What Do You Miss Most About Concerts? We Asked 32 Artists and Fans
What will we do without live music? Talk about it, of course
Photo by Jazmin Quaynor/Unsplash Music Lists CoronavriusThe coronavirus pandemic has led to concert cancellations en masse in an effort to keep fans and artists safe. This has been an incredibly devastating financial loss for the music industry at large, especially because many independent artists make most of their income from ticket sales. However, it’s also a huge emotional loss. Live music fosters community, and so many artists and fans have been reeling without the ritual of hearing or playing music alongside like-minded folk. Thankfully, artists are still finding ways to creatively bring music to their fans through livestreams and virtual events, but the fact of the matter is that there’s no real substitute for live music happening in front of you.
I decided to check in with my Twitter followers to find out what people specifically miss the most about concerts, festivals and live music. While there’s no guaranteed re-start to the touring circuit, we can at least reminisce about our favorite shows and moments in the meantime. There was a wide variety of answers. As one user said, concerts provide “week night therapy.” Another mentioned the escape angle, that concerts help us to forget “about reality” and “live in the very moment!!!!!” One user equated concerts to “heaven.” Read all the answers below.
Most people, unsurprisingly, missed the feeling of community most:
when the energy in the room is buzzing and it almost feels tangible. also, not surprisingly, really miss the smell of the dense haze
— Heather Hawke (@heatherhwk) July 17, 2020
discovering opening bands.
entering a different world for a few hours
meeting people
geeking out about music
tabling for @909thebridgesorry couldn’t do one
— Ballad Of my class (she/her) (@AwesomeSPED) July 17, 2020
The accidental mistakes a band makes that end up being more special than the record, and the shared “fuck yeah” energy between everyone in the room in that moment. Miss the general experience of sharing something like that and feeling connected to other people on that level
— Vlad Holiday (@vladholiday) July 17, 2020
Feeling the music in your chest, goosebumps on the skin, a sore throat from singing all night at the top of your lungs, hugs from strangers, community.
— valerie gritsch (@valderie) July 17, 2020
The music is playing loud and proud, and the feeling the performers and the fans experience is the same: letting everything else fade away just for a moment, and allowing the music to envelop you and become your heaven.
— Br0k3n/V1d30/T4p3 (@BrokenVideoTape) July 17, 2020
The connection. Playing shows to my laptop and webcam expends a lot of energy that I will never get back. It’s exhausting, and it’s hard to feel like I’m connecting with an audience I can’t see or hear apart from a text message every so often.
— Jeff Brown Sings, but only online now, I guess (@jeffbrownsings) July 17, 2020
Fan here: I miss the moment where the power of the music overwhelms me and I experience a loss of self and am subsumed into the communal wave.
I’ve had this happen in punk mosh pits and sitting quietly at an acoustic show – it’s a glorious, unpredictable kind of magic.
— Angelle Haney Gullett (@CityofAngelle) July 17, 2020
being able to sing along to your favorite songs with hundreds/thousands of people doing the same as you. the chance for special versions of songs and sets. the high after leaving a great concert, etc
— lexi (@lexixlane) July 17, 2020
Telling jokes with the crowd and all laughing together pic.twitter.com/eCD0cKNnaE
— Okey Dokey (@okeydokeyband) July 17, 2020
Community. The sense that everyone gets when they know a song is coming, or when something hits the right note. Relatedly, I would have been seeing Phish tonight but for gestures as broadly as possible.
— Rory Masterson (@rorymasterson) July 17, 2020
The security of being around a group of people all gathered to appreciate the same thing. When seeing a big artist it is a thriving community, with a small artists it is a niche club. Either way, there is a sense of community that is hard to replicate.
— David Jones (@davidjtjones) July 17, 2020
I miss banter, singing along with strangers, and showing up early and being surprised by an opening act 🙁
— Emilio Herce (@emilioherce) July 17, 2020
When you’re playing and you look into the crowd and you see the song really move someone
— Eddy Undertow (@SweetUndertow) July 17, 2020
Being taken out of my mind and soaking up community
— Samantha Zaruba (@szarubaa) July 17, 2020
Others cited an overwhelming personal emotion:
The confetti canons going off while you’re running on pure emotion, singing/screaming along to the song — when you can’t even process how much fun you’re having
— Deepa Lakshmin (@deepa) July 17, 2020
This might sound blasphemous, but I’ve been to concerts where it felt like God was in the room and I was overwhelmed with emotion. I miss that feeling.
— Pepper Reed (@starchaser14) July 17, 2020
The unbridled joy that occurs when the artist finally performs either 1) the song you’ve been waiting for all night or 2) some unexpected deep cut that you love and most people around don’t recognize.
— Andrea Dresdale (@AndreaDresdale) July 17, 2020
Closing my eyes and getting goosebumps
— Stump (@LiveGreenVeg) July 17, 2020
Joy
— Rod Davies (@daviesr7) July 17, 2020
watching someone get true joy from performing is infectious
— Tess Malone (@temalone) July 17, 2020
The beautiful vibrations delighting my heart, mind, and body.
— Greg Swanson (@Swani7Greg) July 17, 2020
There were more specific memories, too:
The sudden hush, then cheer when the stage lights come up and the artist steps on stage, especially if they get right to playing with no preamble.
— Marc Pitarresi (@marc_pitarresi) July 17, 2020
hearing that ONE song that means a ton to you and whoever you’re there with
— annie black (@helloannieblack) July 17, 2020
i love/miss the surprise order of a set list
— isabel crabtree? (@crabtreeisabelm) July 17, 2020
telling the tall guy in front of me that my short friend can’t see
— austin jones (@belfryfire) July 17, 2020
Original groups dropping unexpected cover songs.
— Jim Dier (@Jim_Dier) July 17, 2020
Impromptu improvisation so you know this is the only time you’ll hear that guitar part that way or that ad lib sang that way and that moment when the lights go down also the walking out intro music, also all of it
— Erica Campbell (@ericacxmpbell) July 17, 2020
Watching people stage dive fasho.
— Rose—Gold™ (@RoseGoldOK) July 17, 2020
Hummus in the green room.
— Bloodweiser (@bloodweiserband) July 17, 2020
But a lot of people just missed drinking beer in public spaces:
and beer
— David Jones (@davidjtjones) July 17, 2020
My world record speed: running out to the lobby, grab my wife a beer, and make it back before the next song starts.
— Tim McIntyre (@TimMcIntyre11) July 17, 2020
Losing myself in the music in a small, sweaty club with a couple of beers under my belt.
— trip (@TMcClatchy) July 17, 2020
And beer.
— Bloodweiser (@bloodweiserband) July 17, 2020
Hearing a song that you didn’t pay much mind to previously live and then it becoming your favorite song for the next 4-6 weeks. Oh, and the draft beer!!!
— Katie Huff (@kmhuff10) July 17, 2020