Another Sign the Apocalypse is Upon Us : Marshmello, Fortnite

My 13 year old was upset that we went out for dinner because he was unable to log into Fortnite to watch a Marshmello concert. Pausing for dramatic effect. Re-read that sentence.

He wanted to pick out his favourite outfit and dance moves, and go to a digital concert. Marshmello is a kind of a big deal DJ in the real world, and now he has a concert that crossed over to the digital world.

How was attendance? Glad you asked. 10+ Million People.

No, didn’t stutter or scratch the vinyl on that one. (I know they don’t scratch anymore. DJ’s just press play, right?)

This is probably the future, so get used to it.

Then again, pot calling kettle black as millions of people log in to slay digital dragons, pilot mechanized flight suits, and live out their unrealized sports (and dreams) potential in similar spaces.

I was going to argue that it takes out the point of concerts, the social aspects, but MMOs did that to D&D PnP as well, right? So really, I am just pointing this all out to clarify my hypocrisy or something. I really shouldn’t drink wine with lunch.

Happy Friday!

8 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Was this another Marshmello concert in Fortnite? Because I read about one nearly a month ago on a music blog I follow: https://everetttest.wordpress.com/2019/02/14/how-not-to-write-about-music-50-marshmello-ft-bastille/

    Marshmello’s not particularly to my taste but I think virtual gigs, performances, concerts, whatever are absolutely 100% what I expected to see in virtuality two decades ago. Isn’t that the future we were promised back when Second Life was getting mainstream news reports? I have a vague memory of installing Second Life specifically to attend a political lecture there – or maybe I just read about it. And I definitely remember the video screens in Anarchy Online from the turn of the century that showed promos for some rock band’s new album.

    It would, of course, have to be a band I’m interested in, but i would absolutely love to see a virtual concert in one of the MMOs I play. I’ve been to a number of in-game performances over the years. The first was a three hour “talent show” in the Freeport theater in EverQuest back in 2000 was the first – and of course I’ve done the Weatherstock thing – but I’d rather see some bands or artists that I’d pay money to see perform in an actual theater or club. Only without the bother of leaving my house.

    I might work this up into a post. There’s a lot to say about it.

    1. As someone that went to many concerts years ago, my ears would appreciate this new format. Decades of hearing damage are no fun.

    2. I was wondering the same thing re: new or old. (Very quick google scan seems to suggest there has only been the one)

      The promise of Virtual Concerts / Events is something the recent… resurgence might be too strong… but developer interest in Virtual Reality had brought to the fore again as well. Check out MelodyVR — they’re a service for this very thing that exists now, today. Taking a quick look over their featured Shows, there’s no-one I’d personally want to see, but there are at least a good number I recognise as currently being popular on the radio.

    3. It was the one and only – I had started a draft and didn’t finish it, and when I was cleaning around my blog and saw it I remembered I wanted to talk about it. So yes, old news – but I didn’t really see any coverage on it in my regular visits around Blognation!

      I just hope kids actually go experience real concerts too – because there is something to be said about them as an in body experience as well. I don’t disagree about the merits of this was just an odd time and place for me =)

  2. So how does this work? Is it like a special server where weapons are barred?

    How do you but the $30 t-shirts that only last through 3 washings? (I might be out of touch, last time I went to a concert was I think Stevie Ray Vaughn and he died in 1990.)

    1. HA! Those t-shirts were (are?) the best. Most just skipped the third washing. From my understanding they were limited to the same 100 people per instance, and no weapons. So while the 10.7M figure is impressive, it would have been way better if they could jam them all in one =)

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