Five Things I Learned From Attending A Virtual Concert
by Sheila M.
You are the backstage crew for this kind of show. Don’t be like us and wait until the last minute to test that your TV’s bias light can sync up with your home RGB enabled smart lighting system and sound bar. Test that out beforehand, or you’ll miss the opener – oops, this show had no opening act. So the first couple minutes I had to re-watch, which wasn’t a hassle really. Being late to virtual shows: more of a hassle than I expected it to be. Of course, if you’re not a total dork and don’t have a smart lighting setup, your experience is going to be pretty different from mine.
The price was perfect. Admittedly I’m pretty sure that the organizers of virtual concerts will not be thrilled that one person can buy a ticket and the rest of the household can see the show too, but they also can’t stop us, so I see this as a big benefit. Hey, it’s why I watched to begin with – I was totally unfamiliar with Joji, the artist, but craving that show vibe, and wanted to see if it would be a good stand-in.
Joji is simultaneously a very accomplished singer and a fantastic comedian. “Extravaganza” is really the only word for this blend of sketch comedy, piano and song: It felt like a variety show, but that makes me think of American Bandstand, and that wasn’t the vibe. Definitely dude’s musicianship was the star of the show. His YouTube career, which spanned 2011-2017, and which I somehow missed entirely, has to have helped; shot as though staged for a live audience, but with enough fourth wall breaking humor that even non-fans could get into the energy of the show, the focus on his ballads was perfect. Singing from an actual treadmill during “Run” was a highlight, as well as his asides (“Dude when does the song end?” and a small self pep-talk: “it’s the guitar solo then it’s almost over”), and of course “Gimme Love” brought its usual intense energy. “Tick Tock” (not about the app, thank god) was a surprise; didn’t know dude could rap.
4. Going to virtual shows is great. It just is. I know that crowds are part of the experience of IRL shows, but I don’t often enjoy them. My partner offered to occasionally stand on my foot, spill his beer down my back, and slur his worst pickup lines at me after an hour of covertly creepy staring, to make it a little more like a real show, but I declined. We had time to get food ready, get (most of) our lighting set up, didn’t have to pay for parking, and I wore whatever the hell I wanted. When it was over, instead of being tired, sweaty and sorta drunk facing an hour+ drive home, we went to bed! Fantastic.
5. Virtual shows, however awesome, aren’t for everyone. I think the reason the Extravaganza worked so well was that Joji is on his third or so career at this point, and having had all the experience of a Youtuber, back when that was still a good thing to be, and that it was his solo creative effort. Of course there was a team present and filming, as lampshaded in the initial sketch with an actual dunk tank, but it was entirely Joji’s vision – and that vision has included the Internet and film for a lot longer than the majority of artists. I don’t know that a virtual show would work well for every artist out there, or for every concert goer either, but I do know I’ll be attending more. At least if they’re by Joji.
