Happy Mother’s Day!  One of my favorite songs about a son expressing his love and appreciation for his mom is Tupac’s “Dear Mama.”

I can’t say that I relate completely with all the lyrics, but the universal emotional sentiment that Tupac expresses is spot on. And that’s what makes the song transcendent and eternally awesome. And the emotion and realness with which Tupac performed this song is a big reason why his music still moves us and his hologram rocked our world.

And like Tupac, Kayne West continues the same tradition with “Hey Mama,” another classic tribute and a personal favorite. And I love this live version.

So go hug your mom and tell her that you love her today (and everyday too). And as Tupac points out, we remember those moms that have passed on.

Enjoy the videos and stay tuned as we continue our annual Mother’s Day tribute with an upcoming episode of Live Fix Radio to celebrate and remember how live music changed the lives of moms everywhere.

We’d love to hear about your favorite mom-centric live music stories. Post them below and we’ll include them in our Mother’s Day episode.

There’s some good data points in here. But what this infographic really reminds of is our chat with Alex from StagePage about mobile apps and how we need to foster more context and meaning around all the media that concert fans create during shows. I’d like to see an infographic that illustrates that conversation.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll share your story on a future episode of Live Fix Radio.

Continuing our exploration of sites, apps, tools, other cool stuf for concert fans, we’ve been experimenting with the new social media bookmarking site Pinterest. It’s a great site and we’ve posted several boards for you to enjoy.

Here’s our Pinterest Live Fix collection of boards. So far we’ve created boards for concert infographics, ticket stubs, cool stuff for concert fans, live show shots and more.

But, as always,  we’d like to know what pins and boards you would create. Post your ideas in the comments below and we’ll share them on a future episode of Live Fix Radio.

During this episode of Live Fix Radio, join us as we explore the creative adventures of fellow concert fan and photographer Ben Slayter.  Listen in to our chat with Ben as he shares the inspiration for the collaborative multi-media project Docufest, memories of Rothbury and Burning Man, and more insights about our ongoing “what makes fans want to rock out at concerts” conversation.

Subscribe via iTunes.

Show Notes:

Segment one: News and other cool stuff you should know about

• Say Hello to the Crazy Falling Fan at Creamfields Festival

• Win Live Albums and More RSD 2012 Swag

• Downtown Sound Chicago Summer Music

• Xylobands bracelets at Coldplay shows

• Getting Ready for Grouplove at Metro

• Beatles Lost Concert Movie

• Ravina announces summer concerts, breaks ticket records

• Indiana Inspection Rules Take effect in wake of Sugarland tragedy

Segment two (24:13): Interview with Ben Slayter.

How Do You Experiment with Concert Memories?

What are your most memorable live concert experiences? How do you use video, photos and social media to capture and share your greatest live show moments?

Share your concert experiences and thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, on Twitter @livefixmedia, on Facebook , Google Plus, or call the concert fan hotline at 773-609-4341, and we’ll include them in a future episode of Live Fix Radio.

Yes, as we’ve discovered, there is a Zen likeless between the live concert experience and flipping through the vinyl at your favorite record shop.

And after this year’s Record Store Day I certainly achieved my vinyl nirvana with other live music fans at Reckless Records.

Here’s a snapshot of the bounty I scored on RSD 2012 (Clockwise):

Iggy and the Stooges – Raw Power

Tegan and Sara – Get Along (Live)

The Civil Wars – Live at Amoeba

Buddy Guy – This Is Buddy Guy (Live)

Shabazz Palaces – Live at KEXP

I’ve been working my way through each album and digging every second. But I’m holding off on opening a few of these albums for a special reason because, you know, we love contests.

Live Fix Blog Comment Giveaway

Yep, we want to share the RSD fun with you so we’re celebrating with a couple Live Fix Fan giveaways.

The first one will be happening right here on Live Fix in the comments below.

Prize #1: Record Store Day prize package

During my visit to Rediscover Records, Rich was kind enough to offer up a RSD compliation CD, Tedeschi Trucks Band “Revelator” Live EP, and a Sub Pop Mixed Nuts sampler that includes tracks from Beach House and others.

Prize #2: The Civil Wars – Live at Amoeba

We’re excited to give these two prizes away as they’re both an excellent collection of live and studio tracks.

And all you have to do is drop a comment below that includes either your favorite local record shop, RSD experience, or your most memorable concert.

We’ll pick two lucky winners at random, contact you via email and send you the winnings via mail.

