Shows, concerts and festivals, large cultural gatherings are worth it. Since April and for the months to come, it is difficult to know what the future of these popular events might look like before the health crisis. The New York Post has attempted to establish an element of response by sketching a probable future for live music.
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The American daily first reports on the performances offered via interposed screens which animated the confinement. "We're all tired of seeing someone playing guitar on their couch," laments Dave Brooks, senior director of Billboard, the world's largest music chart.
However, he welcomes the progress that this brings in terms of productions, as was the case for Travis Scott's live which had occurred live from the Fortnite video game. Or during the Dropkick Murphy's concert in a totally empty Boston Red Sox stadium. “Paid streaming, it's amazing how well artists do when they combine online performances with their merchandise, special vinyls and the like,” he said.
Latest example, “Tomorrowland Around the World”. Substitute of the original festival, this Tomorrowland “digital paid version” took place this weekend and brought together more than a million Internet users. “We had 400,000 people who would have come to Belgium from all over the world and for them Tomorrowland is the highlight of the year” , explained Michiel Beers, co-founder of Tomorrowland, before this special edition. However, he underlines that if this version "has the right to exist alongside the real festival" , it can in no way "replace it" .
Drive-in, back to the future
A second option is put forward by the Post . To do this, we have to go back more than half a century to the golden age of drive-ins. Ultra-popular in the United States in the 1960s, the formula offered the possibility of seeing films "in the open air" in your car. The process has since been diverted and adapted to concerts. Saturday, near New York, was held the charity concert "Safe & Sound". To enjoy the concert, 100 acres of Nova's Ark Project sculpture park have been transformed into an improved drive-through, with strict rules. Perimeters were marked out for each group of visitors and spaced six feet (1.8 meters) apart, allowing them to exit onto the grass.
The size of the vehicle also affected the number of people allowed per space. Four people maximum per sedan and six per SUV. Only the toilet break made it possible to escape from the area, with, of course, wearing a compulsory mask. For Seth Kaplan, organizer of the event, this is "the wave of the future" , although he considers this type of meeting to be more suited to smaller and more intimate events. This trend “will continue for years to come,” he concludes. Judging by the breach of the rules on Saturday night when The Chainsmoker, headliners of the concert, appeared in doubt.
