Concert Rewind: Last night 30 Seconds to Mars and Linkin Park played one of the last shows of the very successful “Carnivores Tour” along with AFI who is the opening act. All three bands mesh very well together but this show was significantly different.
With the help of VyRT, owned by Jared Leto, the band streamed the final two acts with no commercials. Leading up to that, included with the price of the ticket, Jared Leto, and his other band members, Tomo Miličević and brother Shannon Leto, they played some impromptu free music to VyRT member (free to sign up). Jared Leto also came on more than a few times over the past few weeks to interact with fans via chatting, video, and Skype calls. To say they reached out to their fans is an understatement.
Many of the “Violet” sessions were merchandise rollouts too but hey, they have to pay for the channel. There were a lot of start up costs. Also in studio sessions and a live recording of the concert audio and video were all available.
30 Seconds came on a little late because of technical difficulties but once it got rolling it was electric. There were so many camera angles, including a Go Pro, and the views gave fans unprecedented access to a show unless you had previously purchased a side stage package or were lucky enough to be in the front row of a show.
The setlist included, “Up In The Air”, “Search and Destroy”, “This is War”, “Conquistador”, “Kings and Queens”, “Do or Die” (through the power of social media the song was dedicated to a listener from Baghdad), “The Kill (Bury Me), “Enter Sandman (Metallica Tease), and “Closer to the Edge” with tons of fans on stage. About an hour of music, they apologized for being cut short since the venue is in a residential area they can’t play late but Leto invited his fans to a free “Violet” session the following day to make up for it.
It was a great show and then Linkin Park came on and blew everybody online away. They also took part in different facets of VyRT.
The sound, the camera’s really created a great experience for fans of both groups. Linkin Park played 27 songs! It’s no wonder their fans follow them wherever they play. They lay it all out there each and every song for every show.
What a week, I bought a Golden Pass ($24.99) and a digital album ($14.99) and that included both bands, a video for both, audio for 30 Seconds (could have bought for both in a different package but I chose not to) and the newly re-released “Do or Die”. That’s a bargain. Jared Leto admitted they’ll be losing money for a while but are committed to this and I can see why.
After this tour ends they want to “crowdsource” another band to come on and play exclusively for VyRT members. Members will choose! Then the band will try and land the act. Also great acts of generosity took place with some members “gifting” digital tickets to others who couldn’t afford it but desperately wanted to see the show. Many of them were from overseas, and it was their 1 chance to see this tour with it winding down. Also “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” bought and gave away some tickets as well.
Here’s the last of the “Carnivores Tour” dates unless they add more:
http://www.carnivorestour.com/
Head to https://beta.vyrt.com/ to check them out.
photo by Sportsology