This event was such a great experience! It was an interactive performance using a phone app Tinmendo and ZOOM, which certainly raised the bar on “audience participation.”
The concept was that we as passengers on a space vessel, were on our way to a new planet. Our mission is to release as many green house gasses as possible so that we can warm this “ frozen” planet and make it habitable. Since humans are so good at warming our own planet, this should be cake! The tone was satirical and the band did not hold back in expressing their political preferences.
First, we had some instructions to follow in order to get the full experience. We started by downloading the Tinmendo app on our phones, then connecting to the ZOOM session via the link provided. Once in ZOOM, we were able to see all the participants (who had their video screens enabled). Tony Roe started the “ flight to the new planet” with a request for us to choose a name for the new planet. Roe preprogrammed his synth so that each letter of the alphabet produced a sound. The audience participants entered a name using the phone app and then the names were transcribed into melodies. They held a vote for the new name in the ZOOM chat, and Arastal was the name chosen. Mind you, Wolf Banter also had 3 votes, with the name NewYopia, none the less, my vote was for Arastal as it does have more of a SciFi ring to it.
The duo would play and improvise with projected video images and voices of public figures such as Greta Thunberg, saying ” how dare you.” The underling social commentaries were quite clear and global warming was focus during the session.
There were various levels of interaction; Video, phone app, text chat and voice chat through ZOOM, and after the show, Roe stayed to answer questions and chat with the audience. I asked them if they ever do any workshops and Roe confirmed that they certainly do, and fairly often at that. These artists are geared up for the future and interestingly, this project (so appropriate for the times) was created before the pandemic. The world’s current situation can certainly benefit from this kind of creativity. These artists are fun and interesting to follow and what’s more, you will learn from them!
Performers:
Tony Roe – piano
Jamie Peet – drums
Programming:
Marcel Wierckx
For more videos from Tin Men and the Telephone subscribe to them on
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/tinmenthetelephone/videos
OR
Check them out on their site:
If you are able and would like to donate to the Ottawa Jazz festival, hit the link below:
