The Music Experiment, a joint project from MTV and Intel, hosted a free concert in Santa Monica last night, starring UK’s Flux Pavillion. The process was simple: tweet a lot, have a secret location revealed, and then meet up for the free show. Tickets were handed out for free at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles for the small price of the patience it took to wait in line. Of course, those free tickets instantly went on Craigslist for astronomical prices, or for free with the promise of bartering drugs.
All of this sounded fantastic, until the night of the show. Hundreds of people lined up outside of Hangar 8, the venue/real hanger set up to store way less people than were actually in attendance. People were being turned away at the door, unrest became palpable, the noise levels grew, and the police were called in. The Santa Monica Police Department were tasked with shutting the line down, allowing those that had already gained entrance the ability to finish the show. Another way to look at it is that those in attendance were forced to stay in attendance, as nobody was permitted to leave once the “riot” started outside.
As for the show, the substandard set-up was heightened by some impressive sound, mostly focusing on the bass, the avenue that Flux Pavillion makes his living off of. He played his hits, a bunch of kids danced, and he told the crowd to “F*** the police,” which is always a genius thing to say amidst a riot with little facts or wherewithal.
Check out the photos for a snapshot of the night and stay tuned to see if MTV or Intel ever try something like this again in the Los Angeles area.
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