How Revelland’s artists are working non-stop with the experts to develop their new immersive shows.
In March and April 2023, the six Revelland bands met a set of international sensory experts and spent a weekend together exploring how to transform gigs into inclusive and accessible experiences.
After this the bands set about a series of one-to-one sessions with Stephanie Singer (Creative Director, BitterSuite & Composer), and Nick Llwellyn (Access All Areas).
Bratři – the live electronic duo from Czech Republic. Their theme is ‘ESCAPE THE NOISY WORLD TO NATURE’, inspired by the natural world and its capacity to unlock happiness, and natural joy – the same too is true of raving, electronic music and partying together. The Bratři boys are uniting elements of AV projection, light and sound with a new feature guest (all to be revealed in good time). Together they will unlock a mass sensory experience designed to take deaf and hard of hearing audiences on the journey from the brutalist architectural world. Bratři strive to build a strong connection with their viewers and involve them in musical and visual world.
Bratři aim to make their concert more accessible to people with visual impairments through live broadcasting of their stage movements.
Meanwhile in Italy, One Eat One played a series of shows in spring. Inspired by the politics and historical context of disabled people being singled and put on show as ‘FREAKS’, One Eat One will unlock this concept and create an inspired, unleashed retelling. Their concept, the FREAKOTEQUE, will celebrate the freakiness of each of us. Featuring ethereal bubbles and a writer who will create a work of art and then destroy it and donate it to the audience, poised to fuse seamlessly into a mesmerizing performance. The freakotque particularly invites audiences with and without learning disabilities and those with and without autism to come party!
The Hungarian band The Anahit’s show tells the story of the dark and the bright side of being alive: it is a call to action for all audiences to embrace all sides of the self. This show is an intimate encounter with Rita’s imagination and a sensory, full bodied immersion for audiences. Rita wants to create a show that gets us to feel FREE to be in the present. She wants to use all the senses to offer an immersive, sensory experience that releases audiences from being trapped from their computers and brings audiences into the moment with the band. The team has been collaborating and researching the senses of smell, taste, touch, and visuals. And with collaboration from Hungarian specialists the band has infused the performance with scents and tantalizing flavors. A meticulously curated setlist harmonizes with these sensory dimensions.
Collaboration with associations of hearing-impaired individuals added an extra layer of depth to their endeavor. This show grounds audiences in the now. Rita’s hope is that the audience can be even more present.
In their ongoing research phase, Dutch electronic duo CUT_ has been exploring innovative ways to enhance their concert experience. Inspired by tornados and Rites of Passages, CUT_’s show is set to be a hypnotic and ritualistic experience. The duo focus on opening the show to audiences who are deaf and hard of hearing, as well as those living with learning disabilities.
As the band accepts the call to adventure from Revelland they have moved away from their comfort zone of light-based visuals, a territory they’ve expertly navigated for the past nine years.
And they are now delving into non-light-based show objects, looking to set design, immersive mass tactile experiences, and close-encounters with audiences using dynamic staging ideas.
Their calendar reveals an exciting plan to link a trial gig with an album release.
Moving on to Spain, K!NGDOM is fervently working on a multisensory concert experience that transcends the boundaries of traditional performances with additional mentorship from Asher Young.
They are creating a freeing and emotional journey through music in which the audience will feel more than ever before. Music moves, unites and liberates. Music is their religion.The “K!ngdom´s Ceremony” the audience will undergo an immersion into a sacred musical ritual in a communion of emotions and experiences.
The ambition is to create a gripping narrative-driven theatrical show, far beyond the realm of mere music and visual aesthetics. They will theme the set with matters of the heart. A tender, loving and full hearted call to action, to get audiences to settle into their hearts, their emotions and celebrate them all in this playful, poppy mass experience.
Video projection will play a pivotal role, intricately woven with live stage elements to immerse the audience in a captivating storytelling journey.
The vibrant, insatiable energy of the electronic duo Lyra Valenza seeps into the creation of a playful, exquisite brand new set for Revelland. Lyra Valenza will bring a set to life that encapsulates the sheer pleasure, surreality and general pain of growing up, and becoming… AN ADULT. Part rager against the reality of adulthood, part celebration and mourning of the playfulness of childhood – the band will bring a new music experience to audiences with visuals, set design and immersive in-crowd experiences inviting them to play, lose their inhibitions, let go of their sense of cringe and PARTY.
If you are curious to know how they will continue working on their inclusive and accessible performances, keep following us!