OBSOLETE BY WORD OF MOUTH will celebrate 30 years of Burton C. Bell's landmark album

Burton C. Bell presents 'Obsolete By Word of Mouth,' a rare and deeply personal spoken word experience celebrating the 30th anniversary of Obsolete and offering audiences the opportunity to hear the story behind the landmark album directly from the artist whose voice, lyrics and vision helped define it.

Three exclusive October events have been announced for San Diego, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

This is not a concert.

'Obsolete By Word of Mouth' is a small-scale social experiment built around both the story of Obsolete and the way that story will be experienced and carried forward.

The concept of 'By Word of Mouth' extends beyond the presentation itself. The experience is designed as a return to a time before the proliferation of the internet, cell phones and social media when people were fully present for a moment and the stories of what they witnessed traveled from person to person.

For the duration of the presentation, the audience will be asked to put away their phones and remain present, allowing them to absorb the meaning, history and emotion of the story without the distraction of screens, filming, posting or documenting the experience.

What happens inside the room stays with the 50 people who experienced it. Much like in the past, those guests will then carry the story forward by word of mouth, sharing what they experienced with their friends and comrades in their own words.

It is a personal experience that social media cannot duplicate.

Limited to only 50 guests per event, 'Obsolete By Word of Mouth' removes the traditional barriers between artist and audience, creating an intimate environment in which Bell can revisit the ideas, stories and creative process surrounding one of the most significant albums of his career.

During the hour-long presentation, Bell will share stories from the creation of Obsolete, read his original synopsis written during the album's development, and read the story of Obsolete as a performative movement without a microphone.

The result is deliberately different from a conventional live performance: part storytelling, part oral history, part personal reflection and part social experiment - told by the artist who was there, created it and lived it.

Bell will also spend time with every guest before and after the presentation, making each evening a uniquely personal experience. With attendance capped at only 50 people, there is no traditional divide between artist and audience making this a truly VIP EXPERIENCE.

Each guest will also receive an exclusive, personally autographed commemorative program, created specifically for 'Obsolete By Word of Mouth,' featuring original handwritten, and typed, manuscripts from Bell's collection giving attendees a tangible piece of Obsolete history.

Tickets are $50.00, and each event is limited to 50 guests. Guests will be asked to silence and put away their cell phones during the presentation. No filming or recording will be permitted.

There will be no screen between the audience and the experience, and no social media feed capable of recreating what happened in the room. The only way the experience travels beyond those 50 people is the way stories once traveled — from one person to another, by word of mouth.

Thirty years after Obsolete, Burton C. Bell is opening the story again in an entirely different way.

Three cities. Fifty guests per room. One voice. One shared experience. No filming. No recording. No scrolling.

Just the story of Obsolete, told by the man who lived it - and carried forward by the people who were there.

Obsolete By Word of Mouth — October 2026

October 6 — San Diego, California, Scorpion Percussion. Guest arrival: 7:00 pm. Spoken word presentation: 8:00–9:00 pm.

October 7 — Los Angeles, California, The Crooked Path. Guest arrival: 7:00 pm. Spoken word presentation: 8:00–9:00 pm.

October 9 — Las Vegas, Nevada, The Space. Guest arrival: 7:00 pm. Spoken word presentation: 8:00–9:00 pm.

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