FOZZY CAPTURING JUDAS LIVE STREAM
Fozzy is a band that was born for live performances. The bands energy and enthusiasm is palpable during each song when they perform live. I got the chance to cover Fozzy and experience this energy personally a few years ago during their tour stop in Greensboro NC at the Cone Denim Entertainment Center. The show was incredible, and the band sounded phenomenal. They engaged with all the fans and even pulled some fans up on stage so they could all rock out together. It was a memorable experience.
Now, as you know 2020 has changed the landscape of the entire world as well as the music world. Every concert was cancelled and is being rescheduled for the 2021 concert season including Fozzy’s “Save the World” tour. Fozzy announced the rescheduling of the tour earlier this year.
“In light of the pandemic that is gripping the world’s attention, it’s time to make the right move and postpone the April/May leg of “Save the World” Tour for everyone’s safety and wellbeing. However, we promise you, once the World is back on its axis and TRULY saved, Fozzy will be back to hold you in our loving arms and literally ROCK all your troubles away!! See everybody soon and in the meantime and between time, please stay healthy and safe. We will get through this together.”
Due to the pandemic bands and artists had to look at different ways to engage with their fans and bring them some joy during this difficult time in our history. Each band or artists have done livestream performances but Fozzy decided to do something a little different. Instead of just live streaming their show from an abandoned warehouse or concert venue they took us on a “behind the scenes” in house backstage studio like experience. The band decided to do a livestream from their recording studio called Madison Studios in Atlanta GA. and give us a more personal experience. You felt like you were just hanging out with the guys while they were practicing for an upcoming gig. The band talked about touring, the new upcoming record, their favorite songs from each record and how some of the songs were created. You really felt like you were there with the band having this intimate personal hang out session.
The livestream started off with a video detailing their 3 show in 3 different time zones mini tour called "Fozzy Across America" to help celebrate the release of their album “Judas” in 2017. The first show started at 9am in Fort Myers, Fla. They then went to El Paso Texas for a 3pm show and then to their final destination in Las Vegas' for an 11pm show. It was a great way to start off the livestream. Once that video ended you arrived at your destination, the Madison Recording Studio in Atlanta GA. Right after the intro video stopped the band came on and went straight into their 2012 single “Sin and Bones” which is off their record with the same title. Then they went into “Drinking with Jesus” the second track from their 2017 “Judas” album. You can see the full set list below.
This was when they were showing the video of their historic one day three states tour in 2017
The band played strong and sounded great. It was fun listening to them talk about certain tours and songs they loved and some songs they did not originally like but grew to love. They also talked about how the Iron Maiden gig happened and how excited they were to be opening for them.
When talking about the Iron Maiden gig guitarist Rich Ward said (this is paraphrased)
“That’s the only gig that I had an actual countdown for. There have been lots of big and amazing gigs but for the Iron Maiden gig I was like, only two months away and kept counting down until the show.”
Each band member talked about personal experiences with shows, favorite bands, touring stories and much more. For a livestream, it was a really great thing to watch especially during this crazy time we live in. The band sounded great and played some of their biggest hits while also giving some background into the songs themselves. I never thought I would find myself covering a livestream event since I have been covering live shows for almost 15 + years, but this live stream was a really good one. Nothing will ever beat a live performance, the energy and excitement of being in the crowd and watching one of your favorite bands perform is priceless, but, Fozzy was able to pull off a great viewing experience for their fans to help give us a little bit of joy and happiness in this crazy and uncertain time. I look forward to covering Fozzy during their tour next year, but for now the livestream will have to do and it was well done, clean and smooth with no interruptions in audio or video. Fozzy’s livestream gave music fans a much needed getaway from all of the stresses going on in our lives and let their music and personalities help lift us up and bring back some of that joy into our hearts.
~ Lead Photographer and Editor Chris Sturk