The comment contest starts today Monday May 7th and ends on Friday May 11th Wednesday May 16th at 11:59pm. You must provide your email in your comment and you can only enter once. Any duplicates will be thrown out. We’ll announce the winners on Sunday May 13th.

Live Fix Facebook Giveaway: Win Raw Power, Get Along

Then later this week on our Live Fix Facebook page, we’ll be giving away the Iggy and The Stooges “Raw Power” and the Tegan & Sara “Get Along” albums.

In order to win these fine albums, you’ll need to become a fan of our page, by “Liking” us, and then when you see the Raw Power, Tegan & Sara update post later this week, you’ll need to click “Like” or comment on that specific post and we’ll pick two lucky random winners from that post.

Good luck and we look forward to hearing about your favorite RSD and concert adventures and featuring them on a future episode of Live Fix Radio.

As you know, live music makes concert fans do some crazy stuff. So say hello to the Crazy Falling Fan from the Creamfields Festival in Sydney, Australia.

According to reports, after the fan survived the fall he saluted the crowd with a triumphant thumps up. And, of course, the DJ who was playing tweeted the outrageous moment and kept right on rocking the crowd.

And then the fan was treated at a local hospital. Then shortly after he tried to get back into the Creamfields Music Festival but was apparently denied access.

Again. Wow. Just wow.

Like last years 2011 Best Concert Fan Moments, this dude will certainly be on our list for 2012 in December. And maybe he should go on tour with the Dancing Guy?

What’s the Craziest Fan You’ve Seen?

Were you there at Creamfields? Have you witnessed other crazy fan moments during your favorite shows?

Share your concert experiences and thoughts in the comments below and we’ll include them in a future episode of Live Fix Radio.

It’s taken a while but we’re excited to share the news that our Bears vs Packers: Who Will Win A Free Show At Metro will continue next weekend as my cousin Matt and I head out to see Grouplove in Chicago.

To recap, I bet Matt a free show at Metro that the Bears would win and head to the Super Bowl 2011. Well, as you know the Bears lost and the Packers went on to win the Big Game.

And after a long and very careful decision process Matt has chosen to see Grouplove for his very first show at Metro. So will this adventure be like our other first time at Metro adventure?

Who knows? But either way we’ll certainly share all the details on a future episode of Live Fix Radio.

Until then, check out the video of Grouplove’s single “Colours,” and this live set from their recent visit on Letterman, both of which have got me thinking about what their live show will be like as a sold out crowd gathers to celebrate Matt’s first Metro gig.

I got another cool tool to share with you that I discovered while I was at the Community Manager Unconference.

During my adventures I had the pleasure of meeting Nick Kellet co-founder of Listly. I told him about our community of live music fans here on Live Fix and after hearing about the story behind Listly I was excited to merge this tool with our other live music experiments.

I’ve been enjoying Listly these last couple months and I think it’s a great tool for live music fans for a few reasons.

Feeds Our Current Addictions

First, Listly enhances several of the things we love do to as music and concert fans: make lists, rank, share, catalog and categorize.

Empowers Us

Listly empowers us to socialize, evolve and experiment with list-making as it specifically relates to all the niche topics of the live concert experience.

And Listly makes it pretty easy to add to current lists and create your own. There’s even a gamification element that rewards top users with a point system.

More Meaningful, Contextual Concert Fan Storytelling

But what really gets me jazzed about using Listly is that, if used creatively and effectively, it can empower us to add more context and meaning to the story of how live music changes our lives forever.

Overall, it can be a great tool to rank, document and share our favorite venues, mobile apps, emotions, live albums and concert documentaries, and other supporting elements of concert fan storytelling.

Our First List: Top Chicago Venues

So to kick-start our experiment with Listly I’ve created a list (below) of all our favorite Chicago live music venues that I invite you to interact with right away.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting more lists that include our favorite live music blogs, albums, concert fan communities and our world-wide music venue bucket list and more.

Go ahead and check out our list below and let me know what you think of Listly and how we can use it to explore and share our live concert experiences. When you make your own, go head and post a link to your list in the comments below.

And stay tuned for more as we invite Nick to talk more about Listly and live music on a future episode of Live Fix Radio.

Top Chicago Concert Venues

Signin to Listly

Our favorite concert venues in Chicago

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Tomorrow we’re excited to have the chance to continue several Live Fix explorations as we tune into “The Switch,” which according to the press info, is a YouTube musical live streaming experience where you can choose between two musical acts based on your mood at the time – energizing or relaxing.

The Switch kicked off in March with a live webcast of two secret shows featuring on-the-rise artists Theophilus London and Givers in Brooklyn, NYC  and April 23 8pm EST is show #2 featuring Childish Gambino and Other Lives who will be performing two secret shows from somewhere on the West Coast.

