We’re proud of this – but you all should be proud too! We couldn’t have done it without your support. Remember, 10% of every single penny we take in selling Show Sticks is donated directly to the Mockingbird Foundation; check out the online store now.

We have teamed up with the Midnight Voyage, an absolutely awesome radio station broadcasting in Knoxville, TN, to demolish the Bassnectar set at Roo. The polls have been open on Facebook and on the air for the last two weeks, and over 100 votes were cast for the best late night set to make it rain Show Sticks. We had the pleasure of doing a little interview on the air last night – in case you missed it, check out this clip of Andrew explaining why the site’s been delayed a bit, and Mike and the radio host, Brian, serving him up a nice stab at his manhood: GSW Midnight Voyage Interview (30 second clip)

So here’s the way this project is going to work… We’ve setup a special page @ www.glowstickwars.com/midnightvoyage where, for the next week or so, you can make a contribution to the Roodiculous Glow Stick War Fund. A standard $5 donation will add 100 Show Sticks to the Fund, while donations of $10 or more will add 25 sticks/dollar and grant entry into our Bonnaroo Ticket Giveaway Contest (we’ve extended the Contest by about one week). And as always, 10% of all proceeds will be donated to The Mockingbird Foundation.

After all contributions have been made, the whole lot of Show Sticks will be shipped down to Bonnaroo. All sponsors will be sent an email letting them know when and where we will be meeting up inside Roo to distribute the sticks before the Bassnectar set. As of now, if current trends continue, we could be dropping 10,000 sticks at this set! Let’s make history here… Check out this Bassnectar clip – pretty standard. Now just imagine what his ROOdiculous set will be like.

Alright, so here’s where we’re at. GlowStickWars.com is in its final stages of beta testing and we’re just putting the finishing touches on the site. Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the key sections of GSW.

Your Profile:

This one is pretty self explanatory. Everyone will have their own profile page where you can share a little about yourself, stay on top of who’s sharing what, quickly share new shows, and manage your account easily. For all you professional photogs out there, you can display any URL on your profile (your professional website, perhaps?) and a built-in hit counter shows you how many new visitors your pics are attracting to your site.

The Media Gallery:

Hopefully this is appealing to you – otherwise we’ve wasted a lot of people’s time! Based on how obsessive we are about following the bands that we love (to the point of wanting real-time set list updates for shows we aren’t at), we hope that many of you will enjoy the GSW show gallery which will show all the vital details of a show, and provide easy social tools for connecting with the content owner and doing a bunch of other ‘webby’ stuff.

Finding a Show:

Have you ever tried to find some photos from a concert you went to… or maybe from a show you’re listening to right now? Until now it hasn’t been the easiest task. Sure, Googling the band name and even the show date might yield some results. But the GSW Show Finder search bar is designed to let you search for show photos by entering details like artist, venue, and even keywords… (Festival 8 + Trampoline?) This will be the most organized database of show memories, and we sincerely hope everyone digs it.

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So that’s it. That’s why we’re late. We’re working really hard to get the site up and running as fast as possible, and we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we’re ready for you. Thanks for all the support and patience – we can’t wait to open the doors.

Until then, back to the original question… What’s with the name if the site is not really centered around glow stick wars? Well, first check out the shot below taken at My Morning Jacket and the Ghost vid from IT (appreciate the content, not the video quality.. it was 2003)

OK, so what’s the point? The point is…

1. GlowStickWars.com is a place to share concert photos and videos – and glow stick wars produce some of the most epic photos and videos from a show.
2. Not to get too deep and philosphical, but a glow stick war is an expression. It is a unifying act that brings the audience together to share the show. Our friends at PhanArt put it best when they wrote that a glow stick war is “…LIVE ART by the fans … a type of performance art that is fleeting and if you miss it, it’s gone.” In other words, it represents people getting together to share an experience – the essence of which we are trying to preserve online.
3. Lastly, although GSW is not restricted or limited to any one band (or genre for that matter), there are certainly some fans out there that will identify with the name. If you happen to be one of those fans, well then this one is for you.
   

If you need some additional motivation, consider this:

• With every tube you purchase, you are entered into a draw to win 2 tickets to Bonnaroo. If you buy 2, 5 or 10 tubes, you’ll be entered 2, 5 or 10 times. More tubes = more chances to win.
• A portion of every dollar you spend on Show Sticks is donated to The Mockingbird Foundation to help them continue their quest to fund music education for children across the nation.
• The ‘per-tube’ shipping cost gets better and better if you buy in volume. So, grab a few buddies and get ready to make it rain this summer!

Click here to pre-order a tube of 100 Show Sticks for just $5.99 (just click the Buy Now button in the bottom right corner of the page.

Why Glow Sticks are Awesome

One may think there is nothing better than dancing around at a show while there are some people on stage having you get jiggy with it, but that isn’t correct. Just being at a show is an incredibly special feeling that cannot be placed into words. A song is about to hit the epitome of the jam, and peak, and become something beautiful. And then you see it, the glow sticks flying throughout the air creating a fantasyland of raining glowing lights to top off the jam. It is sheer ecstasy, and there is not a feeling in the world that can beat that moment.

I once saw a dude selling the thick glow sticks for $2 each outside a show and he was making a killing! Our plan is to keep the price of Show Sticks as low as possible whether they are purchased from the website or on lot.

Please contact us if you or someone you know might be interested.

We get it. There are a lot of people who don’t like glow stick wars. This post is for you; all we ask is that you read it with an open mind. From what we can tell, there are two main concerns with glow stick wars:

1. Jerks who throw the thick, dangerous glow rods; and
2. Jerks who throw ANYTHING near the stage or the band.

The problem is with the jerks. And the problem obviously isn’t going away by trash talking anyone. GSW does not sell thick glow sticks. GSW advocates with every sale that sticks are not meant to be aimed at the stage or at other fans. GSW donates a portion of every sale to an incredibly worthy not-for-profit foundation. And if we stop selling glow sticks, does anyone truly believe that glow stick wars will stop? Of course they will not. But for sure more jerks will be bringing more thick sticks into shows, hucking them at the band, and none of those purchases will have benefited anyone.

I’ve said this before. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, glow stick wars are happening and they will continue to happen – because most people appreciate that -when done right- they are awesome and they can enhance the show. But hating on us for trying to make them safer and supporting a charity in the process will have no positive benefits for anyone.

Thanks for reading.

Here we are, hours away from the first glimpse of GlowStickWars.com becoming available (just a little splash page, but it’s something) – frantically triple-checking every piece of copy and code to make sure that everything runs smoothly at 4:20 tomorrow Tuesday morning. With The Mockingbird Foundation giving us a nice PR bump tomorrow on Tuesday, we’re optimistic about getting the word out to quite a few people; after all, you are reading this, aren’t you?

The actual site is set to launch at the beginning of May (or possibly sooner) so please don’t be shy with your feedback. This site is for everyone, and all suggestions, kudos, and complaints will be ignored considered.

Seriously though, let us know what you think.

Get thousands and millions of those little ringed ones. They’re thin. They couldn’t hurt a fly. Throw them around. They’ll look amazing. They really will. But I think everyone’s against the thick, plastic ones.

- Chris Kuroda, Phish Lighting Guru