In the past few years, concerts had become more optimized than ever. Festivals were sold as spectacle and experience, not just live music. Even though prices kept rising, I loved going to shows as often as I could, so when all live events suddenly stopped, I was nervous for how the industry would respond. They had to tear it all up and create a new show, and we would watch it unfold in real time.
A popular model quickly emerged: the Instagram live concert. One of the first shows I saw was by indie folk artist Alex G. He sat on his couch with his guitar, speeding through demo quality versions of songs I loved, looking at the chat to ask what we thought he should play next. He got through at least a dozen songs over his 40 minute show, and garnered around 2,000 listeners. The stream felt intimate, not only because it took place in his home but also the confusion on display as he figured out how to perform to a crowd he couldn’t see. When artists improvise, there’s still a feeling of control. Even if it’s a completely new song, the performance is something they’ve done before. Here the challenge was beyond the performance. It lay in attempting to create a connection.
Later that night, I was introduced to a new type of spectacle through back to back concerts over Minecraft, and Fortnite. The use of video games as venues began before the pandemic, but expanded quickly once it hit. The Minecraft production featured 20 artists who took turns performing with their avatars, while fans came together in virtual lobbies to mosh to an audio stream coming from a separate website. The show had the DIY ethos of a co-op basement, minus the sticky floors. The Fortnite concert gave the highest production value of the night. It looked expensive, with a giant Travis Scott taking form as a hundred foot tall hologram, astronaut, and literal pure energy, something he’s constantly trying to attain on stage. Flying around on screen, I was more impressed by the visual effects than the song he was debuting. Normally when a concert ends, the lights come up and the feeling of having shared an experience with others hits. Online though, you don’t get to see the faces of the millions of people you just watched a concert with, you just log off, and scroll to whatever distraction comes up next.