ST. LOUIS — Concertgoing as we know it is on hold indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic, but artists are finding creative ways to stay visible.
As tours, festivals and concert venues have shut down and gatherings of people are banned, livestreaming has surged to the forefront.
“We’re still getting gigs, but they’re online now,” says St. Louis pop/Americana artist Cara Louise. “It’s a completely brand-new wheelhouse.”
Bronx native DJ D-Nice had the world grooving Saturday night when he went live with his “Homeschool” Club Quarantine broadcast on Instagram. Oprah Winfrey, Rihanna, Drake, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Dwayne Wade, Diddy, Janet Jackson, Ellen DeGeneres, Will Smith and even Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were among the 100,000 viewers who popped in during D-Nice’s eight-hour spin. It was such a success that he did it again Sunday night, with even bigger numbers.
MTV has dusted off a classic concept with “Unplugged at Home,” featuring artists performing stripped-down sets from home. Wyclef Jean kicked off the series.
The Billboard Live-At-Home series also recently launched. Circle All Access streams concerts from the Grand Ole Opry. Triller’s Co-Trilla Quarantine is a digital weekend festival in April, when Coachella was scheduled.
The list of big-name artists who have performed intimate shows for fans online is long and growing: Garth Brooks, Erykah Badu, Shawn Mendes, Jennifer Hudson, Kirk Franklin, Camila Cabello, Pink, Josh Groban. H.E.R., Luke Bryan, Neil Young, John Legend, Niall Horan, Gavin Rossdale, Brad Paisley, Anthony Hamilton, Common, Chris Martin, Miguel, Keith Urban, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, Allen Stone, Brandy Clark, David Foster, Katherine McPhee, Charli XCX, Questlove, DJ Premier, Indigo Girls, Kelsea Ballerini and Charlie Puth.
In addition to performing online, some artists are offering words of comfort and encouragement, suggesting donations and pointing fans to their merch stores.
St. Louis blues singer and guitarist Marquise Knox has been livestreaming for years, viewing it as a way to stay current.
“It’s part of what I do — familiar territory for me,” says Knox, who claims to be the first local blues player to livestream. He sees it as a necessary tool now; he isn’t certain whether he’ll be rejoining ZZ Top and Cheap Trick on tour in Canada later this spring.
In addition to delivering music, he sees his livestreaming presence today as a calming voice.
“When you get in front of the camera, you can let your other talents come out as well,” Knox says. “I want to keep the spirits high. I know everybody is freaking out. A lot of people are already giving up, and we’ve just started. If it’s like this already, imagine what it’s gonna be like next week.”
Knox has only livestreamed once so far during the pandemic — during a Facebook Live session from his living room that ran over an hour — but he’ll continue. Fans have bought Knox’s merchandise online, which he plugged during the livestream.
“Once you get going, it’s hard to stop,” he says.
St. Louis singer-songwriter Beth Bombara says the pandemic has artists thinking outside the box. She livestreamed on Facebook for about 45 minutes from her kitchen last week after learning her gigs were canceled for the foreseeable future, including a U.K. tour that was to kick off in late April.
“It had been a while since we’d been over there, so a lot of fans were sad,” she says. “I said, ‘Maybe I really need to figure out this livestreaming situation.’ It was very simple. I set up my phone on a tripod — nothing fancy — played, and people logged on. They commented, I comment back live, they request songs and there was a genuine reaction going on.
“I didn’t realize it could have such a meaningful connection. It’s not the same as being in the same room, but it’s still a unique connection.”
Bombara plans to livestream at 8 p.m. Central Mondays, moving from her kitchen to her home studio.
Cara Louise — whose upcoming gigs were canceled, including some in Nashville, Tennessee — is scheduled to perform Wednesday night as part of the Master Musicians’ Social Distance Fest. The weeklong show runs through Sunday at facebook.com/mastermusiciansfestival with a stacked lineup of performers.
“It’s about exposure and momentum,” says Cara Louise. “We’re not getting directly paid, but we’ll talk about the struggle and tell people where to buy our merchandise and how they can continue to support artists through these tough times.”
She also points to the new STL Arts & Music Fund, organized by Ben Majchrzak of Native Sound, where she records.
Spoken-word artist Corey Black regularly broadcasts his “Rona Open Mic” from what he calls the Quarantine Lounge, aka the TV room in his St. Louis home. “You instantly go into survival mode when you can’t get booked,” says Black, who hosts the monthly Poetic Justice open-mic events. He says having no bookings isn’t new for him, especially when he was living in New York City the last couple of years.
Black would let his imagination run wild, turn his room into a performance space and go live, just like he’s doing now.
“Do it from the comfort of where you’re at,” Black says. He broadcasts on his Facebook page from 11:11 a.m. to 1:11 p.m. and from 11:11 p.m. to 1:11 a.m. daily to reach different audiences.
“I’m getting poets joining the chat from all over the world,” he says. “There’s no telling who’s going to jump on. It’s no different from an open mic. It’s about letting people sing, spit a poem, play guitar.”
Black’s viewers have been donating through the Poetic Justice cash app and Venmo.
Takashima Records, a Japanese record bar-style nightspot that opened in the Grove shortly before the coronavirus pandemic reached us, has a 24-hour livestream for fans to check out.
Other St. Louis performers who are livestreaming include Ryan Marquez, Joshua Loyal, Ashley Lusk, Family Affair, Curt Copeland, Foxing’s Conor Murphy, Langen Neubacher, Jackson Stokes and Zeus Rebel Waters, along with DJs Charlie Chan Soprano, Kut, Vandalyzm, Alexis Tucci, James Biko, Cuddy, AJ, BJ the DJ, Tril, Kimmy Nu and Rico Steez, comedian Darius Bradford and drag performer Desiré Declyne.
DJ James Biko goes live tonight at 5 p.m. via Facebook and Instagram. We Are Live’s Chris Denman presented a virtual happy hour Thursday with comedian Jessimae Peluso and singer Katie Toupin.
Singer and bassist Tonina, who in December opened for Foxing at Delmar Hall, hasn’t ventured into livestreaming yet. But after losing $10,000 in gigs, she’s looking into it.
“I’ve cried my heart out,” she says. “I’m heartbroken. That was my band’s income, my booking agent, a lot of people I care about deeply who I can’t help in any way.”
Tonina doesn’t have any merchandise set up for sale, and she says she feels weird asking for donations. But she may still go live for music, conversation and more — if not for herself then for her bandmates.
“I know a lot of artists are doing that, but I hate we’re at this point where people are asking for money. But people do what they gotta do. I’m not going online saying ‘Please donate,’ but I’m feeling compelled. It’s not just about me. It’s about my team.”
Bombara used a “virtual tip jar” to collect donations using PayPal and Venmo during her livestream.
“While I was playing, people were tipping me,” she says. “I didn’t know how it would work, but it seemed to work really well. It can be something that will help artists during these trying times.”
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