Okay, so watching streamed performances over the internet isn’t the best way to enjoy live shows. That’s a given. Every one of us would rather be in the middle of a sweaty moshpit, getting drunk with friends while being accidentally kicked in the head by overenthusiastic crowd surfers. Yes you would. Don’t lie.
After a year and change of no live shows, every single band on the planet has got to adapt themselves into the world of live streaming. The few live stream concerts I’ve seen have portrayed each band’s unique style and vision, but none as bizarre as The Melvins’ Volume 3: Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! which aired last Saturday, May 1st. The complete show is exactly what you would expect from this legendary band. The live stream started with acoustic versions of ‘Dark Brown Teeth’, a King Buzzo cover, and ‘Up The Dumper’. The most interesting and funny aspect of this particular live stream is that it felt like you were hanging out with the band in between songs. Each transition from song to song had a small interview that started with the whole band, then with Buzz Osborne, followed by Steven McDonald, and finishing with Dale Crover. Each interview featured hilarious stories of the band and their lives that covered the usage of masks to, of course, weed. The overall performance of the band was superb with a sound the sound quality you would expect from a band like The Melvins and the visuals were in the more psychedelic side that went along well with each of the played tracks. Overall this was a fun and refreshing way of conducting a live stream event and one that only sets up for the upcoming return of live shows.Continue reading
Slipknot’s Knotfest.com has announced its own Pulse of the Maggots Fest, a free online festival sponsored by ESP Guitars and presented by MusiCares, Ernie Ball and Rock Against Racism. Hosted by Knotfest.com’s very own Beez, Ryan J Downey and special guests, Pulse of the Maggots Fest comprises 3 digital stages (the MusiCares stage, Rock Against Racism stage, and ESP stage) with performances from 20 of the most exciting up-and-coming artists. Friday 13th November 2020 @ 8pm UK/12pm PST. Pulse of the Maggots is Knotfest.com’s brand dedicated solely to spotlighting emerging acts that bring creativity, originality, and excitement to the growing aggressive music community, and whose namesake festival will stream on Knotfest.com. Links to the show and the merch for the event, with some of the proceeds going to the charities mentioned above.
One of the most important things that your band needs to be doing is going live. If you aren’t going live then you are shooting yourself in the foot – it’s really as simple as that. When a band goes live, that post is almost always one of their top-performing posts ever. Obviously, after the first time, it becomes a little less effective just because that’s how these things work, but still – it should be a key part of your strategy. If you are able to connect with fans live then they are going to want to engage with you more. Furthermore, if people in the industry see you going live then they are going to appreciate that hustle. Finally – if you do it regularly it will all just start to come naturally and lead to a much more fluid overall experience. So, let’s get into why you need to do this and the strategies around it. Continue reading