With world-renowned, decades-old music festivals like Glastonbury and Reading cancelling live events due to health restrictions, many are wondering what 2020 will be like for concerts and gigs. For the most part, the thousands of live events, concerts, and festivals that have had to either be cancelled or postponed have prompted many organizers to take their business online. So, here are some of the most promising online concerts and gigs you can catch this 2020.
Nyege Nyege Festival
Uganda’s Nyege Nyege festival is an annual concerted effort by the world’s best and most innovative EDM, house, and world musicians. This year, The Quietus reports that Nyege Nyege is going to be a hybrid live and online affair slated for September. Expect live sets from Uganda’s own Kampire, Slikback, Authentically Plastic, MC Yallah in the signature party at Uganda. With help from African Digital Art as well as 25 music and art collectives, Nyege Nyege’s digital platform will be curated by Sahel Sounds in Niger, Nadah El Shazly in Egypt, Jowaa Asokpor Corner in Ghana, and many other artists in different parts of Africa. “By exploring the hybrid of the physical and the digital we cherish this totally unique opportunity to explore the full potential of an online component to the festival,” explains the festival organizers.
Sound City
Liverpool’s Sound City has already booked the likes of Red Rum Club, The Lathums, Jamie Webster, Friendly Fires, and around 150 more modern Brit-pop and rock bands for their upcoming September event. Sound City CEO Dave Pichilingi spoke with Liverpool Echo to explain that the planned concert will also be a combination of online and live efforts, especially since some acts and speakers will be unable to travel physically. “We are looking at ways of delivering their music in a way online so that Sound City fans can see it. This will be in venues and spaces in and round about the Baltic Triangle.” While the online aspects of Sound City remain unclear, we can look forward to seeing how organizers are planning to combine live and online performances this September.
Royal Albert Home
The Royal Albert Home is the famous music hall’s foray into online events. It started this April with Rufus Wainwright as the main feature and has since successfully held around 40 performances with the likes of Imogen Heap, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and Lucy Dacus. Its diverse lineup of modern and traditional acts will continue throughout July, and can be expected to continue throughout the rest of the year, in line with the Royal Albert Hall’s plans to stay afloat throughout mass gathering restrictions.
Tanglewood on Parade
The Tanglewood Summer Music Festival puts together the best talents in contemporary, jazz, and classical music. This year, it transformed into the Tanglewood 2020 Online Festival, with recorded performances and concerts by Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, and Jeremy Denk now available on the festival’s site. As part of Tanglewood’s online offerings, they’re also planning the August release of Tanglewood on Parade, a retrospective featuring the best of the festival in its previous years. Much like the previous festivals, Tanglewood on Parade will be hosted by country and acoustic rock legend James Taylor, who is famous for always having a clean sound whether live or on record. Taylor’s acoustic style is best experienced live on stage, during which he relies on the Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre preamplification pedal to get that crystal clear guitar sound. He has brought this same technical sound expertise to his previous online-only gigs, and will continue to do so for the upcoming Tanglewood retrospective.
Bristol Riverside Theatre Summer Music Fest
If you’re a fan of musical theatre, Bristol Riverside Theatre will also be doing their annual Summer Music Fest completely online. There will be a total of three shows, each of which will be performed live for the first showing and then recorded for two later show dates. One of the shows is called From Phantom to Mame, which is a contemporary tribute to the songs of the legendary Andrew Lloyd Weber and the late, iconic Jerry Herman. Whether you catch the live performances or their recorded versions, the Bristol Riverside Theatre’s past performances basically guarantee that its upcoming digital events will be well worth your bandwidth.
