When Music Meets Technology: Booka Shade Take To Berlin

The German electronic old hands were asked by Vodafone to take part in their “Firsts” series (you’ll have no doubt seen the Nannas on a Plane event) to become the first artists to create a mobile phone “orchestra” during a show, via an app created especially to allow the band to control the audience’s phones at various points during the show, triggering music samples and creating a light show…and hopefully return the gig experience to a communal rather than a singular experience.

In a press briefing on the evening of the show, Booka Shade’s Walter Merziger explains: “Normally it’s the audience filming the show,or holding their phone up for…what’s that thing, Shazam? So with this, the audience can use their phones if they wish and it will stay an intimate experience. You’re not going to be able to take phones away, so why not do something creative with it?” It’s easy to tell, chatting to Booka Shade, that they’re both excited and nervous at the prospect of the show explaining that they’ve not had much chance to experiment with the technology, saying “we’ve no idea how 600 phones are going to sound” and expressing worries about individual phones and the delays that may occur with wi-fi signals. But there’s plenty of positivity too: the duo say they enjoyed going through their back catalogue and picking songs out, breaking them down to parts they thought would work as samples to play on phones, and of course there was excitement over the audience interaction. And of course there was a certain wonderment in where this technology could lead us: would it work during a festival with 20,000 people on their phones (for it to work this evening, the audience has to stand in designated sections and not leave when the time comes to press their section trigger on the app)? Would artists start creating music especially for phones or apps? “We write songs for the love of the song, not for any piece of technology”, says Merziger.

And so to the show itself; the venue is ideal, big enough to hold 600 people and their phones, but small enough to keep things intimate. Numbers on the floor around the venue designate the areas to stand in, and I find myself in section 11 as the show begins in typical Booka Shade style. They really are an excellent live act, Arno Kammermeier is absolute dynamite behind his array of percussion and synths, all octopus arms and bobbing head, providing the rhythmic platform for the pulses and surges, peaks and atmospheres created by Walter Merziger and his bank of keys and computers. Then the fun begins: I’ve already been given a mini speaker to attach to my phone and suddenly on screen we’re prompted to hit the “go” button on the app….I kind of wish the fireworks that I imagined in my head did occur, but it was slightly more subdued than that. There’s no arguing that the light show was great: seeing that number of phones (plus ones hung as decoration around the venue) pulse different colours in time with the music - never mind not even being controlled by the owner of the phone - and have the camera flash go off and on like we were all members of Orbital for a fleeting moment was really spectacular and something that will probably stay with me for some time. The music side, however, was a little bit of a letdown and Booka Shade’s worries about the sound were partially realised; the triggers themselves were fine and I did note that the phone of the journalist I was standing next to came alive with music and lights at precisely the same time as my own phone…but the music was slightly tinny, too quiet and there were obvious delays in other sections.

And yet, and yet…it didn’t take away from the show too much. There was a sense of community and we were all buying into the idea, tracks like “Body Language”, “Love Inc” and “Night Moves” (the three songs chosen for the mobile orchestra) were stunning club anthems even without the accompaniment and we all as one had our hands (and phones) in the air as glowing beacons of approval,it was a notch above your usual live show - and I like the spirit and the point of getting us away from texting, filming or simply chatting through gigs and returning it to a collective experience. Yes, it is an idea and a test, and there’s room for improvement in a few aspects, and doubts remain over where this technology will take us….but, if we can go a bit further back and look at The Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka album and their carpark “shows” then maybe that’s where this mobile technology is heading. Take it away from the normal concert setting, create some “happenings” in unusual venues but still be able to trigger the phones in the same way, and maybe have a conductor instead of a band - that’s where I can see it going. For now, though, praise has to be given to Booka Shade and Vodafone to be willing to try something new and for giving people the chance to be “first” and part of an experience that no-one’s had before.

Fine out more about Vodafone’s #First project.