Europe has held its first virtual reality concert. What has the world come to?

THE first virtual reality concert has been held. And the images of it look terrible. Lennon would be rolling in his grave.

FOR lovers of live music there’s nothing better than the buzz of a pumped up crowd.

The weight of thousands of fans pressed against you as you claw your way to the stage, desperate to be showered in the sweat of your favourite artist. The chills of anticipation as the hungry, adrenaline-fuelled hoards chant in unison, heralding the beginning of what promises to be the night of your collective lives.

And what does the future of this spiritual experience hold for lovers of all things live? A shopping centre, collapsible chairs and a mobile phone blindfold. What a bloody let down.

This week Europe had its first virtual reality concert, held in Euralille shopping centre and featuring a performance by Israeli-French singer, Yael Naim. I think that’s what they call a soft launch.

The only thing less rock and roll than watching a concert in an area that looks like a hospital waiting room is watching a concert within spitting distance of a food court. I know Keith Richards always finds it hard to get in the zone unless there’s a sushi roll nearby.

It looks like the place was pumping. Picture: Picture Media

Virtual attendees were treated to a 360-degree view of the concert courtesy of their Samsung Gear VR’s. Wherever they looked they’d be surrounded by people swaying to the music and enjoying Yael’s live performance. Back in the shopping centre however, you’d be forgiven for thinking half of them were having a quick nap behind the viewfinder.

As someone who can barely send an email, I’m not saying virtual reality and 3D video isn’t impressive. We’re clearly swimming in some pretty exciting technological waters right now and if you transported past inventors to the present day I’m sure they’d be blown away by what the tech savvy brains of the world have achieved.

The Wright brothers would be shocked to see we can fly anywhere in the world in less than a day with no need for goggles or a scarf. Alexander Graham Bell would be losing his mind about being able to talk to someone on a phone with no cord attached. But I can’t help thinking Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles might be saying “I reckon concerts were better when women could throw their underpants at you.”

Who’s getting undies thrown at them now? The shopping centre security guard? That’ll do wonders for job application numbers.

Exactly the same experience as a real concert. Without the smells and the beer spilt on you. Picture: Picture Media

I know it’ll be a hot minute before we’re all watching concerts from the comfort of our lounge room without the terrible inconvenience of social interaction, but isn’t live music about being there live? The smells, the sweat, the electricity in the air? Although I guess you’ll still be able to experience some of that thanks to the radiation penetrating your skull from the attached mobile phone, so perhaps not all the magic is lost.

I always thought, maybe naively, that virtual reality was supposed to be a way for us to experience the unexperienceable (Yes, I know that’s not a word).

I envisaged stepping out of the International Space Station for a casual space walk or kicking back in the Oval Office pretending I’m Jed Bartlett. I wanted to ski a black run despite falling over every time I do a snow plough or smash out a couple of laps next to Thorpey.

What I didn’t imagine was donning a pair of high tech glasses to get magically whisked away to a pub gig.

Virtual reality will no doubt open our eyes to new experiences and take us to amazing new places but what this concert does is remind us that no matter how good technology is, nothing beats reality.

Yeah, that’s what we think. Picture: Robin Van Lonkhuijsen/AFP

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