Last night I tuned in for the end of The Arcade Fire’s live streaming Madison Square Garden show. I fell in love with their new album The Suburbs pretty quickly and couldn’t wait to watch some of the new songs. Even better the Fire asked Terry Gilliam to direct the webcast – who put a nice artistic touch on the epic performance, using photos of the suburbs which were submitted by fans prior to the event. I admit, I don’t watch many live concert videos – I’d rather be in the crowd – but last night’s show made me think of why I’ve seen Scorsese’s The Last Waltz so many times; because a well-directed concert film can be an amazing experience in itself.
This was a great move for YouTube and Vevo – the ArcadeFireVevo channel has 4.7 million views and 326k subscribers and counting. YouTube has already had some success live streaming music festivals, but the broadcasts can drag on and the quality is often lacking. There aren’t a lot of bands that could pull off what The Arcade Fire did last night, but it does show that well-directed live broadcasts that focus on one band can be a real hit. Finally, the game ball goes to American Express for creating the “Unstaged” series. Look out for the next performance featuring John Legend and The Roots on September 23rd.
The Arcade Fire and Terry Gilliam Blow Minds on YouTube
Last night I tuned in for the end of The Arcade Fire’s live streaming Madison Square Garden show. I fell in love with their new album The Suburbs pretty quickly and couldn’t wait to watch some of the new songs. Even better the Fire asked Terry Gilliam to direct the webcast – who put a nice artistic touch on the epic performance, using photos of the suburbs which were submitted by fans prior to the event. I admit, I don’t watch many live concert videos – I’d rather be in the crowd – but last night’s show made me think of why I’ve seen Scorsese’s The Last Waltz so many times; because a well-directed concert film can be an amazing experience in itself.
This was a great move for YouTube and Vevo – the ArcadeFireVevo channel has 4.7 million views and 326k subscribers and counting. YouTube has already had some success live streaming music festivals, but the broadcasts can drag on and the quality is often lacking. There aren’t a lot of bands that could pull off what The Arcade Fire did last night, but it does show that well-directed live broadcasts that focus on one band can be a real hit. Finally, the game ball goes to American Express for creating the “Unstaged” series. Look out for the next performance featuring John Legend and The Roots on September 23rd.