Bon Jovi Rocks Google Glass at Concert

What's This?

By Brian Anthony Hernandez2013-07-30 18:33:52 UTC

Flanked by his wife and children backstage before one of his recent concerts, Jon Bon Jovi tested Google Glass for the first time.

The charcoal-colored Glass made its way onstage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where keyboardist David Bryan also donned the technology during "Wanted Dead or Alive."

Bryan's blonde hair swung in front of the Glass camera as his fingers met the piano keys.

"It was a great experience to perform, wearing Google Glass, in front of a sold out crowd of 55,000," Bryan said in an email statement to Mashable.

Watch Bryan pick up the Glass and start using it at the 1:48 mark in the video above.

"Glass and wearable-technology is an example of another step in consumer-facing innovation that will change how we share the music experience with our fans in the future," Bryan said. "This is relatively uncharted territory for the quick-moving developer community and I am excited to see what is created."

The band borrowed the Glass from Chris Barrett, who has been in the news lately for capturing two videos with the device: One showing an arrest and another displaying footage inside a casino.

Barrett's "Explorer Edition" of Glass is available primarily to developers and journalists for $1,500 a pop. The Bon Jovi fan described watching Jon Bon Jovi and Bryan use his Glass during their show as "surreal and amazing."

"This is the start of something huge and could be groundbreaking for the music industry," added Barrett, a documentary filmmaker and founder of PRserve.

Barrett envisions more bands incorporating Glass into their shows, but only under three specific circumstances. The band must be able to feed into a professional audio feed, he said, and Glass would need to be more stylish — possibly through a collaboration with Warby Parker. Finally, a revenue model would be necessary for bands to benefit from capturing footage or streaming their shows.

But how did Barrett get backstage on July 27 in the first place? Naveen Jain, CEO of digital agency Sparkart, connected Barrett with the band. Sparkart works on BonJovi.com and its online store.

Barrett plans to keep experimenting. "We should keep pushing the limits of Google Glass and see what kind of amazing things we can do with this," he said.

Do you see a place for Google Glass at concerts? Share your thoughts in the comments below.