December 4, 2005
Acts, audience connect via text messaging
About an hour into a typical show on U2's Vertigo tour, Bono tells the crowd to hold up their mobile phones, in what has become the modern-day equivalent of flicking on a lighter. Instantly, thousands of blue-tinted screens illuminate the darkness as he marvels at the spectacle. Reuters reports.
"Soon the video screen atop the stage flashes a five-digit number above the word "UNITE."
Then the band launches into the song "One," and Bono encourages the audience to use their phones to send a text message to the one.org Web site, a sort of digital petition voicing support for poverty relief in Africa. Later, during the encore, the names of all who did so are scrolled on the same screen, and each receive a message of thanks from Bono on their phones.
This is one of the most visible examples of how the mobile phone is being used as a communication tool between artist and audience, turning the concert event into a much more interactive experience".
Related articles:
-- Celebrating a band, a rock star and his message
-- U2's concert in San Jose integrates cell phones and SMS
-- Mobile phones are the new lighters
-- Why Cell Phones Have Killed The Concert Lighter
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