Hey, guess what? Spring has sprung. You know it, we know it, the world is a better place for it. That means that it’s time to ready yourself for action. No more wallowing at home complaining about the cold, it’s time to get out there and do what you were put on this planet to do: see some live music.
This means some preparation is in order. What’s your approach going to be? How are you going to get the most out of the live music utopia that is the Australian summer? As usual, technology is your friend here.
There are a plethora of apps out there to aid the average gig-lover. Here are six that we reckon everyone needs going into this summer.
When it comes to making the most of going to see live music, technology is your friend. Here are 6 apps every gig-lover needs going into this summer.
Six8
What if going to gigs didn’t actually mean going to gigs? What if the gigs could come to you? Six8 is an app aimed at connecting musicians directly with music lovers, allowing you to curate a live event in the comfort of your backyard, living room or garage. Their modus operandi revolves around make local music more directly accessible to the people who love and support it.
The platform allows musicians of all ilks to create a profile that showcases who they are and what they do. Over the past few months, the app has been completely revamped, with profiles now able to embed YouTube and Spotify players, along with links to their social media sites and a formattable description section.
There’s a huge range of artists on the service, from indie rockers like Rackett and The Khanz to singer-songwriters like Sam Newtown and even heavy acts like Figures. So if you’re having a BBQ, a birthday, or just an impromptu house party, get on Six8 and make it an experience.
Find out more about Six8 here.
GiggedIn
GiggedIn is a subscription-based service that’s all about getting people off their arses into venues – kind of like the Netflix of live music. Once you sign up (from $15 a month), they send you a curated list of events to choose from each week – international and local acts across all genres of music, festivals, comedy etc. As long as it hasn’t sold out, you pick what you want to go to and they put you on the guest list – no extra costs. Pretty genius.
Tinder
Nobody likes going to gigs alone (or maybe you do, that’s cool too). Get yourself on Tinder, find someone that’s got the same taste in music as you. Be respectful. Have a good time.
Shazam
How frustrating is it when, in the blurry haze of the morning after going to a show, you’ve got a track rattling around your head, but you can’t for the life of you remember what it was. Get yourself Shazam.
Don’t know what Shazam is? (I swear it was the first app that truly blew my mind). It’s a super simple app that uses your phone’s mic to listen to a song. After a few seconds, it collects the necessary data, tells you what the song is, who it’s by, and where you can listen to it. You can even connect Shazam with Spotify and Apple Music to create playlists of songs you discover.
Pro tip: If you’re going to see a DJ or going to a club, turn on Auto-Shazam – it will do its thing while you do your thing. The next day you’ll have a huge list of new tunes to listen to.
Splice
Splice is an easy to use video editing and movie maker app for iOS. It works with media captured with your GoPro and phone and allows you to trim clips, adjust transitions, add slow motion effects, create custom audio tracks, sync video to music, add filters – pretty much everything you need to create the summer festival montage of your dreams.
Snapseed
Yeah, we know that iOS, Android and Instagram all come with inbuilt photo editing tools. But if you’re a social media freak and a perfectionist when it comes to sharing photos, you should get yourself a decent editing app.
There are a ridiculous amount of choices out there. We recommend Snapseed. Firstly, because it’s got a huge range of image enhancement and correction options (pretty much everything you need), but also because it’s free and you don’t have to pay to access more features.
*Special mention to the Find My iPhone app. That thing is handy.
