I think live streams are a great way of passing the time while in quarantine. But more and more I keep seeing people say that this could be a good permanent replacement for live music. But is it really a good replacement?
Now I feel like I should start this off by saying what a good thing I think the live streams are. They have the ability to keep the connection between the artist and their fans alive at a time no one can even leave their house. The way they happen at a set time and day can help people keep track of passing time even if they no longer have a routine. I love reading everyone’s reactions and trending the hashtags involved in the stream through social media. Overall it’s a pretty enjoyable experience.
It’s just nothing like the experience of going to a concert.
From the moment I watched my first streamed concerts I knew that this was true, but I struggled to explain why. The artist was giving just as much energy as they always do, and the songs were the same ones I’d loved hearing many times before. It should have felt the same, but it didn’t. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later when I was watching the Yungblud live at Brixton Academy stream that I figured it out why.
Watching that playback reminded me of my date from that tour. Now, the things happening weren't exactly the same. Sometimes an audience member would scream louder than anyone I remember screaming at my show, or the dialogue between the artists and audience would go on longer; maybe a particular song had been switched out on the setlist, or we didn’t think their mosh pit looked “quite as large” as ours. Me and my sister mentioned small details like these all the way through watching it.
At the end I connected to twitter only to see we haven’t been the only people reminiscing. Everyone had something to say; There where the people who had camped out all day, the ones that had gone alone, the ones that had successfully crowd surfed to their favourite song; some people admitted they had cried at the end of there shows, or the couple of people that got to hold Dom’s hand or accidently swallowed some confetti. I might have read 100 stories under that hashtag, and they all seemed a little bit different.
That’s the moment I realized why it didn’t feel the same. Live concerts had never been just about seeing the artist play some songs, but also all the things that happened between them. Being part of something collective but still feeling like the experience is personal to you.
While I was thinking about this realization, I remembered reading about a study done awhile ago that found that attending concerts regularly could increase your emotional wellbeing by more than 20%. I looked it up and it turns out it had been done by Patrick Fagan and the wireless company O2 back in 2018. The study apparently came to the conclusion that “More than two-thirds of respondents said the shared experience of watching music with others made them feel happier and healthier compared to listening to music alone. Concertgoers reported a 25% increase in feelings of self worth, a 25% increase in closeness to others and a 75% in mental stimulation.”
What really interested me was wording of this study the way they said “Shared experience of watching music with others” and compared it to “listening to music alone” suggested to me that they were very aware that the shared experience might be a similarly important part of going to see live music as the musician playing songs on stage.
Musicians are the base of the live industry. Without them creating songs that resonate with audiences there won’t be concerts in the first place. However, the safe places where these events happen and the audience members supplement the experience in a way video chat comments just can’t.
I think a lot of artists know this too. There's been a long history of bands saying that audience and atmosphere is what can turn a good concert into a great one. A popular example I instantly think of is Twenty One Pilots, which as well of finishing all their shows with the phrase “We are Twenty One Pilots and so are you”. They have also talked at length over the years about their need for a live audience when pulling off shows considering there are only 2 members on stage.
So going back to the original question: Does streaming sound like it could be a good permanent replacement for live music events? From a personal perspective I just have to say no. As long as the technology fails to submerge you in the atmosphere and sense of community around the event, it is not a successful substitute. It might be a great temporary replacement but at the end of the day live shows will have to come back eventually.- Written and Photos by Alexa Davyd 2020