MUSIC PREVIEW: Whole Lotta Streams
With virtually no end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, bands and musicians continue to flock to livestreams to stay connected with their fans, and with any luck make a few dollars along the way. Some of the larger brands have also been helping out, with Bandcamp hosting a one-day event last week where 100% of the purchase price of music went to the artist, for example. Expect more of this in the coming days, as we seemingly settle in for the long haul. Even as regions move past their peak number of cases, big events like sports and concerts are likely the very last restriction that will be removed.
In addition to the below, the other thing to be on the watch for are livestream “festivals”, where a curator of some nature has put together a number of artists as part of their livestream. These are often focused on fundraising for a region’s coronavirus efforts. Some of these can have pretty big names – Thursday, for example, Indieheads Festival’s schedule includes Young Guv, Saintseneca, Ellis, and Teen Daze.
There’s also a number of sites that are starting to compile a variety of these livestreams and links. Yegstreams.ca is a great example locally; Live Nation is also doing one called Live From Home. It’s a new space that’s evolving daily, so be adventurous, see what you can find.
Thursday 2
Jon Capus – This local songwriter is celebrating his birthday with a livestream; he’s hoping to amp up the interactivity during the gig, and may even take some requests. 6 pm, $5.
Billie Zizi – This avant-jazz-experimental soul artist (top photo) is an extraordinary musician, and her music always feels like an adventurous road trip with something remarkable happening at every stop along the way. Link here, at 8 pm.
Friday 3
Barenaked Ladies – Even if you don’t have a million dollars, and who does, you can enjoy the Barenaked Ladies’ livestream this evening. Other tracks you may remember from the quirky pop-rockers back in the 90’s include Brian Wilson, Be My Yoko Ono, and The Old Apartment. 6pm.
Ayla Brook & the Sound Men – Part of the Starlite Sessions series, this local roots band – Edmonton Music Awards’ 2018 Roots Artist of the Year, in fact – are performing at the famous venue to celebrate the release of their new album, Desolation Sounds. Expect a number of other bands to go this way as they release new albums during these unprecedented times. Starlite’s been doing a number of these live shows, and trying a few other things as well, including open mic evenings where they post videos from a number of different bands doing a few songs each. 8 pm
Bad Buddy – Another project mentioned a number of times here on Gig City, this psych-punk-surf act features Emily Bachynski, and the two Vissia sisters, Alex and Andrea. Link here at 9:30 pm
Saturday 4
Canadian Folk Music Awards – which is moving their entire award show online for 2020. All 20 awards will be presented during the livestream, including category reviews and nominees. 5 pm,
Alex Vissia and Lindsey Walker – Two of the city’s most talented musicians and songwriters are going to be a “songwriter in the round” livestream using Facebook. Should be a stellar stream for both music fans and musicians alike. 2 pm
