Watch live performances from the stage and skateboard through Malibu all in VR.
For the 25th anniversary of Lollapalooza, Samsung went all out bringing their latest in immersive VR experiences to the Chicago music festival.
Introducing thousands of music fans to VR, many for the first time, Samsung built out an entire interactive VR experience center on the festival grounds. Dubbed VR-Palooza, you could experience livestream musical performances from the Samsung Stage while trying on a Gear VR headset. Other activations included jumping into 360-degree Gear VR experiences like surfing in Tahiti, skateboarding in Malibu, riding a roller coaster or flying high in a hot air balloon.
Being a Galaxy owner also came with some perks throughout the weekend. Flashing your Samsung phone gained you VIP access to The Galaxy Lounge for an unforgettable view of the Samsung Stage, including headlining performances by Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, J.Cole and many more.
Samsung also offered a limited quantity of Gear 360 cameras for sale at The Galaxy Lounge for $349.99, letting you go out and capture your own 360-degree video memories of Lollapalooza. The Gear 360 goes on sale August 19th in US.
For fans not in Chicago, Samsung 837 hosted an immersive experience in New York City featuring a special performance from Years & Years, a band also performing at the festival. The evening featured Chicago-inspired eats, exclusive VR content focusing on the 25-year history of Lollapalooza and streams of performances from the Samsung Stage at Lollapalooza in VR.
We have seen some of these interactive Gear VR experiences at past events, but this is the first-time we’ve seen Samsung give you access to musical performances live streamed in VR. Would love to find out if they used a modified Gear 360 or another type of camera rig setup.
When you see brands pushing their latest products on consumers at festivals it often seems forced. But what Samsung is doing, especially showing off a VR perspective of live performances on stage, can actually add to the festival experience in an authentic way that I for one will be on the lookout for the next time i’m at a music festival — granted I can find my way there after a lot of day drinking.
