Crowdsourcing a Concert

Ever been to a concert and they didn’t play any of your favourites?

Ok, so if you bothered to buy a ticket, you’re probably a fan, and they probably played the songs the fans like best.

But what if you could control the songlist order? Or which band member who got the spotlight most? Or what flashes of videos were projected across the stage?

For UMBowl II, Umphrey McGee‘s concert, you could. A text-based voting system enabled the audience to choose exactly these variables.

Founded in 1997, Umphrey McGee has been looking towards a more innovative way of fan involvement for a whilst since. For their record ‘Mantis’ they requested pre-orders, the premise being that the more orders they got, the more content they would produce. More songs, more bonus content, live tracks, alternate takes, fly-on-the-wall studio visits.

UMBowl II ended up being a sold out show. The ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ experience, tallied real-time on the night itself packed out Park West, Chicago, Illinois on April 2nd. And those who couldn’t score a ticket were able to purchase live streaming of the concert on iClips for $9.99.

More on this and upcoming UMBowl experiences here.