Warner Music Group Announces Artist Lineup for Final Week of ear1 MusicFest '98; Eight-Day Cyber-Bash Includes Live Phish Webcast On Halloween

Business Wire, Oct 23, 1998

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Oct. 23, 1998--Warner Music Group, in association with Cornerpost.com, Friday announced the artist lineup for the final week of ear1 MusicFest '98, the month-long Internet concert festival showcasing exclusive Webcast performances by more than 30 Warner Music Group artists.

Topping the list of events is a special Halloween Webcast featuring Elektra recording artists Phish. The cybercast will feature a three-camera live feed that allows viewers to switch among different camera angles to create their own, unique viewing experience.

Completing the final week's roster are cybercast performances by Candlebox, John Michael Montgomery, Royal Crown Revue, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Travis Tritt, Guster, Neal McCoy, Dakota Moon, M.O.T., Kevin Sharp, Big Wreck, Great Big Sea and VAST. The address for ear1 MusicFest '98 is http://www.ear1.com.

Phish's Halloween cybercast is an appropriately special way in which to close ear1 MusicFest '98. Hailed by Rolling Stone as "...the most important band of the Nineties," Phish is renowned for its Halloween performances, in which the band dons a "musical costume." The costume in 1994, the year the tradition began, was the Beatles' "White Album," played in its entirety during the second set of a marathon three-set show.

Other Halloween costumes have included the Who's "Quadrophenia" and The Talking Heads' "Remain in Light." Fans won't want to miss this innovative and unpredictable Webcast performance.

The Phish set is just one of 14 Webcasts scheduled for the final week of ear1 MusicFest '98. The celebration kicks off Oct. 23 with a rousing set from country crooner Neal McCoy (Atlantic Records), cybercast live from the Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas. Contemporary rockers Guster (Sire) will be the featured performers Oct. 24, in a performance taped recently at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga.

The festivities proceed Oct. 24 with a double-header showcasing country singer Kevin Sharp (Elektra/Asylum) performing from the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix and a fiery set featuring the celtic-inspired rock of Great Big Sea (Sire), taped during a recent show at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Dakota Moon (Elektra) performs a soulful, acoustic set live from the Key Club in Los Angeles on Oct. 26, followed Oct. 27 by a double-bill featuring "hot country" pioneer Travis Tritt (Warner Bros.) performing live from the Factory in Franklin, Tenn. (This is a multi-camera feed on the 'net, with a radio and television simulcast on CMT's "All Access").

Rounding out the Oct. 27 bill is alt-rock band Candlebox (Maverick), taped during a recent show at DV8 in Salt Lake City.

ear1 MusicFest '98 continues Oct. 28 with the volcanic modern rock sounds of Big Wreck (Atlantic), taped at Head's Ole Bar in Mobile, Ala. Country sensation John Michael Montgomery (Atlantic) also performs Oct. 28 from Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minn.

An Oct. 29 double-bill showcases swing revivalists Royal Crown Revue (Warner Bros.) from Pease Auditorium in Ypsilanti, Mich. and ethno-rappers/hip-hop satirists M.O.T. (Sire/Warner Bros.) perform live from their debut album release party at Cantor's Kibbitz Room in Los Angeles.

The week wraps with three very special performances, including two Oct. 30 Webcasts featuring the contemporary jazz/bluegrass/fusion sounds of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (Warner Bros.) on Oct. 30, from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., followed by rock experimentalists VAST (Elektra) from Moose's Music Hall in Knoxville, Tenn.

The ear1 MusicFest '98 grand finale, on Halloween, is a multi-camera, live cybercast of the eclectic rock quartet, Phish (Elektra), from Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas. The three-camera feed will put 'net users in the director's chair, allowing them to switch among camera angles to create their own, customized viewing experience.

Presenting at least one exclusive cybercast each day, ear1 MusicFest '98 launched Oct. 2 with a ground-breaking Webcast featuring Hootie & the Blowfish. This landmark interactive event gave 'net surfers, for the first time ever, the ability to switch among six different camera angles. This technology was employed again during subsequent weeks of ear1 MusicFest '98 with Third Eye Blind, Morcheeba, The Tragically Hip and The Corrs.

To date, ear1 MusicFest '98 has featured performances by Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Luna, Better Than Ezra, Freedy Johnston, Superdrag, The Great Divide, Dial 7, Bryan White, Mudhoney, Gabriela Anders, Brad Mehldau, Nada Surf, Athenaeum and Soak.

Admission to ear1 MusicFest '98 is free on the Internet -- fans need only sign up for a "virtual pass" at the ear1 Web site. The pass allows viewers to choose from a variety of features including a festival roster with daily updates on future performances, 360-degree panoramic views of the venues and live cybercasts (using RealPlayer). Fans can access encore performances anytime.

ear1 MusicFest '98 provides easy-access links to official band and label sites, band photos, chat rooms and a scrapbook commemorating MusicFest '98 performances. Visitors can purchase CDs from artists participating in MusicFest '98.