You know how we said we were getting involved with Songkick’s Detour project? Well, none of the bands we put forward got pledge, but in equally excellent news the first band to come to London via the project is Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst’s Desaparecidos. The band will play in London in February, and the tickets go on sale TOMORROW. Be fast. Unless you pledged. Then you’ll be charged for the pledge!
Massive props to Drowned In Sound and their readers for getting this one together!
https://detour-ldn.songkick.com/tickets
Here’s the press release about the gig from the Songkick CEO:
After 10 years of waiting, it took 80 fans 2 days to bring Desaparecidos to the UK
Just under 3 weeks ago I told you about a new Detour experiment we were trying: Detour London.
I told you about how the coolest side of Detour is what true fans of an artist have done with it. From a few die hard fans in Folkestone taking Hot Chip viral to the incredible story of a few fans in Florianopolis making sure that Andrew Bird came to their town. And how with Detour London we were trying the craziest thing we’d ever done: opening up Detour as a fan-driven platform. Fans with an invite to the private beta could start campaigns to bring their favourite acts to London and invite like-minded people to join them.
I promised that as soon as a campaign hit 50 pledged tickets we’d reach out to the artists management and see if we could make a concert happen. And then we pressed the button and waited to see what the hell would happen!
Today we’re announcing the first ever Detour London show: Desaparecidos in London on 11th February at the Islington Academy. Desaparecidos, for those not in the know, are a rock band featuring Conor Oberst, Landon Hedges, Matt Baum, Denver Dalley and Ian McElroy. They formed in 2001, released one album (2002’s Read Music/Speak Spanish), and broke up shortly thereafter. They set their fan’s hopes alight after reuniting for the Concert for Equality in Omaha in 2010 but have never been to the UK.
When we launched Detour London, we partnered with a number of our favourite curators of great music. People like The 405, The Line of Best Fit, Mute Records and Moshi Moshi, and the legendary music community Drownedinsound.
All the curators built their own lists of bands that they wanted to Detour to London. Sean Adam’s list (the founder of Drownedinsound) included Desaparecidos along with some other amazing choices. Sean spread the word to the community on DiS, and within about 48 hours we’d hit 50 pledged tickets. I reached out to their manager, Juan Carrera, who turns out to be a pretty awesome dude and was thrilled at the idea of getting them over to London for a concert. We’ve finalised how to make it happen around their schedules and venue availability and will be putting tickets onsale on Wednesday (if you want to get one ahead of then, you can do so by getting an invite to the Detour London private beta). Amazingly there are over 80 people who have now pledged to make that concert happen.
So, it’s on. Desaparecidos in London, 11th February.
One of the things that excites me the most about the internet at the moment is how a few deeply motivated people have more ability to organise a larger number of people than ever before. That’s at the heart of what we’re seeing with Detour London. A few true fans like Sean and Luke at DiS spreading the word to people who trust them has lead to an amazing band coming to play their first show in the UK. As a fan that’s incredibly exciting to me. It makes me think that before 2013 is out I’ll be part of bringing some of the artists I love the most to London. Whether it’s Merchandise, 88 Keys or Mykki Blanco, I feel like I can do more than just leave a Facebook comment somewhere. For the artists I love, I am that fan.
So who do you want to bring to London?
And where should we open up Detour X next? I’m kind of keen on Folkestone.