Snakes on multiple planes

Despite being in my spare room in Bangor - a few miles outside Belfast in Northern Ireland last Friday evening - I was also standing on the stage of the famous Brixton Academy in London, staring straight into the eyes of the lead singer, Frank Carter, as his Rattlesnakes pumped out their punk.

I was watching a live 360 video VR (Virtual Reality) concert via the Melody VR app on my Oculus Quest 2, VR headset. Even though this immersive technology is my bread and butter I’ve always been skeptical about this kind of application - watching a full concert in VR and its attempt to recreate being at a live gig.

And as you can see clever marketing pre this first ever live VR performance for the band upped the ante to allow their fans a chance to 'be there' too.

"In addition to choosing your own camera angles and enjoying high-definition, up-close visuals, you’re invited to pick the setlist, chat to the band and even invade the stage, via interactive screens at the legendary London venue."

This had a big influence on how much it made the gig feel not only much more intimate - i.e. not just an empty venue with a band going through the numbers - but also a better fit for our 'Zoom-demic' generation. In a weird way the live video screens portraying the bopping, grinning fans felt 'normal'.

Having audience members, including Frank's mum, Download Festival organiser (man in the cowboy hat below) and besotted fans showing off their tattoos, as Frank chatted back and forth with them, added to the 'live' gig feeling - but even more so, as I was standing right on stage 'with him', at the time.

Frank and the band played their part and were superb at performing into the six, 360 degree cameras dotted around the stage, which stood up well to bouncing musicians, even when the bassist knocked into one, the stream didn't flinch.

But the best part was the 'jump shot' menu (see main image at the top) that the Melody VR deploys which allowed me, via a tap on my Quest 2 hand controller, to bring up a menu system and then choose where I wanted to be: Stage left or right, Centre stage, Front of House (so you could turn round and see the famous venue behind, where normally fans would be packed in) or the 'Director's Cut' which auto-moved your position. But the best place for me was Centre stage or the 'Track Cam' which was a 360 camera placed on a dolly rig (see pic below) in front of the drum kit, which moved at just the right pace to avoid any motion sickness, but kind of made you feel that you were sneaking across the stage watching the gig unfold.

This was a super execution, combining fan engagement and live music performance, using immersive technology to produce a unique way to 'feel' part of a live gig - which these days is a rare treat, for the virtual entrance price of ￡12.99.

And yes I did head bang in VR.