Nothing brings people together like live music, but at a time where crowding together to sing and dance is quite literally illegal, are virtual concerts the next best thing? Digital concerts aren’t a new concept, though they certainly have become normalized this year. It’s hard to imagine a reality where we all crowd together again, and for many, concerts are not only a chance to see your favorite artists, but the basis of your livelihood.

Emma Harrison, 20, who worked at a concert venue prior to the pandemic, is dubious that she will ever get her job back, but she insists that things will forever be different if she does. “There will likely be no more flat floor shows and the seats will have to all be 6 feet apart, which not only takes the fun away but will limit the amount of people able to go,” she said, emphasizing how part of the fun of concerts is the closeness you feel with those around you.

Curious about the new format that could replace her job, Harrison purchased a $20 ticket for a virtual Vance Joy intimate acoustic show. She had been to an in-person Joy concert before and wanted to know how the experiences would differ. As it turns out, things were pretty strange. “It was a Zoom call, so all of our cameras could be on but we had to be muted,” she recalled. 1,000 tickets were sold but only about 700 people tuned in. Unfortunately, at a real concert, part of the experience is everyone singing, dancing, and moving around you. Harrison agreed that it felt “harder to feel connected to him” in such a setting.

Luckily, Joy is not known for his upbeat, chaotic concerts. “He’s a very laid back artist, so this vibe wasn’t horrible, but I can’t think of many other singers or bands who would be able to pull this off,” she admitted.

Liam Payne announced in July he would be doing a series of live streamed concerts called The LP Show. These tickets started at $10, and were on a “pay as much as you can” basis. A Liam Payne concert is possibly the exact opposite of a Vance Joy one, as one results in a massively passionate fanbase coming from a band who used to break records for crowd volume, and the other is an acoustic singer with only one or two radio hits. Payne’s show was not an intimate Zoom, and was not live streamed from a living room. Instead, it was a fully produced show, taken place at an out of use music venue, and had a full band, set, and crew, all seemingly socially distant.

Despite initial technical difficulties that caused Payne’s act 1 show to be significantly delayed, fans seemed to be enjoying themselves, and have continued to rave about the shows after the fact. And with the third LP Show set to drop on Halloween, clearly it is successful enough to maintain the high cost of production these shows entail. It may not be the concert experience many of us yearn for, but for now, it seems to be getting the job done.

Concerts From Your Couch