Though it’s been a long while since traditional concerts have ceased to exist, it happily hasn’t stopped artists from performing, albeit via the internet. It’s hard to keep up with the bajillion live stream events during the COVID Era, so here’s a short list of our favorites so far!
Code Orange – Last Ones Left: In Fear Of The End
One of the first events to go digital was Code Orange’s record release show. The band’s in-person show was scheduled to take place on March 14 at The Roxian Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA to celebrate the release of their fourth LP Underneath. Although the event is still technically postponed, the band decided that the show must go on and performed to an empty venue, broadcasting live via Twitch. They even created limited edition DVDs of the performance, which quickly sold out. You can watch the band’s performance in full below:
LuigiTV
Starting on March 21, Luigi’s Mansion in Philadelphia has brought us weekly digi-gigs via their Instagram account, @luigismansionphl. Each Saturday evening, four bands take turns going live for 30 minutes each. Afterwards, the bands’ sets become available on YouTube for everyone’s rewatching pleasure.
Watch Harmony Woods’ performance during Week One of LuigiTV:
One World: Together At Home
On April 18, TV and Radio stations around the world broadcast the One World: Together at Home event, coordinated by Global Citizen and curated by Lady Gaga, to raise money for the World Health Organization (WHO). The event featured artists from a variety of genres, including The Rolling Stones, Eddie Vedder, Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Keith Urban, Billie Ellish, Billie Joe Armstrong, and more. You can watch videos from the event (and the preceding stream series) on the Global Citizen YouTube.
Fourchella: Minecraft Edition / Origami Angel Broke Minecraft
Every year in Bowling Green, OH, the Summit Shack crew hosts Fauxchella. Their fourth annual Fauxchella, aptly named ‘Fourchella’, was scheduled April 17+18. Instead of cancelling, the crew, with the assistance of Loon Base Studios, moved the event to Minecraft!
Each band had a specially designed “stage,” to which attendees were transported during the band’s set. Some sets were prerecorded audio, and a few of those bands, like Equipment, got up on the virtual stage during their set to “perform” digitally. Other bands had recorded or live video sets. Some bands also did AMAs, or created playlists of their favorite tracks, as well as some new songs or demos!
While the original Twitch stream from the event is no longer available, some clips are still available.
During Origami Angel’s set, the Minecraft server went down! Since a lot of people were looking forward to this set, the Summit Shack team decided to host a second event: ‘Origami Angel Broke Minecraft’. In addition to the Origami Angel remix set, the event featured Equipment, a Jail Socks x Hospital Bracelet joint cover set, Carly Cosgrove, and special guest host Roddie from Niiice. The entirety of the event is available to view on the Summit Shack’s Twitch.
Origami Angel’s “emo trap remix set” is available on vinyl via Counter Intuitive Records and available for streaming on Spotify and other apps. The set/record also includes a previously unreleased song, Greenbelt Station.
Summit Shack is now planning to host monthly Minecraft gigs. The first event took place on May 8, and the next two will be on May 22 and June 4. You can find more information about upcoming Shackcraft Monthly events at thesummitshack.com.
Play On Fest
Running for 72 hours straight, Play On Fest (brought to you by Warner Music Group and other sponsors) ran from 12 PM ET on Friday, April 24 through 12 PM ET on Monday, April 27. The festival, streamed on YouTube, featured previously recorded but (mostly) unreleased footage from WMG artists preforming full sets at iconic venues and festivals. The event aimed to raise money for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, and proceeds from merch sales will also benefit the WHO.
While the full stream isn’t available anywhere, some clips are available from various places across the internet.
Green Day’s set from the festival was filmed at MTV’s World Stage Seville during the 2019 EMAs and is available on MTV International’s YouTube page.
The Flaming Lips’ 2019 performance at the Sydney Opera House, where they celebrated the twentieth anniversary of their album The Soft Bulletin, is available on the opera house’s YouTube page.
Korn has also shared an extended cut of their ‘The Nothing’ Album Release Concert film.
Hayley Williams posted a video from her band Paramore’s set at Bonaroo streamed during the event:
An account called “Emo concert archives” on YouTube (not to be confused with us, haha) also uploaded footage from Twenty One Pilots’ Lollapalooza Brazil performance and Panic! at the Disco’s London O2 arena set that streamed during the event.
You can also view fan shot videos from the following Coachella performances: Janelle Monáe’s (2019), Weezer (2019), Portugal. The Man (2018), Wiz Khalifa (2019).
What’s Next?
While concerts still can’t continue like we’re used to, the show will still go on. Plenty of great live streams have happened over the past two months, and more will continue until concerts can resume again in real life.
If you’re interested in learning more about the history of streaming, check out A Brief History of Live Music Broadcasts: From the Early Telephone to Live Streams.
Have you seen any great live streams recently? Let us know in the comments below!
Want to add a stream to your Concert Archives account? You can add it just like any other show! For the ‘Location’, put ‘Livestream.’ For the ‘Venue’, you can leave it blank or put the location where the artist performed.
Hey shoegaze peeps! DKFM has already done two Dreamgaze livestreams with a third on the way. Catch vids of the first two here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/DecayFM/301558120827291/