Bring Concerts to You
Digital media has been winking at us from the doorway of the future for quite some time. We are getting absorbed into our mediatic worlds, screens, and, in a way, moving into our artificial embodiments, day by day. The popular notion of the “future” was just a matter of innovation, yet, with quarantine lingering and dragging everything behind, we happened to become social animals with a silly pun on the word social. Just when I said OK, I got used to these online classes, online clubs, online shopping, online, online, online...things, I witnessed friends having online therapies, online relationships, and more online things that once, supposedly and ideally, would have occurred face to face. I am not in a position to blame or glorify what we are witnessing now. However, I can talk about how I am, well, taking advantage of the situation.
Music is a must in my life. When one listens to music as much as I do, we inevitably begin to delve into its multifaceted world, slowly drifting away from the popular tracks and the good, old classics. Language barriers disappear. And this search for the unknown, a search that satiates the hunger for more, starts. Yet, when your playlists consist of music from more than a hundred countries, you obviously miss out on the concerts that happen all over the world. And, unfortunately, when you live in a place where none of the popular artists stop by in their tours (I am not even talking about that local indie group we all admired once), you start to look for solutions. Now, the very same solutions for the live shows conundrum apply to today’s quarantine situation.
For all my beloved friends that long for concert halls and any artistic medium of music, here are two of my alternative choices of music sharing platforms. Enjoy!
ONSTAGE K
ONSTAGE K is a Korean music-sharing platform that attracted me first because of its cubic aesthetic, which encapsulates the artists it presents. While Korean pop is dominating the music industry with its singers, dancers, and performers, ONSTAGE showcases contemporary artists that are as talented but less famous than mainstream K-pop bands. If you are looking for authentic, indie/R&B/Rock, chill, and energetic music performed by amazing artists with a live band in the background, creating this artsy and carefree atmosphere, I suggest you check ONSTAGE videos.
TINY DESK
The Tiny Desk Concerts idea came when a music editor was so frustrated after a concert that he couldn’t hear anything because the crowd was cheering all the time. Later, he jokingly suggested to Bob Boilen, the now host of the Tiny Desk, that he should invite artists to perform at his own desk (read the story). Well, history happened. Now, behind a “tiny desk,” in front of a silent crowd, world-wide musicians perform their tracks in the most instrumental way possible. Having more genre and language options than ONSTAGE, Tiny Desk is definitely a must-listen.
Hope you had a nice time!
Thumbnail image via
