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With festival season in full swing, it really doesn’t matter which genre of music you’re into, you can catch something live.
I love live music. Always have. I’ve been seeing live bands for longer than I’d like to mention.
There are not many bands left that I haven’t seen that I want to or would like to see again. This coupled with the unbelievable price of tickets and the hoops you have to jump through to get decent seats, my festival days, as well as my concert-going days have slowed down dramatically if not temporarily halted. Apparently I’m not the only one that thinks this way. Sure, there are still plenty of people going to festivals, but a lot of the freedom and fun as we've known it to be has been taken from the experience. Think what you will: really, it’s not so much that I’m getting older; it truly is that the audiences are getting younger.
Many bands are now opting to entertain their fans with options. Let’s take Furthur for example: when they are playing out west, let’s just say I can’t wait to wake up in the morning to see the set list from the previous night. There are multiple places that I can find this information in an instant. I love that!
Now many bands are not only allowing taping, but allowing folks to provide a live stream of the show, if indeed the band themselves are not streaming it. This is so cool for folks like me that still totally dig seeing and hearing live bands.
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I first heard the term ‘Couch Tour’ from one of the new bands I follow, Moonalice. Yes, it is exactly what you’re thinking. I can go on tour with a band and not leave the couch. You can even get the t-shirt. With Moonalice, no matter where they play, at a festival or for a free concert on a plaza in San Francisco, they bring along their satellite truck and provide a live satellite broadcast of their concert. According to the band’s techie and leader, Roger McNamee, ”Thousands of fans watch every Moonalice show on www.livestream.com/moonalice It’s the ultimate connection between a band and its fans.” Now the band is taking things even further by allowing their fans to check them out not only on their PCs but on their iPads and iPhones without any app.
But it’s not only Moonalice…
One day in early May, I’m watching my Twitter feed and I see the following tweets posted by Bob Weir:
May 13, 2011. TRIday the 13th test launch of the flying saucer bus. Free webcast 7pm PST www.TRIstudios.com 3:55 pm May 3rd via web
I started following @TRI_studios on Twitter to see what this was all about.
Tweet: Come to "TRIDAY THE 13th • TRI Studios First Live Webcast" Friday, May 13 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Watch what... http://fb.me/GvSfykeE 12:57 PM May 3rd via Facebook
Tweet: Getting ready for launch T-minus 22 hours! Thu May 12 2011 23:53:35 (EDT) via web
Tweet: Bob will be answering questions live during set break on twitter @tri_studios Fri May 13 2011 03:28:51 (EDT) via Facebook
Tweet: Countdown! http://www.tristudios.com Fri May 13 2011 20:12:57 (EDT) via Facebook
Tweet: Thanks to everyone watching it is history in the making Sat May 14 2011 01:18:19 (EDT) via Mobile Web
And history it was! For those of us that enjoy seeing the different projects that the remaining members of the Grateful Dead are into, this is a step above the rest.
I awoke to watch the initial ‘test launch of the flying saucer' and was just blown away with their maiden voyage. I was glad to see that Bobby had something up his sleeve all this time he's been forgetting all those words to songs while performing with The Dead, RatDog and Furthur. This new project is a fine example of why I bow to the Grateful Dead family. Love them!
According to TRIstudio's website: Tamalpais Research Institute (TRI) is the vision of Bob Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead. Weir and his team have built a state-of-the-art performance studio for broadcasting live HD video and audio streams directly to the Internet. TRI is a virtual venue where fans can gather and enjoy the performances in the comfort of their own homes, or anywhere they have Internet access.
Each show will be directed, filmed, and mixed live in real time. Every care will be taken to provide the highest possible upstream bandwidth to transmit high quality HD video and audio to the end user.
All of this will take place in a small intimate setting in front of a live studio audience. The musicians may be playing in the domain of Mount Tamalpais, but their music will be beaming out to the entire free world.
You have to check out TRIStudios website. There are archived performances, and weekly, Bobby has a new video to share. Just something tasty for those of us that can't get enough of this of music. One thing I can say is that this type of audio / visual innovation is really for me!
Check it out: http://www.tristudios.com
What I need now is a wide-screen, surround-sound computer system to watch and hear all of the bands that provide me this entertainment at my finger tips. Perhaps with all the money I’m not spending on concert and festival tickets, I can buy myself one.
Peace.
"No ones's noticed, but the band's all pack and gone. Was it ever there at all?" -- John Perry Barlow