If you attended Switchfoot’s “Fantastic Traveling Music Show” that happened last year, then you know how creative Switchfoot and their team has been with that tour. With the events in recent months that have caused most in-person concerts to be canceled, Switchfoot has come up with a new way to bring these creative concerts to fans, with their “Fantastic NOT Traveling Music Show.”
Switchfoot’s “Fantastic NOT Traveling Music Show” is an ongoing series of live stream concerts that you can watch from your own living room, on your phone, tablet, or television. For a recurring payment of $8.99/month, one can buy a season pass for access to the show each month as well as bonus content.
Last month, on July 25, Switchfoot performed their first live stream of the “Fantastic NOT Traveling Music Show” series. The live stream started out with a waiting screen that featured, interestingly, French music. If you attended the in-person version of this tour, you’ll probably find this music nostalgic, at least I do – as it ties to memories of a night full of hope, wonder and joy.
When the show started, the “crew”, consisting of lead singer Jon Foreman, drummer Chad Butler, bassist Tim Foreman, guitarist Drew Shirley, and keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas, got into a terrible shipwreck (pretend, of course). They frantically ran around on stage until finally, they were shipwrecked on a desert island with their instruments and, as guitarist Drew Shirley describes it while reading from the Captain’s Log “ridiculous blue uniforms and red hats.” The shipwreck is representative of life’s trials, because music, as lead singer Jon Foreman puts it, is “tied to the sea, born from the struggle, looking for hope.”
During the acoustic set, they took the time to read some requests that fans had sent in. Due to there being no in-person crowd to take song requests from, Switchfoot had posted on social media a few days before the show asking for fans to send requests via mail. This unique idea for song requests sparked creativity in many fans, who sent in boxes with fun gifts, letters, and of course, messages (song requests) in bottles!
After playing some acoustic versions of their songs, including some older songs they hadn’t played live in a long while such as “Sing It Out,” it was time for intermission. While behind-the-scenes work was being done to setup the second set, Switchfoot took the camera backstage and opened a box a fan had sent. They pulled a song request out of the box to play acoustically during intermission, and it happened to be one of my many favorites, “Needle and Haystack Life.”
After the short break, the second set opened with Foreman playing “The Edge of the Earth,” with just himself and an ukulele, against a green, grass-like background. The peaceful, happy sound of the ukulele soon turned into rock, as their plan to leave the island they’ve been shipwrecked on was revealed; A hot air balloon.
The acoustic, shipwrecked set was left behind as the sounds of electric guitar made an appearance, with upbeat songs like the ever so popular “Stars.” Symbolically, this epic set represents hope amidst the shipwreck, the great things to come despite life’s struggles. The electric set continued until the end of the show, when excited fans flooded the live stream’s chat asking for an encore.
The “end” of the show truly wasn’t the end, the virtual cheering of excited fans worked, and Switchfoot came back for an encore! They played a few more songs before closing out and announcing the next concert in the “Fantastic Not Traveling Music Show” series. They creatively announced the next concert by playing a short cartoon clip of the crew flying in their hot air balloon-boat-hybrid, before they were shipwrecked once again, but this time.. in a tree?!
Overall, this virtual concert truly was a joy to “attend.” The creativity, time, and effort put into the production of this show is very evident. If you attended the in-person “Fantastic Traveling Music Show” tour, you’ll likely love this live stream concert series. For the price of $8.99/month, it’s a bargain considering all of the joy, hope, and fun it brings.
For information about this concert series and to buy a season pass, visit switchfoot.com.
You did a fantastic job with this review article! I was not able to see the live tour of this, nor the streamed one (in fact, I’ve never been so lucky to see Switchfoot in concert at all… YET. But you can bet it’s on my bucket list!) Your article was written very well, and made the event sound as exciting as I’m sure it was! God bless you, and keep up the great writing!