That’s right, I’ll be in the Chicago area in a couple of weeks. This is my FIRST GIG in ILLINOIS, so let’s make it a good one! Details for registration and tickets are at www.furfest.org.

If there’s one thing I learned from my former years playing in houses of worship, it’s that the Sunday morning experience is designed for maximum effectiveness. Granted, some churches are more finely tuned than others, but the principles of your average worship service should apply to every single concert you play.

• Start with an engaged crowd. Even if it’s just the first row or two, a well-timed “Hallelujah!” now and again will get the cold crowd to warm up a little.
• Appeal to all five senses. Studies have shown that we remember events better if all of our senses are engaged. The Church, in its various forms throughout the millennia, has evolved to adopt this level of impact.
  1. Sight: Robes, banners, crosses, flowers, statues, you name it. Stained-glass windows and flying buttresses were designed specifically to catch your eye.
  2. Sound: Obviously, a church service involves talking and music. If your shows don’t have either, you’re reading the wrong article.
  3. Touch: At some point in most services there’s a moment to shake the hands of people around you. Perhaps there’s a laying on of hands while a blessing is read. In a world where we’re naturally suspicious of everyone else, a gentle touch from someone with a good message can leave a lasting impression.
  4. Smell: Roman Catholics nailed this one by swinging balls of incense. Mine would hang evergreen boughs in the sanctuary during Christmastime. Maybe your church bakes fresh bread for communion. Maybe it’s just the smell of coffee before and after the service… One way or another, your nose is being spoken to.
  5. Taste: In my religion, this one dates back to the guy that started it. The tradition of a little wine and bread was coupled with a very specific statement: “Do this for the remembrance of me.” Not bad advice.
• Audience Participation! This one deserves its own exclamation point. The reformation introduced many concepts into the Christian church, one of which was the involvement of laypeople in the worship service. People are more likely to pay attention if they’re a part of the experience.
• Speak their language. Again, another gift from the Reformation. If the people speak German, why are the services in Latin? Sure, you can prepare your talking points before a show, but pay attention to your audience and converse with them on a level that they will understand.
• Give them a mission. If you’ve reached someone, they won’t want the experience to end. Give them something they can do after the concert is over- even if it’s as simple as “give this download card to a friend who’s never heard of us”.

I’m not suggesting for one second that you train your fans to worship you… but you can certainly harness the power of thousands of years of effective organization to spread the word about your band.

Okay, so I have your attention? Good. That’s exactly why I used such a click-bait headline in the first place (sorry about that). I’m not giving up all UStream shows forever, but I am going to stop the weekly schedule.

I’ve been doing the UStream thing since 2007, long before anyone knew you could actually do live streaming from your home computer. Back then it was a shiny new toy- a lot like podcasting in 2005. The fact that I was doing a show at all was newsworthy enough, regardless of how much fun we’ve had over the past three years. Now, with increasingly annoying popup ads and a lot more “shows” vying for attention (even if it’s just someone putting a webcam on their parakeet cage, I kid you not this thing gets 1,000 viewers), my shows need to be more than a weekly live rehearsal session.

Honestly, I feel like I’m not bringing anything new to the table on a weekly basis. Every show is… a lot like the last show. That’s not good enough, at least not by my standards. I want to make every show an event, not part of the weekly grind. You deserve better.

So from now on if you want to know when new shows are coming, join my mailing list or follow me on Twitter. I’ll announce the next show date during tomorrow’s broadcast, so tune in at 6pm Eastern at www.matthewebel.com/ustream

ENN February 8, 2010 (Download MP3)

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Photo by Sebastian Mary

• Tonight’s show at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA at 10pm will be awesome! I promise! Come check it out, more details at www.matthewebel.com/tour
• February 17 I’ll be performing in Trenton, NJ at Purple Stripe Productions, again the details are at www.matthewebel.com/tour

I mention these shows because of C.C. Chapman’s latest episode of Managing the Gray. He reminded me about my dreams and my goals. Yes, I would be happy just paying my bills and feeding myself, but that’s not what I dream about. Nobody dreams about simply surviving, we all have grander visions of our futures. No one dreams of mediocrity. People in my line of work share the same goal: Playing shows in big arenas to a crowd so massive you can see it from space.

The two shows coming up this month are the first steps towards that kind of dream for me. I want to become a famous rock star like Ben Folds. There’s a reason games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero sell so well: many of us dream of doing that sort of thing. To make it reality, however, requires a combination of luck, connections, and hard work. I need to know if I am good enough.

We all want to know that we can jump over that bar when we come to it. We all want to clear the bar with two feet to spare and then set the next bar even higher. This is why we dream, this is why we set goals. My goal this year is to play more shows for more people who came to hear my music. And none of us can reach our goals without help.

I may not be an über-connected CEO, but I can help you reach your goals. Just contact me and let me know how I can help. If you can help me play new shows for new crowds of people, contact me. Even if you live a long distance away from Boston, you might be able to see a live Matthew Ebel concert anyway. Fans in Atlanta made it happen, fans in Ohio are making it happen, you can make it happen.

What are you doing to reach your goals and realize your dreams? What can guys like me do to help?

Just a quick little update with some shiny things to look at. First of all, congratulations to Ian Boswell for winning my “I Blame The Spy” Video Contest. You’ve just picked up a free All-Access Pass for one year with this video:

And then there’s a little something I put together from Megaplex 2009. The venue had a camera on me the whole time, so I threw this up on YouTube to share with the world. Feel free to spread it around!

Last night I had the best movie theater experience I can remember. Sure, the movie itself was some of the finest American cinema ever made, but that would be equally as true if we’d have waited for the DVD or iTunes download. No, this isn’t a review of Pixar’s new movie “UP”, it’s a review of the modern theater experience.
Read More…

Given the manic way the past week has unfolded (and thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, folks), I totally forgot to mention that I’m playing the Lizard Lounge in Boston tonight! If you can make it out to see me, please do! Here are the details:

• Where:
  The Lizard Lounge
  1667 Massachusetts Ave
  Cambridge, MA 02138
• When:
  Tonight at 10pm
  Part of their Monday night open mic
• Cost:
  $5 Cover
  (Totally worth it.)

I hope to see you there!

At least that’s the theory behind [tag]Microsoft[/tag]‘s promise to [tag]webcast[/tag] [tag]live performances[/tag]. Given Microsoft’s track record, I’m sure they’ll find some way to botch the delivery or ensure that only geeks with Christlike patience can watch. However, it gives me hope for the future of live music that someone other than myself wants to bring the spotlight back to the live show.

This is a [tag]performance art[/tag], after all, not just a series of tracks found on [tag]torrent[/tag] sites. Behind all this music, there are humans who put on some killer public displays.

Just a reminder, I’m still hoping to showcase some live performances myself. Check this post to find out how you can help.

[tags]Yahoo! News[/tags]