We’ll be the first to admit that nothing can ever replace the magic of live shows in person, but there are still a lot of ways to fill the void. We’ll be diving a little deeper into some of these items in the coming weeks, but for now here are a few ideas to get you started, stay connected, and keep you sane. In no particular order, here is a comprehensive look at the top ten ways music fans can overcome isolation blues.
1) Support Your Favourite Artists by Buying Their Merch.
These days artists generally rely on touring and playing live to make a living. They hardly make any money from Spotify or other streaming platforms – most of that goes to the labels. Obviously, this is not an option that is available to everyone, but if you have a little extra cash lying around or if you got a refund on a recently cancelled show, we’d love it if you would consider showing a little love to your favourite indie band by buying something from their online store. Vinyl, clothing, artwork… there’s so much cool merch out there!
Alternatively, you can donate to MusiCares, Sweet Relief, or any number of local organizations devoted to helping out in times of need.
2) Check out Glorious Sons Instagram and IG TV
The five-piece from Hamilton, Ontario are basically writing a new album in isolation and it’s freaking awesome. Front man Brett Emmons got the ball rolling with “Quarantine in a Rental Car,” featuring his husky voice belting out endearingly blunt lyrics lamenting over his (and the collective world’s) predicament. Our favourite might be #5 “Lilacs All the Way Down,” which is a slightly more up-tempo offering that finds Emmons musing about life before lockdown. Song#7 “Shambles Part 1” is a close second, and its’ anthemic hard-rock hooks give it hit single potential.
Glorious Sons performing in Vancouver March 5th, 2020
The collection, currently titled Isolation Songs also includes a cover of “I Saw a Tiger,” from the Netflix hit series “Tiger King.” So far, three band members have contributed songs and the last installation was #16, posted on March 30th. We are hopeful the guys have a few more up their sleeve and that we can see them played live, in person some day. We’d love to know what your favourite Isolation Song is!
3) Make a playlist for a friend
This activity will be even more rewarding if it’s a friend you haven’t seen in quite some time. Once upon a time, people used to make playlists and give them to other humans they liked as small tokens of appreciation. They were called mixed-tapes and making them was considered an art form because it took a lot more time and effort to do it well than it does today.
What was the first song you danced to? Kissed to? What songs did you listen to growing up? What song reminds you of “that one time when…” Browsing through your music library or streaming service of choice and picking out songs that remind you of someone you care about is a fun and creative way to connect in these crazy times. Follow it up with some facetime or a ZOOM chat. We’ve made one already and shared it with our dear friend and we can promise that it’s a fun activity from start to finish. We’ll be doing more for sure!
4) Watch James Corden’s HomeFest.
Broadcasting from his garage, Corden introduced performances from Billie Eilish and Finneas, John Legend, Lua Dipa, BTS, Andrea Bocelli, and the cast of Dear Evan Hansen.
It was an hour long special that appealed to music lovers of any age, from all over the world. Throw in a little Will Farrell handwashing skit and you’ve got the first of what we hope will be many music featured specials that will be easily accessible to the masses. If you missed it, you could still catch the musical performances on YouTube, or stream the whole show from CBS All Access.
The next major special featuring music is called One World: Together at Home and is spear-headed by none other than pop princess Lady Gaga with the help of WHO and Global Citizen. The event, which will be broadcast live at 5pm PT/8pm ET on April 18th will air simultaneously on ABC, NBC and CBS and will be available as a live stream on multiple global platforms.
5) Learn to Play Your Favourite songs.
Alright, most music fans that we know are also legit talented musicians themselves. But for the rest of us, this down time is the perfect time to learn. The bonus is that since all your favourite artists are also stuck at home, many of them are putting on tutorials on how to play their songs. Here are a few of your faves to choose from.
Frank Turner’s Try This at Home Series
James Bay via Instagram
Arkells via Instagram – they do one every day at 1pm ET
Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie with Tyler Masher from The Head and the Heart – for the aspiring percussionist in all of us.
