Devin Townsend announces plans for "revolutionary" virtual concert

Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend (Image credit: InsideOut Music)

Devin Townsend has announced details of a new virtual event titled Empath Volume 2: By Request.

It’ll take place on September 5 at 9pm BST and include the set he was due to perform at this year’s Bloodstock Open Air, with tickets for the “revolutionary” 85-minute show now on sale through StageIt.

Townsend, who has been hosting a series of live events throughout lockdown, explains: “I was thrilled to announce my headlining of Bloodstock this year, and with an eye on doing my first 'by request' set that included my entire career. I know there were a lot of people that were really excited as well.

“But then, as we all know, circumstances prevented that from happening, and that was disappointing as the show was meant to be a pivotal moment in my creative career. But every roadblock is an opportunity for something different, so we have come up with a plan to bring you the show in a way I believe will be kind of revolutionary and damned exciting. 

“We've been working tirelessly to bring you a ‘virtual’ concert of the ‘by request’ set, with musicians playing together, yet all in different parts of the world.

"However, I wanted to do something different, not the ‘Brady Bunch' type split screen visuals filmed on smartphones. They're cool, but also not really exciting in my opinion.

“Instead, we have opted to make a full production, filming ourselves separately, playing our instruments live, on green screens, with eight cameras each and then combine these elements on a crazy virtual stage. It’s ambitious, but I think the closest to a monster concert as can be achieved this summer.

“Considering everyone is scattered throughout the land yet not wanting to ‘let the dream die’ we have stumbled upon something rather amazing I think.”

Townsend confirms he’ll be joined by drummer Samus Paulicelli, guitarist Wes Hauch and bassist Liam Wilson, and adds: “They have been going crazy learning the material, and we are putting it all together on September 5, for the most ambitious live stream I think I’ve heard of thus far. 

“I will be live answering questions and talking to you throughout, to make it a totally interactive experience that acts not only as a cool way to spend a Saturday, but also as a potentially new way to do concerts entirely. 

“The players I've hired have worked their butts off learning the material, and it’s going to be one of the coolest things I’ve done in recent memory.”

Townsend concludes: “So please consider coming to this. StageIt has allowed the show to be the full 85 minutes, so it will be the full Bloodstock set. I can’t actually believe we’re managing to pull off something like this, and there’s a lot involved with it, but it’s worth it to me. 

“It’s not just any ‘quarantine concert’ this one is a quantum leap of sound and visuals. I can’t wait for you to see this, hopefully you’ll consider it.”

Last month, Townsend shared an hour of new ambient music titled Guitar Improvisation #1 and released Empath: The Ultimate Edition through InsideOutMusic.

The revamped version of his 2019 album is spread across 2CDs and 2 Blu-ray and, along with the original album, features a wealth of bonus material, including demos and live cuts.

Devin Townsend: Empath - The Ultimate Edition

<a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=38569&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2FEmpath-Ultimate-Devin-Townsend%2Fdp%2FB086B9P7HW%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-21" data-link-merchant="Amazon UK"" target="_blank">Devin Townsend: Empath - The Ultimate Edition
Devin Townsend has revamped his 2019 album Empath, spreading this Ultimate Edition across 2CD and 2 Blu-ray. The package includes demos, live cuts, surround sound mixes and more.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.