That brave new world collectively referred to as the Internet has grown to include a lot more than email, newsgroup forums, "hot chats," downloadable files and World Wide Web sites from which to read, shop or research.
One example of the new (at least to us cats with poor online service providers) interactiveness of the Net came to the Prowler's attention last week. The punk rock band Drexel, featuring Los Gatos mountain resident Marc Flynn, was one of six finalists to jam in a concert/contest held Feb. 27 in two live venues: Mama Kin's in Boston and online at the Disc Makers Web site.
Disc Makers, this cat discovered, holds an annual shindig called the New England Independent Music World Series, in which startup bands of various musical persuasions compete for a grand prize package including a professional recording session, digital recording and mixing equipment, hundreds of ready-to-record CDs and cassettes, free radio and magazine ads, musical instruments, an amplifier and other goodies.
Marc is now studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, which explains how he got into this hot competition in the New England recording industry. According to his dad, Ralph, family and friends gathered around the Flynn computer at 5 p.m. that eve, logged on to the Web and looked and listened as Drexel performed along with five other contenders.
Although Drexel didn't win, they and the others still received a cool prize package including recording equipment, gift certificates and even a fully produced music video.
Maybe the coolest thing of all was that even though the event wasn't on local TV, those interested in checking it out could do so with the click of a mouse and the dial of a modem, thanks to an integrated computer/video camera set up at the concert that transferred everything to the Web site.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, March 5, 1997.
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