If you haven’t heard, the Coronavirus is sweeping across the globe at the moment, causing literally worldwide disruption to all of society.
And obviously the biggest and worst part of this is that live gigs and festivals have been cancelled!
What’s worse, there is a theory that there will be no live gigs until late in 2021!
There are already fears that the entire arts sector is in danger of total collapse, but apparently isn’t deemed worthy of saving.
What’s the solution?
Pretty much immediately after the lockdown in the UK started, online-only gigs surged in popularity.
This is musicians or bands performing gigs over video software like Skype or Zoom.
This is a fairly sensible idea, what with it being literally the only option available.
And remember; when the lockdown finally starts to be eased, it won’t be a sudden thing.
Events with large numbers of attendees, like sporting events and concerts will have to work with reduced capacity, meaning gigs won’t go back to how they were for a long time.
Let’s look at some of the live events that have already tested online versions of themselves.
Festivals
Download festival TV happened instead of the festival proper. Taking place on the Download festival social media channels, it had live & prerecorded music, interviews, as well as interactive elements.
The weekend also worked to raise money for the NHS. Across the weekend they managed to raise over £10,000!
In the daytime, Download TV hosted lots of smaller events, like DOOM yoga, Rockfit and even a pub quiz.
Then in the evening, the Download YouTube channel showed lots of interviews with musicians over Skype, mixed in with footage of the bands playing different years at the festival.
There was some criticism of the event, that there was too little music and too many interviews.
However, for a free event that had to be organised and set up in just a matter of weeks, I think it was a huge success.
The French festival, Hellfest, also took place online, as Hellfest From Home.
This festival was more music-heavy than Download TV, with 15 band performances each day.
Not just that though, the festival started with a screening of the documentary: Hellfest: 15 Years of Noise and Fury, currently available to watch online (I hope legally…).
Musicians
As well as music festivals, individual musicians have also started performing gigs virtually.
Often these have been pay-what-you-want affairs, usually helping to raise money for charity.
If the Coronavirus situation worsens though, then maybe digital gigs will become the new norm and the money will go to just paying for the musicians to keep doing what they do.
Here’s protest folk singer Grace Petrie tweeting about a gig.
These online-only gigs usually have a very DIY punk ethos about them, which I quite like.
There is no grand announcement or tickets, just a Tweet or email about it to the their fans.
Pros and Cons
Digital gigs obviously have their good and bad points, but overall how do they come across?
Are they really a viable alternative to live gigs in the long run?
Let’s dig into them and see if we can determine if they’re a good thing that should remain after the pandemic is over, or a bad thing that should go away as quickly as possible.
Digital Gigs – Benefits:
1. Available from home
There are some great venues out there. Venues that are physically beautiful, historically important, or built from a unique building.
However, no venue is your living room.
Not one of them has your sofa in them. You can rely on being cozy and comfortable in your home that you just can’t be at a gig.
For introverts, this may be enough to say that digital gigs are the best thing ever.
Also, for disabled people, getting to a gig venue may be difficult.
Not everywhere has ramp access, or they tend to include a lot of stairs.
Online gigs are infinitely more physically accessible to people, because you can view them from anywhere.
2. Cheaper
The cost of going to a gig is not just the cost of the tickets themselves, although I think we can all agree that gig tickets are getting incredibly expensive.
There is the cost of getting to the gig (petrol, train tickets, taxi etc.), drinks at the gig, merchandise, as well as possibly the cost of a childminder.
Seeing the gig from home may save you a substantial amount of money.
3.Safer, medically
Obviously, with this taking place during a Pandemic, the idea of personal safety is important.
There is a discussion of socially-distanced events in the future, with some places in other countries, (like a venue in Sweden) still putting on shows with capped audience limits, but the idea is not overall catching on.
Staying at home is literally the safest way to experience a gig.
It may not be as much fun, but it minimises the risks involved as much as possible.
4. Availability for smaller acts
As I mentioned, smaller bands and individual musicians are doing their own online gigs too.
This is a lot easier than having to try and get a gig somewhere, or get a group of acts together and create a gig. Just one person, a computer with a laptop.
Digital Gigs – Issues:
I have considered this quite thoughly, and there is really only one issue.
An online gig is a a very different experience.
At a gig, you can hang out with friends, be part of a crowd and feel the atmosphere.
You get a buzz just from knowing that you are part of a real, live thing happening now.
A Zoom or Skype gig just doesn’t have the ‘live music’ feeling you get from actually being there.
Instead, its like watching a live TV show.
Now this isn’t necessarily a bad feeling, it can still feel very personal and intimate, especially with smaller musicians, like you’re at a gig-for-one.
But its not the same, not by a long shot.
Wrap Up
Are online-only gigs going to be around for a long time? Yes, absolutely.
Is that because they’re inherently better than live gigs? Not at all.
Are they better than nothing at all? Yes. A million times yes.
And that’s what matters.
So I recommend you attend some anyway, even if you don’t think it will be the same.
It’s better than nothing and if you do pay for it, then you’re likely either giving to charity or helping ensure that the artist doesn’t go broke.
