From drive-in concerts to livestreaming on Fortnite, the industry has had to adapt creatively to the current restrictionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our
Coronavirus coveragePunk gigs don’t usually lend themselves to quiet introspection. By their nature, they should be noisy, chaotic and rammed with fans. But
music under lockdown has warped into new ways of being. So Free Word’s festival of feminist punk, streamed live on
YouTube from each artist’s home, is a discombobulating experience; Ms Mohammed, a musician costumed in blood red against a wall draped in shawls, reminds herself to “pause and wait for the applause” at the end of each song, despite not being able to see any of the 60 fans who have tuned in to see her.
The scene is doing its best to connect, given the circumstances. But with an industry on its knees, where 80% of
UK music venues are now under serious risk of permanent closure and £900m has been wiped from the £1.1bn live sector this year, the need for nimble innovation is urgent. But what exactly will live music look like after lockdown? Gigs can be reconfigured to meet social distancing guidelines – the crucial question is whether they will work.