Do Londoners ever get tired of ‘immersive’ shows? There are immersive theatres, exhibitions, cinemas and installations… the list goes on. If you are bored of the traditional forms of entertainment, then these multi-sensory performances are likely to stimulate your senses in every possible way.

Last week, I attended an immersive concert performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra at the Roundhouse as part of a series of Curtain Call Live performances. The 360° installation, Curtain Call designed by renowned designer/architect/artist, Ron Arad was first unveiled in 2011, and it was reinstalled this August to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the venue.

The floor-to-ceiling artwork/design made of 5,600 silicon rods suspended from an 18 metre diameter ring provided a canvas for films, live performance and audience interaction. Audiences could walk around, in and out of the curtain during the performances while enjoying the projected visuals from different angles.

I have never been to a LCO concert before, so I was quite curious about this experimental orchestra which started in 2008. The five songs performed on the night were: John Tavener’s ‘Svyati’, CHAINES’s ‘Down’, Morton Feldman’s ‘Rothko Chapel’, Mica Levi’s ‘You belong to me’, and Yoko Ono‘s ‘Sky Piece to Jesus Christ’ They were accompanied by bespoke visuals from Nicol Vizioli, UniversalAssemblyUnit, Ioana Sisea, Pavel Samokhvalov and Hannah Perry.

The mesmerising visuals and unconventional music performance worked very well, but it was the casual and laid back attitude of the concert that broke the mould. Although not every song was my cup of tea, I enjoyed the overall experience, and the highlight for us was at the end when the musicians on stage were bandaged together by other orchestra members until they could no longer play their instruments anymore. I have never seen anything like it before at any concert, and it was certainly a fun and bizarre way to end the show!

Ron Arad’s other installation Spyre was also on display at the Royal Academy of Arts’ courtyard, as part of the Summer exhibition. The 18 metre tall corten steel moving cone, containing motors, cogs, and slew-rings. Each segment moves at a different speed, ensuring that the sculpture’s unpredictable acrobatic postures are never repeated. Spyre has an eye at its tip containing a camera which will film its surroundings constantly.