In this uncertain time, the coronavirus has cancelled many shows around the world and caused artists to isolate themselves for the safety of everyone around them. But, here to lift everyone’s spirits is Coldplay’s Chris Martin, streaming a live set via Instagram on Monday 16th March. Many other musicians have followed suit.
Martin chatted to fans through Instagram Live and played acoustic piano songs for a set of 30 minutes, covering ‘Life On Mars’ and playing a few of Coldplay’s hits such as ‘Viva La Vida’, ‘Clocks’, and ‘Yellow’. The campaign has been called ‘Together, At Home’ and is a collaboration between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Global Citizen. It is a series of virtual concerts which hopes to “promote unity amis the Covid-19 pandemic’s social distancing protocols“ as well as supporting WHO’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The livestream had 31,000 viewers including John Legend, fellow song-writer and friend of Martin, who will hopefully be one the next acts to livestream.
View this post on InstagramChris played a mini gig at home earlier today on IG Live. @glblctzn @WHO @JohnLegend #TogetherAtHome
Other artists and bands have joined in, including Yungblud. The 22-year-old singer had planned to tour South America during this time but, upon its cancellation, he decided to connect with fans online from America, where he is currently residing. He put on a full gig called ‘The Yungblud Show’ with a band and a venue, live streaming an hour long set which even included a cooking segment.
317,000 people tuned in and sent comments and videos of themselves dancing in their homes. In an interview with Channel 4, the artist said the the idea was originally to have a small bedroom performance, but the fans turned it into a big production. Yungblud also mentioned that he was currently trying to plan the next event.
View this post on Instagrammonday 7am pdt. see you there. tell ya mates. @machinegunkelly @bellathorne @olivertree
A post shared by YUNGBLUD (@yungblud) on
This idea has caught on, allowing people to connect and be creative, even though the loss of income is still devastating. Christine And The Queens are staging nightly live shows from the Ferber recording studio in Paris, while Keith Urban played a 30 minute show from his warehouse as Nicole Kidman listened in the background. These can be found on their Instagram pages.
Frank Turner held a fundraising show on Facebook yesterday (Tuesday 17th March) to combat financial losses. Finally, Welsh folk band Calan sold personalised songs along with some of their clothes to earn back the money from their cancelled tour.
