SXSW was an amazing milestone for my team.

It’s one of the most important festivals on the calendar each year at the cross section of cutting edge technology and gritty emergent music. The festival felt like a natural home for us with our startup pitch, showcase with Miro Shot and panel on independent music in the metaverse taking place across each part of the festival.

Huge thank you to SXSW for inviting us to launch Ristband alpha (in development) with indie electronic artist Miro Shot, hybridising their live VR concert SIMULACRA alongside showcasing the work of 81 NFT artists.

So what is a live VR concert, a hybrid concert and how did one indie band leverage the metaverse to make an even greater impact at SXSW? Let’s find out.

What is a Live VR Concert? Enter Miro Shot’s SIMULACRA.

A performance unlike anything the average concert goer has ever experienced before, Miro Shot’s live VR concert SIMULACRA is a collective experience between artist and attendee.

Using a custom-built immersive app and VR headset, the audience is transported between the live concert and the metaverse where the band performs alongside virtual worlds.

The band's performance itself is augmented by haptics, custom scent, and lighting, all of which enable the audience to hear, feel, and see music in a new digital reality.

The production also features AI, NFTs, and generative art, offering a window into the future where live performance, technology, and gaming intersect.

If this still sounds like a bunch of SEO keywords for the metaverse stuck together, we got you;) Here’s a video Miro Shot made just for you that shows what this actually means:

To be clear, the live VR concert production is solely the band's creation and if you’re interested in a partnership or booking their live VR concert, we can make an introduction:)

What we did is power Miro Shot’s entry into our metaverse platform to reach remote attendees by hybridising the performance. Our platform is available on Mac, PC and mobile, with VR accessibility coming soon.

2. What is a Hybrid Concert? We brought a Real World Concert into the Metaverse.

Miro Shot’s live VR concert took place in the real world at The Hideout Theatre, where it seemed that every one of the 2,500 people who registered to attend showed up to a sold out night with lineups around the block.

At the same time, hundreds of people were able to be a part of the event in our alpha metaverse platform Ristband.

We hid an unreleased track by Miro Shot in Ristband. Attendees logging into Ristband had ten minutes to explore our venue and surrounding area to find the track. If they found it, posted it on social media, and tagged the band, they received a code to download Miro Shot’s track on Bandcamp. Only those who completed the quest would have access to the unreleased track.

ICYMI- our special event with @miro_shot is live! Congrats to @_Myiu_ for being the first to find the hidden track 🥰#metaverse #music #easteregg https://t.co/2CGDgWDkZv
— Ristband (@ristbandinc) April 25, 2022

By leveraging Ristband, Miro Shot was able to invite even more fans to their SXSW experience, offering something new and exciting to those joining remotely.

A hybrid concert is one that takes place in the real world and also takes place in the metaverse.

The high from our #SIMULACRA debut hasn't worn off. Thank you all so much for coming out. Apologies to anyone who couldn't get in when they stopped by. We'll be back soon x pic.twitter.com/aoSVNVOAkL
— MIRO_SHOT (@miro_shot) March 16, 2022

3. What does this all mean for artists?

There are many ways that a hybrid concert can create value for artists. In our alpha launch with Miro Shot:

The band sold more tickets than venue capacity
The show was not limited to geographic restrictions as fans could login remotely from all over the world
Miro Shot's performance was covered in Forbes (two times!) and VRScout.
They were invited to kick off the SXSW Music Festival with their innovative showcase
The band engaged created a new offering for their superfans