Had a great weekend with my family at Lollapalooza in early August. We saw a bunch of bands, including Arcade Fire, Jimmy Cliff, Balkan Beat Box, Drive-By-Truckers, Devo, Gogol Bordello, Spoon, Green Day, Blitzen Trapper, Freightened Rabbit, and The National (to name a few).
I was absolutely fascinated with the live sign language interpreters who were rocking to some of the more popular bands. They were stage right on a platform so that the people in a special section on the left side of the audience way up front could see both the interpreters and the band. And the section was right in front of a set of massive sub-woofers so those in the special section could feel the music.
This photo shows Barbie Parker interpreting Yeasayer. Parker is with LotuSIGN, an Austin company of sign language interpreters specializing in live music and performance.
Interpreters like Barbie are artists in their own right. They need to be familiar with the music so they can facilitate an experience for the deaf and hard of hearing members of the audience, providing them access to the content, message, spirit, and artistic quality of live performance.
An important buyer persona for live performance
With the rise of MTV, music has become increasingly visual. Providing an experience for the hearing impaired to boogie too is a great way for festivals like Lollapalooza to sell more tickets.
Here is the special section. Dozens of people were having a blast!
I've been to hundreds of live shows and except for Lollapalooza last year and this year, I had never seen a promoter or band focus on the hearing impaired.
Good on you, Lolla. And congratulations to LotuSIGN for finding an unserved market niche and making so many people's lives better.
What underserved buyer persona can your company identify and serve?
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Providing service for the hearing impaired during entertainment events is a great thing. John Stewart performed at Hamilton College in late 2008 with a sign language interpreter on stage with him. He even incorporated her in the act which was hilarious- Saying as many vulgar things as possible to see how it was interpreted.
Posted by: Daniel Katz | August 21, 2010 at 01:05 AM
Hey Daniel - That's cool. Good for Jon Stewart. I am a frequent speaker at conferences and events. I've never had a sign language interpret my talks...
Posted by: David Meerman Scott | August 21, 2010 at 06:40 AM
David - thanks for the response. I read The New Rules while at Ithaca College and it has left a huge impression on me. It's neat seeing how you put the principles and rules to practice.
Posted by: Daniel Katz | August 21, 2010 at 02:12 PM
David - I was a Lolla. Sorry I missed you.
I saw Barbie and wondered what the hell she was doing there. But I thought it was cool. She was absolutely ROCKING to Soundgarden Sunday night. She really brought more value to the show, for sure.
bd
@bdunc1
Posted by: Brett Duncan | August 21, 2010 at 02:41 PM
Brett -- It was a great festival. Interesting how Barbie (and her colleagues) brought more value to people without hearing impairment too!
Posted by: David Meerman Scott | August 22, 2010 at 07:05 AM
Wow is your mind programmed to think in terms of content creation. It's truly remarkable. Great post, love the fresh perspective. -Joe
Posted by: Jchernov | August 22, 2010 at 10:35 AM
In all my years and at all my concerts and shows that I have been too, this is something I have never seen. I am very pleased to read that entertainers and concerts are starting to become more friendly towards the hearing impaired. I would however like to see a little more of it. For example, wheel chair access at a lot of large events is ridiculous if present at all
Posted by: Vee Sweeney | August 22, 2010 at 03:11 PM
David - so true on the value for those who aren't impaired. I was jealous that she could rock out the way she did. I wanted to jump in and be just as free as she was being (don't ask why I didn't- I just didn't, OK?).
Posted by: Brett Duncan | August 22, 2010 at 04:57 PM
Jchernov - I am always on the lookout for blog post ideas.
Vee - Lollapalooza was the first (and only) time I had seen sign language interpreters at a concert.
Brett - She used to be an accountant. All that pent up energy needs to be released.
Posted by: David Meerman Scott | August 23, 2010 at 06:19 AM
I think that Lollapalooza providing interpreters is a really good idea and I hope other festivals and even the bands themselves follow suit.
Posted by: Peter Dunin | September 27, 2010 at 12:28 PM
It's great to see language interpreters having fun at a concert, Lollapalooza's the only one so far that I've seen making this possible.
Posted by: Hearing centre | April 24, 2012 at 05:14 PM