Coronavirus: Things to Watch
Sharon Van Etten and Josh Homme Share Video for “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”: Watch
Sharon Van Etten and Josh Homme in video for “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” Sharon Van Etten and Josh Homme’s cover of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” wasn’t intentionally made for the quarantine era. “Recording this song had nothing to do with what we’d be going through… until we started going through it,” explains Homme in a statement. But while the track itself wasn’t intended to be an anthem of isolated times, its new music video fully embraces the state of the world. Directed by Matthew Daniel Siskin, the clip captures Van Etten and Homme at home with their families. The former’s kid plays around with an empty inflatable swimming pool while she sips a glass of wine and sings karaoke in front of a projection of SMPTE color bars. Homme, m...
Neil Young’s Fifth Fireside Session Takes a Trip to the Barnyard: Watch
It took four Fireside Sessions, but Neil Young has apparently grown tired of every fire pit and fireplace in his Colorado home. For the latest entry in his quarantine performance series, Old Shakey took the show down the road — or at least, to the other side of the estate — for a special Barnyard Edition. Once again directed by his wife, actress Daryl Hannah, the performance is largely delivered to a bunch of chickens and — if you keep an eye out — at least one mallard. The set opens with Young playing “Tumbleweed” from 2014’s Storytone on ukulele while a lama named Lazlo and a horse mosey around their pen. He then moves over to the coop to strum out “Homegrown”, the title track from his long-unreleased 1975 album Homegrown, finally due for release on June 19th. Intercut wit...
Dropkick Murphys to Play Audience-Less Concert From Fenway Park With Bruce Springsteen
In the early days of COVID-19, Dropkick Murphys were one of the first bands to stage a digital concert, as they streamed their annual St. Patrick’s Day concert live online. The webcast drew an audience of more than 13 million viewers and raised over $60,000 for the Boston Resiliency Fund, a nonprofit that provides essential services to Boston residents—including first responders and critical care providers — amid the pandemic. Now, the Boston punks have announced a second livestream performance that should prove even more massive. That’s because not only will they be playing live from Fenway Park, they’ll be joined via video by Bruce Springsteen. The digital concert, aptly called Streaming Outta Fenway, will go down Friday, May 29th at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Dropkick Murphys themselves w...
Damon Albarn Debuts New Orchestral Project During Boiler Room Livestream: Watch
This past weekend would have marked the launch of a spring tour for Damon Albarn’s new orchestral project, The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream. But with people only just adapting to the idea of social distancing concerts, those shows have been put on hold for the immediate future. Instead, the Gorillaz and Blur mastermind decided to debut the his new work during a Boiler Room livestream session on Sunday night. Inspired by Albarn’s numerous visits to Iceland, The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream is meant to be performed with a full orchestra. Playing the songs from isolation, however, Albarn was accompanied by rehearsal tapes, which he noted were “not finished.” Albarn also spoke of the piece’s title, saying that its origins have taken on new meaning in the pandemic era:...
Peter Hook & The Light’s Performance of Every Joy Division Song Now Streaming: Watch
The surviving members of Joy Division are commemorating the 40th anniversaries of both the band’s final album, Closer, and the death of late frontman Ian Curtis in a number of ways. Today, Peter Hook & The Light get things started with the streaming release of a never-before-seen concert film capturing their performance of Joy Division’s entire catalog. Dubbed So This Is Permanent, the film was recorded during Hook & The Light’s special 2015 performance at the 500-capacity Christ Church in Macclesfield, England, Curtis’ hometown. The gig was celebrating what was then Joy Division’s 35th anniversary, and saw the band play every single song by the iconic post-punk outfit. Speaking to Consequence of Sound for a recent interview, Hook recalled the momentous show. “We pla...
Roger Waters Performs “Mother” in Quarantine: Watch
This period of social isolation has proven quite fruitful for fans of Pink Floyd. In addition to the band’s weekly YouTube concert series, both David Gilmour and Roger Waters have streamed their own distinct solo performances from quarantine. On Sunday, Waters returned with his latest such video: a socially-distant rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Mother”. The video, which you can see below, features Waters and his touring band (including Lucius!) performing The Wall track from their respective homes. “Social distancing is a necessary evil in COVID world,” Waters wrote to introduce the video. “Watching ‘Mother’ reminds me just how irreplaceable the joy of being in a band is.” Waters, who was forced to postpone his “This Is Not a Drill” North American tour because of COVID-19, previously per...
