How are fan projects changing the concert experience?

RTÉ News​

a day ago

Picture this... you arrive at the concert you have been waiting months for.
Your tickets are safely secured on your phone, you're dressed to the nines, and you're ready for a boogie.
Then, in the queue, someone approaches you with a coloured piece of paper and a set of instructions.
You are about to become part of a fan project.
Fan projects are fan-led initiatives to create a memorable moment at a show or to communicate a message to the artist onstage.
A common fan project is to light up your phone in a certain colour for a particular song, or for everyone to pull out a poster that bears the same sentence, usually some kind of pun or reference to a moment in the artist's set.
For project organisers, it is a way to show their favourite artist how much they love and appreciate them.
Ahead of Billie Eilish's concerts at the 3Arena in Dublin this weekend, one fan has been working for months on her fan project.
17-year-old Katie Gorman from Co Laois is aiming to get hundreds of people to light up the seating section in the colours of the Irish flag.
She hopes to turn the standing section blue, in reference to the cover of the headliner's album, 'Hit Me Hard and Soft.'
She has been working on the idea since May of last year.
She hopes that the American singer will react as "It would make the whole thing feel like it was worth it, and it's taken a lot of work and even money."
Katie has taken inspiration for her fan project from a similar effort for a different artist earlier this year.
15-year-old Ruby Campbell, from Co Dublin, planned the Gracie Abrams fan project for her concert in Dublin in March.
"The fan project consisted of green, white and orange lights going across the seats to represent the Irish flag and pink hearts in the pit to represent our love for Gracie and the EU tour dates which were pink during the song 'Normal Things'."
More than 90 people were involved in Ruby's fan project. She knew some of them in person, but the majority were recruited using social media.
To keep things efficient, there was a google doc form where people gave their section, how much paper they'd be able to cut, and what time they'd get there to help hand out paper on the day.
But the huge effort paid off.
Gracie Abrams noticed the project and even took home one of the pink hearts used to light up the standing section.
"For me, this was an out of body experience, I was shaking so hard, it felt like all my hard work had paid off," Ruby explained.
Ruby was inspired to do a fan project by Kamila Zietek, who has organised three successful fan projects for Olivia Rodrigo concerts.
For the US star's most recent concert in Marlay Park, Kamila spent months in her home in Galway organising for the crowd to hold up a sign saying, "We Care, We Care, We Care", an ode to the song 'Lacy' which lyrics' say "I care, I care, I care"
"I knew I wanted to do more than just show up. I wanted to show her how much I appreciate her, her music, and the impact she made on my life," Kamila said.
Rodrigo noticed the fan project during her performance of 'enough for you.'
"Tonight was so much fun, and you guys are so wonderful, and you made all these signs," she told the delighted crowd.
Katie, Ruby and Kamila have all become friends through working on these fan projects.
There are multiple group chats filled with people they've met through the project, and they keep each other up to date on their lives and make plans to hang out in person.
In Kamila's case, she didn't have anyone to go with to the Olivia Rodrigo concert in Marlay Park, so she sent a message into the group chat from the last fan project asking if anyone was going, and someone reached out and they went to the concert together.
So, if you are going to either one of the Billie Eilish concerts this weekend, keep an eye out for the fan project and get involved.