Live Music
10 Artists Worth Bringing Back VH1 Storytellers For
Kendrick Lamar photo by Amy Price; St. Vincent photo by David Brendan Hall; Janelle Monáe photo by Philip Cosores VH1 Storytellers was such a cool show. It borrowed the idea of MTV Unplugged — a hugely popular act performing a stripped-down set in front of an intimate audience — and took it one step further. Audiences could see and hear artists in a more relaxed setting, dishing on their careers and telling stories about creating the songs we know and love. Storytellers first aired 25 years ago in late February 1996; Kinks mastermind Ray Davies was the first performer. It ran for 97 more episodes, the last starring Ed Sheeran in 2015. In between, there was a veritable Who’s Who of talent, from classic rock gods like David Bowie and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to ‘90s stars like Pearl ...
Redman, Method Man, and H.E.R. Join D’Angelo’s Verzuz in a Celebration of Live Music: Review
For music lovers, the COVID-19 pandemic effectively put an end to live performances for the foreseeable future. Many venues across the country have temporally (or permanently) closed or now operate with capacity restrictions. Never again will we take for granted the sweet simplicity of being able to catch our favorite artist/band in concert. But one of the few positive things to happen for live music during all the insanity that has taken place over the last year and counting is the emergence of the Verzuz series. Curated by super producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, who dueled in the first battle last March, Verzuz gave fans a lifeline as we sat at home watching our favorite producers and singers reminisce about the creation of their classic songs, many of which have defined hip-hop and R...
Christine and the Queens on Finding a Stage in Quarantine: “It’s Almost Like Circling Back to the Beginning”
As our Annual Report continues, we’re taking a look at several ways live music changed in a year where most of the world was in lockdown. Today, we share our conversation with Christine and the Queens, an artist with a unique approach to quarantine performances. As Héloïse Letissier presumes, there probably are some “really insular musicians” who found the lack of touring this year somewhat calming. Under her moniker of Christine and the Queens, the French pop star is not one of those artists. “I’m always saying I come from theater, but it kind of formed a relationship I have with the stage that is very much essential,” she tells Consequence of Sound over Zoom from her Paris home. Performance is in fact entirely indispensable when it comes to the concept of Christine and the Queens. Just t...
Save Our Stages Fest Raised $2 Million for Independent Venues: “This Moment Brought Millions of People Hope”
As our Annual Report continues, we’ll be taking several looks at how live music changed in a year where most of the world was in lockdown. Today, we share our conversation with Save Our Stages Fest’s Stephen Sternschein on what’s being done to preserve live music and venues during this pandemic. The American experience of the COVID-19 pandemic is dominated by unimaginable numbers made real: 300,000 dead, 16 million infected, an estimated $3-$5 trillion hit to the country’s GDP over the next two years. Tucked inside that last figure is another statistic, revealed over the summer, that made the year even darker for music fans: According to a nationwide survey of club owners and promoters conducted by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) this past June, 90% of independent music v...
Gorillaz Bring the Song Machine to Life with a Multimedia Extravaganza: Review
Editor’s Note: This review is of Performance 2 of Gorillaz’s Song Machine Live, which aired on December 12th at 7:00 p.m. ET. Setting the Stage: If there’s one thing that Gorillaz are known for, it’s irresistibly creative fusions of music and visuals. From the very beginning, they’ve ensured that their videos, concerts, web content, and assorted paraphernalia provided a characteristically cartoonish spectacle to match the flamboyant edge of their tunes. Their latest multimodal project, Song Machine, is the best example yet of that fusion, as it mixed episodic webisodes with an almanac, a proper LP — this year’s Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez — and more. Really, all that was missing were live performances — that is, until now. This past weekend, the group teamed up with LIVENo...
The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne on the Band’s Space Bubble Shows: “It’s Safer Than Going to the Grocery Store”
As our Annual Report continues, we’ll be taking several looks at how live music changed in a year where most of the world was in lockdown. Today, we share our conversation with Wayne Coyne about his current plans for space bubble shows. A year ago, no one could have predicted that a trip to the grocery store could be life-threatening and dangerous. But here we are at a time where buying vegetables can be anxiety-inducing and unsafe. Concerts mostly apply, as well, but Flaming Lips vocalist Wayne Coyne devised a way to transform live music into a safe process. Coyne is no stranger to performing in what he calls a space bubble. He’s famous for rolling out into crowds, but the thought of putting the entire band and audience in their own respective bubbles was a thought that came to him at the...
