Special Engagements Recap: Theophilus London in Austin, TX, As Told Through Crappy Cell Phone Pics
In the brain-melting heat of Austin’s summer months, New Yorkers stick out like… well… New Yorkers in Texas, I guess. So when a crew of us VICE kids arrived during Austin’s third worst drought since modern record keeping, it was all we could do to focus o
Photos courtesy of Ben and Gabby's crappy cellphones. Keep watching the blog for a photo gallery of the event, with REAL photos from REAL photographers, going up shortly on Noisey.com!In the brain-melting heat of Austin’s summer months, New Yorkers stick out like… well… New Yorkers in Texas, I guess. So when a crew of us VICE kids arrived during Austin’s third worst drought since modern record keeping, it was all we could do to focus on the reason we were down there in the first place: our very first Special Engagement with Theophilus London!
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It doesn’t matter what your job title is; when you’re putting on a big, livestreamed show it’s all hands on deck. So when I arrived at the Lustre Pearl around two PM to start prepping for the show I was pleasantly surprised. While my Austin friends told me that this house-like venue had a bit of a “bro bar” rep, the interior was terrific—distressed wood walls, a spacious backyard (lit with Edison bulbs in mason jars) and a cozy bar including a $6 cocktail called the “Long Hair Don’t Care,” which is a Lone Star tall boy with a shot of whiskey thrown in:
Noisey super-producer Gabby Shaw scoping out the Lustre Pearl menu.Theophilus arrived for soundcheck around 3PM wearing a purple Ninjasonik T-shirt with Bartman on the back. As the 25-person production crew scurried around setting up the stage and the livestream, Theophilus discreetly vibed out in front of the stage, practicing some new dance moves and singing quietly to himself:
Around that time our contest winner Michelle arrived with her friend Adrien. We flew them out from New York, where they both study dentistry at NYU. We couldn’t have asked for better winners—Michelle gushed all night about how she’d never won anything like this before, and what a huge Theophilus fan she is:
Michelle being interviewed at the Lustre Pearl for our feature documentary on the event.As the doors opened and the venue began to fill up, Telli and Theophilus got ready and stormed the stage. There was palpable electricity in the air, as everyone knew that they were live, on camera, being broadcast all over the world. We shot the event in HD with six cameras. There was almost no delay on the stream, which was controlled from an HD video truck outside the venue. The truck was driven up from Baton Rouge, LA, and was outfitted with 30 monitors from which we controlled the show:
Our livestream command station.When Theophilus got onstage the audience exploded. He played through some of our favorite songs, including “Girls Girls $,” “Last Name London,” and a brand-new Gigamesh remix of “I Stand Alone,” the song that our online audience requested that Theophilus perform. He even brought contest winner Michelle onstage as he performed “Flying Overseas.” Telli was losing his mind, running around and amping the crowd up even further. The whole show happened against the backdrop of a vintage US flag.The performance was amazing, and from the comments I heard as the crowd filed out, Theophilus really turned some heads onstage. What was most exciting was that, during the show, there were always people inside, crowding around the monitors that were broadcasting the livestream. At the end of the day, it was a great way to start the new series, and a great way to spend a weekend in Austin.
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