstar duo’s tour is making its way to virtual reality, Billboard can exclusively reveal, thanks to iHeartMedia and Meta and produced alongside OBB Media.
Charli xcx & Troye Sivan Present SWEAT in VR will be available exclusively on Meta Quest devices starting Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show was filmed during one of Charli and Troye’s performances at the KIA Forum in Los Angeles in October.
“The LA shows were incredible because of the energy in the crowd — it was especially good on night 2,” Sivan tells Billboard exclusively. “Having friends and family in the audience made it more special, too. It felt like a celebration with everyone I love and admire right there in the room.”
He continues: “The SWEAT tour was one of the best experiences of my life, and I wanted to immortalize it in a way that felt as immersive and special as it was for me. iHeart, Meta and OBB have been able to make this come to life in VR and it’s the perfect medium to capture the intimacy, the energy, and the joy of those nights so that people at home could truly feel like they were there, or relive it.”
“Performing with Troye every night on the SWEAT tour was truly iconic and I’m so excited for fans to now be able to experience it at home,” Charli xcx added in a release announcing the news.
The 22-date nationwide tour wrapped in October and featured both artists taking turns performing high-energy hits, including Charli’s Brat hits like “360,” “Von Dutch” and “Girl, So Confusing,” as well as Troye’s fan-favorite jams including “My My My,” “Rush” and “One of Your Girls.” The concert, which is available for free in Meta Horizon Worlds Music Valley, will give fans a front-row seat to all the fun with immersive 3D video of the show.
“She brings such an insane energy to the stage, and those performances felt like pure magic,” Sivan shares of his onstage partner. “I can’t wait for fans to relive or experience those moments for the first time.”
Charli xcx & Troye Sivan Present SWEAT in VR is executive produced by iHeartMedia’s John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises, and Bart Peters, senior vice president of production and development; as well as Michael D. Ratner, Scott Ratner, Anthony Anchelowitz, Simone Spira and Kfir Goldberg for OBB Pictures, the Film & TV division of OBB Media; with Glenn Stickley, co-executive producing for OBB Media.
“Charli xcx, Troye Sivan and their teams have built something electric and singular with this show,” Ratner said of the SWEAT tour. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to partner with Meta and iHeartMedia to share this experience with fans around the world.”
Sykes agreed, saying in a statement: “Partnering with Charli xcx and Troye Sivan and with Meta gives us a unique opportunity to offer our millions of listeners the chance to experience two of the most talented artists in music performing on the most exciting new visual platform today.”
Sarah Malkin, director of Metaverse Entertainment at Meta, added, “The SWEAT Tour is the latest in a long lineup of incredible performances that we’ve brought to Music Valley. “Connecting fans to their favorite artists in a totally unique way through virtual reality extends the joy and excitement of concerts to even more people – and we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with iHeart, Charli xcx and Troye Sivan to do that with this show.”
After the show, fans can catch free concerts from more artists in Music Valley, or experience the thousands of apps available in the Meta Horizon Store. Meta Quest 3S retails for $299, and features 128GB of storage, but you can upgrade to the 256GB device for $399.99. Meta Quest 3S is available at major retailers such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Meta.com.
Rania Aniftos
Billboard