Foo Fighters Streaming 2008 Live at Wembley Stadium Concert for Free: Watch
For the latest edition of Foo Fridays, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters have unlocked the concert film Live at Wembley Stadium. The footage was compiled over two sold-out shows in London on June 6th and 7th of 2008. The set drew heavily from the Foos 2007 album Echoes, Silence. Patience & Grace, and included special guest appearances by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. With Grohl on the drums and Taylor Hawkins on the mic, they played the Zeppelin favorite “Rock and Roll”, before Grohl and Hawkins switched places for “Ramble On”. In introducing Page and Jones, Grohl said that the country of England “made us the band we are today,” and so he felt compelled to plan something special. “Just so you know, tonight, playing here at fucking Wembley Stadium, i...
Cats Musical Streaming for Free on YouTube for 48 Hours: Watch
Last month, Andrew Lloyd Webber teamed up with Universal Home Entertainment to stream a selection of his musicals for free. After playing some hits (The Phantom of the Opera) and some flops (By Jeeves), Weber has now unlocked Cats, the unkillable stage show with more than nine lives. As Playbill reports, Cats will be streaming for the next 48 hours, with suggested donations benefiting the Actor’s Fund COVID-19 Relief. Unlike Tom Hooper’s neutered film adaptation, the stage production of Cats was a massive, paradigm-shifting hit. It won Tony and Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Musical, is one of the longest-running productions in Broadway and West End history, and has grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide. This particular version was filmed in 1998, and starred Elaine Paig...
Capone Director Josh Trank Discusses the Making of a Monster on COVID-EODROME
COVID-EODROME, our new weekly movie review series on our Twitch channel, will eschew the reviews this week for a series of interviews. Hosts Clint Worthington and Scout Tafoya will speak to the talent behind Capone and Fourteen. Starting at 2:30 p.m. EST / 11:30 a.m. PST, Clint and Scout will speak to Fourteen filmmaker Dan Sallitt and stars Tallie Medel and Norma Kuhling. The story follows a mentally ill woman’s decline over the course of a decade, all from the perspective of her longtime best friend. The film had its premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won over critics worldwide, and hits VOD via Grasshopper Films on Friday, May 15th. Shortly after, Clint and Scout will speak to director Josh Trank, who returned this week with Capone. Together, they’ll ...
Ben Gibbard Performs “Life Under Quarantine” on Colbert: Watch
If you put aside the disparities that always exist between societal strata and the political nonsense surrounding the health crisis, there’s something equalizing about the pandemic. Late night TV has provided somewhat a reflection of this, as the increasing delirium of hosts like Stephen Colbert mirrors our own stir-craziness, and guests have been reduced to the same Zoom calls in which everyone else is partaking. Take, for example, Ben Gibbard’s performance of “Life Under Quarantine” on A Late Show Wednesday night. The Death Cab for Cutie frontman debuted the new song back in March during a livestream for Seattle news outlet The Stranger’s “A Message to the City” series. Back then, he delivered the sad, strumming musing on our current trying situation while sitting squarely in f...
St. Vincent Performs “New York” Acoustic at BAM Virtual Gala: Watch
St. Vincent The annual Brooklyn Academy of Music’s annual gala went virtual on Wednesday as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While it wasn’t the usual red-carpeted banquet affair, the stars still came out to celebrate and raise money for the BAM community. The evening saw a number of special guest performers, but they saved the best for last. To conclude the fundraiser, St. Vincent hopped on video chat to play an acoustic version of her 2017 single “New York” with dark, moody visuals. The BAM Virtual Gala was a tribute to this year’s honorees: actress Cate Blanchett, writer Zadie Smith, and philanthropist Jeanne Donovan Fisher. After presenting special at-home versions of the previously scheduled choir, dance, and art performances, the hour-long event closed with Annie Clark’s in...
Prince and the Revolution Concert Film is Streaming on YouTube for Next 72 Hours
Turn those quarantine blues into “Computer Blue”. Prince’s unforgettable concert film Prince and the Revolution: Live, which gives you a front-row seat to his 1985 “Purple Rain Tour”, is streaming on YouTube for the next 72 hours. Grab your lighters or phone flashlights and stream it in full below. Recorded on March 30th, 1985, the concert film sees Prince dazzle the stage at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, with a 20-song setlist, as well as costume changes, a guitar battle, and his iconic dance antics. The High Priest of Pop masterfully belts out every song from Purple Rain, but the evening is also full of other crowd-pleasing hits, including “1999”, “Little Red Corvette”, and “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”, which is one of Prince’s more, uh, spicy songs. A 20-minute extended versi...
