Murder City Devils @ The Crocodile- Live Stream
Live event streaming is something I'm still fairly new to indulging in (unless you count Wrestlemania and boxing matches on Pay-Per-View). Although there have been a few over the past year that interested me, I still hadn't really checked one out. Many artists have had differing productions from The Menzingers' intimate feeling in-studio live-stream, to Bad Religion's "Decades" live-stream series performed to an empty room at the famed Roxy in Hollywood, CA. The Murder City Devils' live-stream was much more a live-stream of their own concert. The band playing to a full crowd while the show is streamed to fans at home.
I logged on and got myself familiar with the interface. Viewers could make different rooms and chat either through video, mic, or just typing in some messages. You were also able to adjust the volume between the music and the viewers that had a mic plugged in. A nice feature to have if you're watching with some friends in a private room. You had an icon that you could move around the screen, I assume to make it feel like you're taking a place in the crowd. While a fun novelty, it got distracting having a bunch of circles in front of the band anytime the camera panned to close-ups of the stage. Eventually I left the room someone had entitled, "The Pit!"
The band took the stage at the new location for the iconics Seattle venue, The Crocodile, around 9:20 and went straight into "I Want A Lot Now." It was nice to sit back in the comfort of my own home with some food and enjoy the show. The band was as raucous as ever. Vocalist, Spencer Moody, belted, moaned, and groaned the lyrics through most of the set. At one point, a streamer took note of how "wasted" he appeared to be. Occasionally entertaining, but distracting at other times.
The most fun part of streaming the live-event was playing with my cat as the band trudged through In Name and Blood's opener, "Press Gang." The band spread out their catalog pretty evenly in the set. During a run of tracks from the band's 2014 album, The White Ghost Has Blood on its Hands Again, Moody crawled across the stage and approached fans to give them their own go at the mic, before closing the show with "Broken Glass," from the band's self-titled debut.
Overall, I enjoyed the show and found live-streaming entertaining enough. It was nice to catch a performance without having to pay parking, dealing with traffic, and having my own food to eat while I watched. Flymachine is still in its infancy. There was even a "beta" tag adorning it's logo on the screen. They offered a decent enough experience though. I imagine it could only be better if you're watching with a group of friends in a private virtual room together. I'm interested to see how concert streaming continues to develop.
