Two Upcoming Online-Only Events – and One to Catch Up With

Entertainment has changed fundamentally in the last few months.

The world of entertainment – at least the one involving artists performing live in front of audiences – has changed fundamentally in the last few months. And by “changed” we mean “disappeared”. The majority of events involving live audiences, from trade shows to music festivals, have been either cancelled, postponed, or moved exclusively online.

Many artists have chosen alternative “venues” to perform, to still connect to their fans even when they are stuck at home. Some of them chose unexpected places to perform, like Travis Scott’s “Astronomical” event inside Epic’s Fortnite, others have chosen more “traditional” means to do it (can we even say that).

The Performance

Take That was one of the many sensational boy bands from the 1990s that left a lasting impression on the world of music. Among others, it helped the world discover amazing voices like those of Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams, with several albums certified platinum around the world and more accolades under their belt than one could enumerate. Williams left Take That in 1995, went solo, and became a massive success, returning to the band briefly in 2010. Then once again for a brief online performance late last month.

On May 29, Take That reunited once again in an online-only performance arranged by the London-based promoter Meerkat Music. The kind-of concert featured Mark Owe, Howard Donald and Gary Barlow along with Williams – Jason Orange, who left the band (and the music industry) in 2014 was the big absent from the performance. “THE PERFORMANCE” can be seen on YouTube here.

All in WA

Quite often, online performances are paired with a cause – during these times, the cause usually has to do with healthcare and disaster relief. “All in WA”, an online-only event scheduled for June 10, is one of them: its goal is to raise funds for the WA Food Fund, the WA Student & Youth Homelessness Fund, and several others.

The event will feature a series of big names in the Washington state music scene, including Pearl Jam, Ben Gibbard, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Macklemore, and Dave Matthews, among others. The concert will be broadcast on local NBC affiliate TV channels and will be streamed live through the AmazonMusic Twitch channel (Amazon, by the way, is one of the sponsors of the event). And those who miss it will be able to rewatch the concert on Amazon Prime.

Electric Blockaloo

Electric Blockaloo didn’t choose the online “venue” you might expect: Minecraft. This idea is not entirely original – a few weeks ago, a bunch of students from the US recreated their high school inside Microsoft’s popular game to hold a “mineprom” instead of a real-life one.

The Minecraft festival will have more than 300 performers occupying its 30+ virtual stages and will be filled with games and other activities. Rave.Family created “the most epic festival venue ever created” inside the game – or maybe ever.