What began as a digital project with a distinct visual identity has now grown into one of the most influential platforms in electronic music. Cercle has captured the world’s attention with performances in breathtaking natural and cultural landmarks, blending music, place, and moment into timeless experiences. Now, Cercle enters a new chapter: Odyssey 2025, its first immersive, nomadic concert tour.
Photo Credit: Luc Bracquet
With ten shows in each of three major cities—Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Paris—Cercle Odyssey invites 5,000 guests per show to step into a 360º multi-sensory world. Featuring live performances, spatial sound, olfactory elements, cinematic storytelling, and Cercle’s signature no-phone policy, Odyssey represents the culmination of years of boundary-pushing in the live event space.
In this conversation, Derek Barbolla, the founder and creative director of Cercle, shares his vision for Odyssey 2025, explores the relationship between digital and physical experiences, and explains how Cercle aims to help artists rediscover depth and emotion in today’s fast-paced world.
EG: Hi, Derek! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. How have you been? Where are you right now?
Derek: Thanks for the invite. I’m in Mexico City right now, getting ready to kick off Cercle Odyssey 2025, before heading to Los Angeles and ending the tour at home, in Paris. We’re in full rehearsal mode, finalizing the production, checking all the details—it’s an exciting moment. A whole lot of work to go through, but the anticipation and the teamwork are incredible!
EG: Congratulations on what is set to be the Cercle Odyssey 2025 tour! You must be excited about what’s about to happen. What are some of your thoughts now that we’re so close to the first string of events?
Derek: I’m definitely excited, I’m also confident and happy to share a project I believe in 1000%. I’m really curious to see how the audience will react, especially because Odyssey stands for something special—about blending music, technology, and art into an immersive experience, to connect with people in a way we haven’t done before. We’ve got an incredible line-up of artists, and we are excited to be part of this new format. Cercle has always worked with artists whose music creates a strong visual impact. With Odyssey, we’re broadening our direction, mixing genres while keeping electronic music at the core. We’re excited to explore new styles and collaborate with different genres, welcoming fresh artists and reaching new audiences.
EG: So, the first stop is on April 23rd–27th, at the Expo Santa Fe in Ciudad de México. What can the fans of Cercle expect to find throughout the Odyssey 2025 tour?
Derek: Cercle Odyssey is a milestone for live entertainment, offering the world’s first immersive nomadic concert. It combines music, cutting-edge technology, and visual storytelling in an all-encompassing setup. This tour will bring the Cercle experience to our communities in accessible metropolises — Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Paris — with 10 shows in each city, hosting 5,000 people per performance, all within a custom-made immersive structure. The concept is all about bringing nature to the audience, making it easier for people to experience these shows in their own cities, without having to travel to remote or sensitive locations. With stunning visuals and an original film by Neels Castillon, inspired by Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’, the performances will deliver a multi-sensory, immersive experience that connects deeply with the audience. And we have some surprises I can’t disclose at the moment!
EG: Just how much work goes into creating a 360º stage for an immersive experience such as this one? What are some of the main considerations at hand for Cercle?
Derek: Creating a 360º stage for an immersive experience is indeed a challenge; it takes a lot of work, both in terms of technology and projecting ahead. It’s not a complete renewal for Cercle, but a natural step forward from what we’ve been doing for the past 8 years. Our artistic programming is also evolving, with more performers and different art forms (like cinema and dance) and expanding to other music genres (such as neoclassical, indie, or pop). The main challenge is to ensure that the technical setup supports the artistic vision seamlessly.
“The connection between physical and virtual is at the core of what we do”
EG: For most people, Cercle appears to be rooted in streaming culture, but there has always been an interesting correlation between what you’re doing online and events on location. How do you see the connection between the virtual and physical worlds for Cercle? Is it hard for that on-site emotion to translate across the screen?
Derek: True! Cercle was born online, but it’s always been about much more than streaming. From the beginning, our goal has been to create real moments, anchored in a specific time and place, and to use technology not to replace the physical experience, but to extend its reach and emotional impact. The connection between physical and virtual is at the core of what we do. When we film a concert, on top of a mountain or in the middle of a desert, we’re capturing not just music, but also the essence of a place, of a moment, and the energy between the artist, the environment, and a small on-site audience. What we try to transmit across the screen it’s not just the sound, but a feeling of being there. Is it hard to translate that emotion? Yes, sometimes. But that’s exactly why we are so obsessed with image, light, sound, camera movement, etc. Every detail matters. Over time, we’ve learned to film presence, not just performance. Ultimately, the screen is not a barrier, it’s a bridge.
EG: Are there any plans to tie these Odyssey performances into a release via the label?
Derek: Absolutely. Cercle Odyssey is not just a show — for us, it’s also a creative lab. The idea is to go beyond the live performance and use the energy of these one-of-a-kind shows to fuel new artistic output. Many performances will lead to releases on Cercle Records. Some tracks are created especially for Odyssey, sometimes as unexpected collaborations between artists from different genres — something we encourage more and more.
One of the label’s missions is to break down musical boundaries and bring people together through surprising pairings. So yes, what happens on stage is just the beginning — we want the music to live on and travel in new forms, long after the show is over.
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EG: What would you like for the attendees to take away from the Cercle Odyssey 2025 experience?
Derek: We want our audience to leave and remember the Odyssey experience with a deep feeling of unity and inclusion. We want them to have discovered a new dimension of Cercle through a unique concept, through a powerful connection to the music and the audience. We are rethinking how we connect with our community, with live shows easier to experience without having to travel far. Through spatial sound, olfactory elements, and through our no-phone policy, we’re creating a space where everyone is truly present to themselves, to each other, and to the performers.
EG: Given your experience in the field, what do you see as the biggest challenge for the music industry in the next few years, and how do you think artists can adapt?
Derek: One of the biggest challenges is the growing pressure on artists to constantly feed the algorithm. In a world of endless scrolling and short-form content, the risk is that depth, emotion, and artistic exploration get sacrificed for immediacy and visibility. Artists are asked to be content creators, marketers, performers — all at once. That ends up being exhausting and draining, creatively. How can you find a way to exist meaningfully in this landscape without losing your artistic identity? I believe that the way forward is to slow down, and focus on creating strong universes and moments that truly connect. That’s also what we offer with Cercle and Odyssey: platforms where artists can be daring, tell stories, and reach audiences not just through noise, but through resonance. Art shouldn’t be optimized for clicks, it should be optimized for emotion.
“The screen is not a barrier, it’s a bridge”
EG: Looking forward, what can we expect from Cercle next?
Derek: With its creative approach, Cercle has always pushed the limits of entertainment. Cercle Odyssey is an extension of this vision, remaining true to our values while exploring new formats and collaborations. This year, the tour went from 9 to 15 dates with 30 concerts, thanks to the amazing response from the public. And we’re already planning the 2026 tour and what’s next for Cercle in terms of shows, festivals and Cercle Moments.
More information and tickets for Cercle Odyssey upcoming shows are available here.