The Switch was created by YouTube and La Blogotheque, a French music production team known for taping bands playing in unusual settings. Over the past six years, La Blogotheque has filmed more than 300 acts, including Arcade Fire, Beirut, Phoenix, Cee-Lo, R.E.M., Andrew Bird, Bon Iver and Battles.

The Switch sounds pretty cool as it aims to give fans two options to match your mood while tuning in. And we’re looking forward to seeing how it turns out because, as noted below,  this virtual and emotional concert experiment touches on several previous Live Fix explorations.

Let us know what you think and stay tuned for more and we talk with the folks behind The Switch on future episode of Live Fix Radio.

• Theophilus London and touring fatigue

• Virtual concert experiences

• Why Do We Love Secret Shows?

• Big Live: Changing the Way Concert Fans Connect

• La Blogotheque redefines the concert experience

• Chew On This: Coachella and 5 Gum

• Fans, Brands and Live Music

We’ve been exploring how brands are using the live music experience to connect with fans.

And when I saw the footage of Snoop Dogg performing in the super-sized Doritos vending machine at SXSW I have to say that I wasn’t that impressed because it seems like it was just another lame attempt to only market to fans with a slick  gimmick and not really add any value or innovation to the live music experience.

But since then I have to say things have changed as I’ve experienced more of the interactive content that Taco Bell and Doritos are unveiling with their recent combined Locos Tacos campaign.

QR Code That Rocks

As you can see by the photo above, the part about the Locos Tacos campaign that I have enjoyed the most is their excellent use of QR code.  I’m  geek when it comes to QR codes and this use is by far one of the most creative and well executed that I’ve seen so far.

Taco Bell and Doritos have clearly taken the time to understand their audience right down to connecting the sense of taste sound and sight in a pretty solid interactive experience.

For example, when you scan the QR code you’re taken to a url (http://SCN.BY/9T9AB0HTW8I7L7) which then takes you to a Hype Machine sponsored site on your smart phone with intro copy that says:

“You’ve got the new Doritos Locos Tacos in one hand and you just unlocked awesome music with the other. Life pretty much rocks. Discover exclusive Performances from Feed the Beat artists…”

Yes, I love how they made the double-fisted connection of having a Doritos Taco in one hand and in the other hand you’ve got the crafty copy and the live concert videos of Dale Earnhart Jr, Little Hurricane, Miniture Tigers and other bands.

What Could Be Better

However, I do think this mobile experience could be improved. It could be more interactive and create a better sense of community among concert fans and ultimately put fans right at the center of an emotionally engaging, highly sharable, and extremely viral social media experience.

For example, Taco Bell and Doritos could enable fans to tweet the similarities between their concert experiences and their Locos taste experience, and use those fan interactions to create a hashtag, Facebook page or even a unique forum community with other Locos Tacos/live music fans who are going through the same shared experience.

What Have They Done This Year?

And I see this as a possible future phase of what Taco Bell and Doritos has been doing with Augmented Reality and their $5 Big Box this year.

So far in 2012, I’ve seen how they’ve experimented with other creative applications of Augmented Reality and their $5 Big Box.

First they turned the Big Box into an interactive Street Fighter video game, which I was addicted to playing while I stuffed my face with tacos.

And then right around the time of SXSW came the next phase which involved buying a Locos Tacos Big Box that you could scan the box with your smartphone and see an AR floating cloud of interactive tweets from other customers who’ve enjoy the tacos too. And then while you’re munching and crunching you can join the cloud and tweet your own taste raves too.

What They Should Do Next

Again, this all very fun and creative. But what they should do is capture the live concert experiences of fans who are at these sponsored Taco Bell/Doritos shows and turn those tweets into a interactive game of shared concert stories.

That way fans are not only sharing the awesome taste of the Locos Tacos but they’re also sharing what their feeling during the show. Combined together these two highly emotional experiences would be extremely powerful.

And, like we’ve said before, this type of combined emotional interactive experience is a win for fans and a win for the brands.  Who knows, maybe this or some form of this idea is already in the works.

How ’bout You?

Have you used tasted and experienced the combined pleasure of the Locos Tacos and live music? What do you think of their use of AR and creative branding? What are your favorite examples of great uses of QR codes for live music fans?

Share your concert stories and thoughts in the comments below, on Twitter @livefixmedia, on Facebook , Google Plus, or call the concert fan hotline at 773-609-4341, and we’ll include them in a future episode of Live Fix Radio.