If you’ve got extra cash, Tom Morello, Carlos Santana, Timbaland, and Deadmau5 all have masterclasses you can take.
6) Deep Dive into YouTube.
Don’t get us wrong, we still love streaming, and you can bet we’ve been logging hours on Spotify making playlists and discovering new music, but there are three things YouTube offers that other streaming platforms don’t.
The first is the music video. It’s basically another medium for our favourite artists to express themselves. We loved what the Lumineers did with their album III, and Halsey’s bold visual interpretation of her single “Nightmare” definitely helped illustrated her point. Older videos can be just as entertaining. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is a 14 minute long mini-movie that revolutionized the part music videos played in the industry. The video for “No Rain” by Blind Melon featured a young girl in a bumble-bee costume that has become somewhat of an icon for the 90’s grunge scene.
YouTube is also a gold mine for discovering cover songs and other rare recordings that you can’t get on Spotify. Search for your favourite song and add “cover” to your query and see what comes up.
The third, and possibly most rewarding offering on YouTube is the live recordings. Let’s face it, live music is what we are all missing the most these days and no place can deliver on that better than YouTube. You can find plenty of bootlegged uploads from fans at shows with phones, but there are also a lot of live specials that are hard to find anywhere else as well as some cool programs. Our favourites are KEXP, NPR Tiny Desk Series and Jam in The Van.
7) Find a new hand-washing theme song.
Let’s face it, singing Happy Birthday twice got old before the end of day one. Now we are a few weeks in and even the novelty of Brandon Flowers singing “Mr. Brightside” isn’t offering any inspiration. We get the feeling that 20 seconds of soap suds is going to be part of the new normal for the rest of our lives, so we might as well make those 20 seconds as enjoyable as we can.
If you need a little inspiration, try these articles from Entertainment Weekly or the Guardian.
You can also check out Wash Your Lyrics, an online tool that depict your favourite song lyrics onto a virtual poster depicting how to properly wash your hands in time with the song.
8) Zumba.
We have to admit that when the fad that combined working out with Latin dancing first hit the scene back in the 1990’s we basically of ignored it. But now, the Brazilian born aerobics craze seems like the perfect way for those of us without a home gym to stay fit at home while still enjoying music. Zumba is a full body workout that helps with hand-eye coordination and according to most participants is a whole lot of fun.
Zumba is now a trademark owned by Zumba Fitness LLC founded by creator Alberto Perlman. A good place to start looking for your first online class is their YouTube channel
9) Live Streams:
Nothing is ever going to replace being at a live show. But for now, Live Streams are a pretty good substitute. In some ways they feel more personal without the stage and the lights and all the rest of the things that make them really fun to photograph. *sigh* Anyway… there are plenty of live streams happening across many platforms every single day, and the best way to stay informed is to check social media or Bands In Town for announcements.
Hozier was one of the first to perform for the #TogetherAtHome series
Three of our favourites to tune into is #LiveFromHome with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie, #TogetherAtHome a phrase coined by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, which is put on by WHO and Global Citizen and Rolling Stone Magazine’s In My Room.
10) Pickathon’s A Concert a Day Series.
Pickathon is truly a music lover’s treasure trove when it comes to festivals and for 60 days (they started on April 8th), they will be premiering a “full recorded concert from past festivals.” These recordings have never been presented in full before now and will be streaming with the help of The Recording Academy, Amazon Music and YouTube.
We were lucky enough to experience Pickathon last year and loved every second of it. We are not sure if we are more excited to view shows we saw last year, shows we missed from last year or to check out shows from previous years. It’s like drinking from a fire hydrant in a friggin’ drought. Thank-You Pick-a-thon!!!
We hope you enjoyed this list, please feel free to bookmark it and come back to it as you make your way through. Let us know which ones you enjoyed the most and if there was anything we left out!