Got Livestream If You Want It

A year into the pandemic, the improved quality of livestream concerts is helping to bridge the gap between artists and their socially distanced fans.

- By Mike Mettler

By the time you read this, it will be more than a year since most of us have been to a live concert in a packed venue. The last live show I personally attended took place on March 10, 2020, when I saw Dave Mason (“Feelin’ Alright,” “Only You Know and I Know”) at the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, New York. Little did I know when I walked out of the Riviera following my after-show chat with Mason that it would be the last live gig I’d see until, well, who knows when?

Ever since that initial early-2020 lockdown period, artists have sought to fill the live-experience void in many intriguing and creative ways. One cyber-remote live option that’s matured greatly over the past year—both in terms of visual presentation and sound quality—has been livestream concerts. Initially, artists were finding their virgin livestream footing by treating us to brief, decent-sounding solo performance clips on social media platforms. Then, as many an artist’s handle on homebound technology began ramping up, one-person one-off songs gave way to better-sounding, quarantine-approved multi-performer mini-sets and, eventually, full-on full-set concerts. Performance locales began rotating among living rooms, home studios, professional rehearsal spaces, and, eventually, inside actual known clubs and live venues—albeit sans in-person audiences for the most part, given the stringent capacity regulations still in effect.