What's missing from virtual concerts?
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Image: Unsplash
As Indonesia enters the new normal era, many are still skeptical of the functionality of things henceforth. For music fans or even musicians nationwide, this may include questioning the future of concerts and other large scale music events. To answer this, the government released a new set of laws that include protocols for offline or ‘new normal’ concerts from here on out.
Promoters would have to:
Limit the number of participants attending according to the size of the venue.
Implement a seating plan that maintains a one metre distance in between each participant, as events with a festival or standing mechanism is not advised.
Consider the use of digital innovation and technology to create a virtual experience to support the event.
Audience members would have to:
Register and fill out an online self-assessment form pertaining to the risks of COVID-19 before the event.
Bring their own cutlery (spoons, forks, chopsticks).
Maintain a physical distance of one metre from each other at all times.
Despite the presence of these protocols, the provincial government of DKI Jakarta still prohibits the commencement of tourism-related activities, especially concerts. This is due to the fact that social distancing is still relative to each individual, and there is no guarantee that the preparations are foolproof.
This leads us back to the only option of consuming virtual concerts, which, in short, can never replicate the feeling of a live one.
The thrill of a concert is composed of more than what’s presented onstage. There is the excitement in getting ready with your friends, picking out an outfit for a few Instagram shots and even having fun in long queues – all of these qualities become invisible in a virtual concert.
A phone screen could never package the anticipation and sheer zing of seeing your favourite recording artist live. Live arrangements are somewhat the more special, because nothing is ever really the same for every show. We get to experience something that’s not on record, like a spontaneous guitar solo midway. There’s also the rare phenomenon of an artist bringing a fan onstage to sing a duet, or a chuck of a sweaty towel as a souvenir after the show.
Virtual concerts don’t offer these encounters or experience that are emotionally tangible. It’s not impossible to tear up by listening to a pre-recorded live session through your earphones, but being present with the artist physically there feels like the ballad was sung just for you and/or your friends. There’s a moment you can bring home, one you can subconsciously repeat until it fades away.
Bear in mind that also most virtual concerts or festivals are not free, unless stated otherwise. Realistically speaking, it’s almost like paying for a poor quality YouTube video. No matter how great the audio was incorporated to the live stream, you’re listening to it through your phone speakers, which heavily diminishes the quality.
The highest number of insecurities faced by a virtual concert stems from technical difficulties like these. Network bandwidth, for example, is relative to the region you’re watching it from, so for most, buffering as well as pixelated and lagged images is inevitable.
To be fair, a physical concert is also vulnerable to flaws of its own like a faulty speaker set, inconsistent lighting, or a defunct screen. But, the emotional experience makes up for it easily.
Perhaps, given the power of green screens and technology nowadays, a virtual concert can attempt to recreate a live experience through the power of visuals, interactive chat rooms or even special food and drink deliveries that arrive on your doorstep right when the concert starts– something Zodiac Jakarta did with their virtual event, Neverwhere.
Another good example of a virtual experience includes Travis Scott’s ‘Astronomical’ – a virtual event that took place on video game Fortnite in late April. Video game company Epic Games was able to create a considerably immersive concert experience for a span of two days.
The visuals were undoubtedly fluorescent, with a giant AVI of Travis Scott teleporting all around the standard Fortnite map as well as special effects for some of his tracks like Highest in the Room, for example, where he had players swim in an endless ocean to somewhat recreate the ambient and lucid feel of the original track.
But for someone like Travis Scott, whose audience is used to a more interactive, rowdy, undoubtedly physical atmosphere, it’s difficult to say that this virtual reality experience is fulfilling.
Another good attempt was Hindia’s visually pleasing Menari Dengan Bayangan tour series, that had different tickets for a variety of set times ranging from the afternoon to the evening and a special merchandise bundle available for purchase. Each show was also thematically different from the other.
However, these exclusives are reruns of previous shows, so they technically don’t fall into the category of virtual concerts. They seem more like mere snippets of a tour documentary. However, it is a step into the right direction, as fans are given the chance to relive an experience of a lifetime once again.
If COVID-19 continues to persist, then this might just be the way forward for the industry of live music.
The live music industry is not made only of headlining acts. It also encompasses the people backstage, such as sound engineers, audio technicians, stage managers, runners and lighting crew– most of whom only receive daily wages. The absence of these people also make more room for technical difficulties, and concerts of simpler nature without special lighting, visual, or audio effects.
With all the events postponed, and the ability to host a virtual concert with a diminished number of people, these guys are feeling the brunt of the whole phenomenon of virtual concerts.
If virtual concerts cannot replicate physical connection, then modifications must be made to its content to make sure the concert still has a raw, human edge to it, especially if it’s an experience that people have to pay for. This is much easier said than done admittedly, because intimacy is hard to broadcast via a television screen.
A virtual concert leaves an everlasting digital footprint you can always revisit, but physical memories only exist for a certain period of time until you forget it. There are some things algorithms can’t recreate, which include the complexity of emotion and being present. But, as the viewers, we don’t really have a choice except to swallow the bitter pill that lacks fulfillment. For the backstage crews on the other hand, virtual concert is probably the only source of income they have during pandemic.