10 Defining Jimi Hendrix Live Moments
The term “legend” gets tossed around too liberally. So does the qualifier “iconic.” That’s not the case with Jimi Hendrix. The Seattle-born guitarist and the impact he had on both popular music and culture as a whole in such a brief time are the thing of legend. It’s a legend… Please click the link below to read the full article. 10 Defining Jimi Hendrix Live Moments Matt Melis and Jordan Blum You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Three Crucial Issues at Stake for Musicians in the 2020 US Election
In less than 36 hours, we’ll reach the end of the strangest, sickest, most contentious election season in modern American memory. Many people reading this will have already cast their vote for the next President of the United States; data from the US Elections Project indicates that more than 95 million Americans have taken advantage of early voting options this year, just one more way in which the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the traditional sprint to Election Day. That said, there are still plenty of voters planning to cast ballots in person on Election Day (November 3rd). For those folks, we’ve put together a quick overview of where the two candidates for President stand on three major policy areas affecting the arts in 2020 and beyond: the economic impact of the pandemic on music venu...
Billie Eilish’s WHERE DO WE GO? THE LIVESTREAM Delivers a Groundbreaking Arena Pop Experience: Review
WHEN WE ALL QUARANTINE, WHERE DO WE GO?: Billie Eilish was one step away from world domination. After releasing one of the most acclaimed albums of 2019, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, which debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, nearly sweeping this year’s Grammys with accolades including Album of the Year, amassing over 67 million Instagram followers since her career began five years ago, creating the theme song for the 25th James Bond film, and proving herself to be the coolest green-haired teen there is, the 18-year-old musician just had one mission left in order to take over the world of pop music: embark on a worldwide arena tour. The Where Do We Go? World Tour was expected to run from March to September of 2020, but its run only lasted for three dates due to, well...
Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, Adam Sandler and More Toast Tom Petty at Virtual 70th Birthday Bash: Review
It’s not surprising that Tom Petty’s passing came to inspire an annual birthday festival. Anyone who ever attended a Heartbreakers show knows that infinite feeling and suspicion that a summer night and a favorite song might somehow go on forever. That may not have turned out to be quite true, but artists, friends, and fans have been flocking to Gainesville since Petty’s death to hold on as tightly as possible to what the man and his music meant to so many of us. This year, of course, posed additional challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop Petty’s family and friends from piecing together a heartfelt tribute that not only celebrated what would’ve been the artist’s 70th birthday but raised money for several notable, music-related causes. <img aria-describedby="c...
Billy Hardison and The Head and the Heart’s Tyler Williams on How to Save Live Music for the Future
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public With the COVID-19 pandemic putting upwards of 90% of independent venues in danger of closing forever, it’s become vitally important for Congress to pass a relief bill to aid our most beloved rooms and the music community at large. To get some insight on the matter, Kyle Meredith speaks Billy Hardison, Kentucky’s precinct captain for the recently formed National Independent Venue Association, and artist Tyler Williams, drummer for The Head & The Heart. Together, they discuss what it’s been like to run their respective businesses during a global quarantine and pandemic, and what the dangers of our present and future could mean for live music in the long run. Strea...
England to Allow Indoor Concerts Beginning Next Month
Earlier this week, veteran talent agent and Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger predicted that concerts likely won’t return in the US until 2022 — a much bleaker timeline than the one previously provided by health experts. Meanwhile, our friends across the Atlantic will allow indoor concerts to take place beginning August 1st, 2020. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed the news on Friday, July 17th, as part of a larger discussion about the UK entering stage 4 of their five-stage reopening plan. While live indoor events will be allowed to return, there will be a strict set of guidelines in place, including social distancing measures, reduced capacity for venues, required online ticketing, frequent sanitization of sites, and staggered performance schedules. “The UK’s performing arts...
