IN CONCERT: Our Lady Peace
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Monday, June 6, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $62.75-$218.50 through the Royal McPherson box office or by phone from 250-386-6121
Apple, Amazon, Beats Electronics, Napster, Sirius XM and other trailblazers had more critics than supporters when their signature products dropped, which is a case of history repeating itself. The first through the wall always gets bloodied, especially when it comes to change in the music industry.
Singer Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace is joining the aforementioned changemakers by merging marketing, music and digital content creation for his band’s upcoming tour, The Wonderful Future Theatrical Experience.
“I can literally walk off an airplane and on to any stage and sing,” Maida, 52, said. “But this is not that kind of tour. The co-ordination and the tech involved is like nothing we’ve ever done — nothing anyone has ever done.”
The tour is a groundbreaking collaboration between Maida, bassist Duncan Coutts, guitarist Steve Mazur, drummer Jason Pierce and Toronto’s ARHT Media, a pioneer in the areas of holographic and digital content. The company has created technology that allows Our Lady Peace to incorporate both live and pre-recorded hologram displays into its live performances. For the purpose of The Wonderful Future Theatrical Experience, former Our Lady Peace guitarist Mike Turner, singer-songwriter Sarah Slean, futurist Ray Kurzweil and Pussy Riot singer-activist Nadya Tolokonnikova will all appear and perform in digital form.
Two hologram characters, Molly and Cassandra, which Kurzweil had a hand in creating, will also participate. They will greet fans in the Royal Theatre lobby Monday, during the launch to the tour, and will have the ability to speak in real time with guests, Maida said. “People are going to freak the f—- out. Once other artists get to see what this does, it is going to change what is possible. It’s going to make things a little more dynamic and, hopefully, mix up what a live show can be.”
The band’s stage crew lands Friday in Victoria, with the band due to arrive Saturday. Rehearsals — which Maida expects to be fraught with growing pains — will take place through weekend. The tour continues Tuesday in Nanaimo at the Port Theatre. “This is craziness,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know what we’re doing, to be honest. Our crew is freaking out. I’m surprised no one has quit yet.”
Kurzweil played a key role in two Our Lady Peace recordings: 2000’s Spiritual Machines, which was based on Kurzweil’s book, The Age of Spiritual Machines; and 2021’s Spiritual Machines II. The latter was released in October, ahead of its traditional release, as a non-fungible token (NFT), providing added intrigue. The digital-only release included everything from rare versions of songs to video messages by the band, elements of which Our Lady Peace will expand upon for ticketholders on The Wonderful Future Theatrical Experience.
Maida has been making a very successful living through music since 1992, which gives him the ability to speak authoritatively on the business side of the music business. It helps that he’s also a tech executive with Toronto’s Drrops Inc., a digital asset event platform, and Seattle’s S!NG Market, which allows creators to sell their work using blockchain technology.
“I’ve stood on stage every night for the last 20-plus years, and I look out at these thousands of people, and I can’t connect directly to them,” Maida said. “I can say stuff on stage, but after that, I have to go through Facebook and Instagram and TikTok.”
That’s a business model Maida has grown increasingly uncomfortable with. He said the Drrops mobile app was built to “finally give artists the power and ownership over their audiences and their communities.” Through geo-locating, the app gives fans immediate access to the group and the art it creates, including while it is on tour. “When you enter the theatre in Victoria, you will get things no one else gets,” he said.
That includes the night’s setlist and digital-only program, sent directly to app users free of charge, and access to merchandise available exclusively through the app. The band is also holding a mid-concert raffle, with money raised from each $10 entry going to Ukraine humanitarian efforts, which gives the nightly winner a backstage experience worth several hundreds of dollars, Maida said.
By using blockchain technology, Our Lady Peace is sidestepping the traditional record label model, where artists receive only a small portion of profits. It gives artists who uses it the ability to own their intellectual property and get paid quickly and fluidly. That’s an integral development in a world where hard-copy record sales have plummeted and streaming services are unreliable income generators.
“This is the only thing that allows them to own their audience and connect direct with those fans,” he said.
Maida isn’t merely self-promoting — he’s becoming a major voice in tech. He’s among the guest speakers Toronto’s Collision conference in June, joining a list of delegates that include Substack co-founder Chris Best, Blockchain co-founder Nicolas Cary, Wired editor Steven Lev and Toronto Mayor John Tory.
The Wonderful Future Theatrical Experience winds down in Toronto on June 24, the day after the Collision conference wraps. Maida is excited to where Our Lady Peace will be on its new journey by that point. “At the end of this three-week run across Canada, I believe we’re going to have a real community.”
