His First Concert, Felt: A Night at the Hatch Shell with Boston Landmarks Orchestra

"I love music," Justin told us before the concert.

He used to wear hearing aids. About ten years ago he became fully Deaf. He still loves the tone of a song, the rhythm, the way a track can pull a whole year back with it. To really enjoy it now, he needs to feel it.

He had never been to a live concert. Not one. "It's hard to find events online," he said, "so I thought, why not, let's give it a try."

He came to the Hatch Memorial Shell on his own, put on a VibeWear vest, and felt an orchestra move across his body for the length of the program.

His was one of twenty vests that night. What happened in them is the reason we do this. Key Takeaways

• On August 5, 2026, twenty people felt a live Boston Landmarks Orchestra concert through Tactus VibeWear vests at the Hatch Memorial Shell, free to every attendee.

• Among the five who completed the full before-and-after survey, the ability to fully experience the music rose from an average of 3.8 to a unanimous 5 out of 5.

• Every one of them said the vest felt like a real part of the experience rather than an accommodation, and every one said they would return and recommend it.

• Twenty-eight people registered, thirteen identified as Deaf or hard of hearing, and at least four more asked to try a vest at the next concert.

Louder is not the same as accessible

For decades, the live music industry has largely treated access as a volume problem. Turn it up, add captions, and the job is done.

But music is not speech. Amplification and captions do good work for the spoken word. They cannot carry rhythm, texture, or the swell of feeling that makes a live orchestra worth leaving the house for. Those things live in the body, and that is where a VibeWear vest delivers them. It is not a transcript of the concert. It is a way to feel the concert.

And it is the whole song, not a buzz on the beat. Bass, mids, and treble, across your body, in the same moment as everyone else in the room.

What happened at the Hatch Shell

Boston Landmarks Orchestra is one of Boston's free public orchestras, and the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Charles River Esplanade is its outdoor home. On the evening of August 5, we set up a booth there and handed out VibeWear vests.

Twenty people wore one through the prelude and the full concert. Afterward they filled out a short survey, and some of them sat down with us on camera to talk about what it had been like.

Every part of it was free. That is not a promotion, it is a principle. VibeWear was built with the Deaf and hard of hearing community, and keeping it free to the people it serves is central to the trust that makes it work.

We did not do this alone. Boston Landmarks Orchestra put on the performance and welcomed us into it. Think Outside the Vox provided ASL interpretation and access throughout the concert. Down the Tubes Productions built awareness within the Deaf community. The Esplanade Association provided the space.

A new audience walked in

Twenty-eight people registered for the night. Thirteen identified as Deaf or hard of hearing. Twenty vests went out, because family and friends wanted to feel it too, which is the point. Nobody had to sit out the part everyone else was sharing.

Of the attendees who filled out a survey at check-in, eight were at their first-ever Boston Landmarks Orchestra concert. One of them was at his first live concert of any kind.

They did not find it the way a regular concertgoer finds a concert. They heard about it from friends and family, from Deaf community organizations, from Think Outside the Vox, from the Orchestra's own mailing list, and from social media. Word moved through the community, not just down the usual channels.

That is the part worth noticing if you book, fund, or program live events. These were not existing ticket holders moved from one night to another. Most of them had never been.

Not an accommodation. An experience.

"I felt like a blind person seeing music." — John C.

Five attendees completed the full before-and-after survey. At check-in, they rated their ability to fully experience music at an average of 3.8 out of 5. Afterward, every single one of them rated it 5.

Every one of them also gave 5 out of 5 to the statement that the vest felt like a real part of the experience rather than an accommodation. Every one said they would come to another concert like this, and every one said they would recommend it to their community.

"Magnificent. Captivating." — Wendy S.

"It was a great experience. Felt dynamic, music, rhythm." — Yukako A.

John had one more note for us. Go to every school, he said, and let them try it.

Justin's night

By the time the orchestra started, Justin had the vest on and was not sure about it.

"At the beginning, I felt it more in my back. It felt almost like a massage. And I was like, oh, okay, I'm not sure how I feel about this."

Then it moved.

"As it went on, I felt it more in my chest and my back, and it was a really great experience. It was a beautiful orchestra. And the interpreters, amazing."

At check-in, Justin had rated his ability to fully experience music a 2 out of 5. Afterward, he rated it a 5, and gave the night top marks across the board.

What he said next was not about the technology at all.

"If you're Deaf or hard of hearing and you want to go to a concert, or a club even, you can feel the vibrations. The vibrations are super important if you're not able to hear the music. It makes you feel more in tune with the music and the dancing."

"Hearing people can dance to music. They can hear it, so they can dance to it. But you feel more connected as a Deaf person, and it's more accessible when you have the vibrations along with it."

Before he left, he asked where he could buy one.

What the orchestra saw

Boston Landmarks Orchestra did not need convincing that music should be open to everyone. That belief is why the orchestra exists. For years it has put free orchestral concerts in a public park on the Charles, where anyone can walk up and sit down.

What the vests added was one more way in.

"In recent years with the technology, we've discovered that there are ways to bring music physically to people who cannot hear it in the way that others hear it. And that is how we got to meet Jeremy and Tactus. The haptic vests that you provide are just a wonderful way to, in a physical and immediate way, experience what the music feels like. And the reaction that we've gotten from people who've used them has just been so positive." — Arthur Rishi, Co-Executive Director, Boston Landmarks Orchestra

That carries more weight coming from them than it ever could from us.

More people wanted in

Twenty vests went out that night, and they were not enough.

At least four more Deaf attendees wanted to try one and could not be there, and they asked us about the next concert. Every person who completed the survey said they would attend another concert like this. Two of the five had already signed up for the next one before they left the Esplanade.

There is a waiting audience here, and it is closer and more ready than most programming assumes.

What comes next

Here is a short video recapping the evening:

https://tactusmusic.wistia.com/medias/7st7v9nljm/

If you program, book, or fund live music and you want your next event to reach the audience this one did, we'd love to talk. And if you're Deaf or hard of hearing and want to feel a concert with us, come find our booth at the next one.

vibe with us.