Outloud: Raising Voices Creator Jeff Consoletti Discusses The Up Coming 3-Day Pride Month Kick Off Concert Featuring Adam Lambert And Others
Pride Month kicks off in a couple weeks with the Outloud: Raising Voices concert series leading the celebrations. This 3-day concert lineup features all-stars such as Adam Lambert, Sofi Tukker, Hayley Kiyoko, and many others representing the LGBQT+ community. We spoke to Outloud Co-Creator Jeff Consoletti to get his perspective on the upcoming event.
Check out our quick Q&A below and get more info on the concert lineup here.
Q: What challenges did/do you face launching this live event in the wake of the pandemic?
Being the first concert back after an over 15-month hiatus from live experiences is no easy undertaking. From new safety and security protocols regarding COVID-19 to simply getting the word out to consumers that they actually have an option to attend something in person, there are almost daily curveballs that we are maneuvering past. Our desire to produce an event really stemmed from wanting to connect communities as we’ve been safely emerging out of the pandemic. Our work particularly within the LGBTQ community has been a foundational service line, so Pride Month seemed like the perfect place to relaunch music events throughout Los Angeles. The cards fell into place to make this event happen because of an amazing charity partnership with Pride Live’s Stonewall Day, a strong desire from incredible artists to return to the stage, and a synergy with an iconic home like the LA Coliseum. Any challenges we’ve encounter we’re able to overcome because of the amazing team, collaborative team we’ve put together.
Q: How does this event build on what Outloud started a year ago?
Outloud Raising Voices was established as an avenue to amplify LGBTQ artists, brands and organizations throughout PRIDE month and beyond. Our event was always conceived to be something live and in person, initially planned to launch at SXSW 2020. When the pandemic shut-down prevented that from happening, a 2020 partnership with Facebook launched our event as an award-winning digital series in 2020. Based on our success, we knew we had the runway to build the programming further this year, but wanted to be sure we could rise above the digital fatigue so many fans are experiencing. While we initially conceived this year’s show to be 100% digital, and on Twitch, we chose the Coliseum as our background to begin to take the fan back to what we so dearly miss about an in-person experience. With vaccinations working on our side, we are so excited to actually be able to deliver that experience safely to fans in person while still delivering an incredible concert-going experience virtually via our channels exclusively on Twitch.
Q: Is there a segment or performance that you are really looking forward to?
OMG, that’s way too hard to pick especially when we have such an incredible, predominantly queer talent line up across all three days! I can say that Sofi Tukker for sure will have the Coliseum on their feet and dancing on Friday; Hayley Kiyoko’s unbeatable new music and performances from trend-setting rising LGBTQ acts will make Saturday not to be missed; And, who doesn’t want to see the iconic Adam Lambert take Pride Month by storm liv in person! We have over 30 amazing performances with more special guests and appearances to be announced. This is THE event to kick-off PRIDE month whether you can be there with us in person or watch from home on Twitch.
Q: Can the virtual audience donate/support the different charities represented each day?
100% – in fact we encourage it. All fans watching on Twitch will be able to donate live in platform to an assortment of incredible organizations that we re supporting each day. On Friday, we are raising funds for the Stonewall National Monument and the ground-breaking work in racial equality and health equity that Compton Pride is leading; on Saturday, we’ll take you on a journey around the country profiling the work of 6 amazing PRIDE organizations from cities across the US; and on Sunday we celebrate Stonewall Day and honor their national beneficiaries Trans Tech Social and Trans Lash! Learn more about these orgs and ways to give at www.weareoutloud.com.
