Virtual festivals: the future, or the best of a bad situation?

If you didn't know, we're still entangled in a global pandemic. Everyone's plans for 2020 have been completely derailed, and as the days go by, we trudge on with a mix of hopeful optimism and an attitude of "there is a good chance this year will just keep getting worse".

One of the many casualties that Covid-19 has taken away from us is music festivals. It's summertime, the temperature is... usually reasonable, and you're living in a field for five days getting tanked with your mates - it's a British tradition for people of all ages (but mostly 16-38 year olds). For many, it's the highlight of the year; the Christmas of the summer. Alas though, 2020 wasn't having it, and we have to wait until next year at least.

However, some of the powers that be have found a way around their restrictions, by holding a very 21st century alternative to the sights, sounds and smells of a wet and muddy field: a virtual festival. Accessible to anyone with a device that can use the internet, some select festivals have shown footage from old concerts, held interviews with bands that were set to play the festival this year, and even broadcast a live performance online from certain acts.

What seems to be the case though, is that many of the festivals choosing to do this, are very firmly entrenched in a "community" style feel. Download Festival is one example - the biggest rock and metal festival in the UK, whose message and branding emboldens a spirit of one big rockin' family. Having been five times now, it's incomparable to other festivals I've attended, simply because everyone feels welcome and everyone is there to have a good time. The music also helps.

On the weekend the festival was supposed to be taking place, Download held its own online festival in the form of Download TV, where there were interviews and performances involving bands on the 2020 bill, as well as other forms of entertainment including cooking shows and eyoga. All this was available to everyone for free, with encouragement throughout to raise money for the NHS. In the end, the festival raised £10,585 for NHS Charities Together, plus £135,558 in charity t-shirt sales, which is an incredible effort! Yes, the NHS isn't a charity and shouldn't need help from a music festival to raise its funds, but this was a grand gesture from the Download team.

2000 Trees Festival, a small to medium sized event held at Upcote Farm in Gloucestershire, provided an alternative on a slightly lesser scale, by broadcasting live performances from a number of acts booked for this year, as well as interviews and unseen footage from old shows. The somewhat predictably named 2000 Screens admittedly, in the words of the festival team themselves, "could never replace 2000 Trees", but it was a pretty damn good lifeline. They didn't have to organise it, but they did for their love of music.

2000 Trees Festival held its online festival, 2000 Screens, in July

Most years, as June draws to a close, Glastonbury have the BBC at their mercy. You can't blame them really, it is Glastonbury after all. It was only fair that the Beeb show famous performances from old headliners and other memorable moments during Glasto's 2020 weekend. It was nice to relive past memories of me either glued to the TV at home watching Metallica, or at the Pyramid Stage watching the event close out in a storm of fireworks and flags during The Who. Alongside their mainstream television coverage, Glastonbury also aired free content online including meditation sessions, behind the scenes footage, and even debates from the infamous Left Field activist organisation.

What Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds lack though, is the community spirit. For Download and 2000 Trees, what was unique to them was the feeling that you could talk to anyone and they would become your new mates. What people will miss from Glasto instead is maybe taking an inadvertent stroll through Shangri-La and not being sure if what you're seeing is real, or if the shrooms have finally kicked in. Reading & Leeds? Maybe having someone defecate on your tent.

In respect of Download and 2000 Trees, that's what was needed most in 2020: the big happy family vibe. Everyone there is your friend. No online festival could fill that void, even if Zoom is a thing now. This was what made Download TV especially more unique. You can tell they put a lot of thought into their content and made the best of what they could, and the acts seemed more than happy to take part.

Download 2018 - the festival family

We should be thankful for what British festivals have done for us in this cacophony of a year. In an effort to lift our moods and give us something to plug the gaps in our summer, we have been treated to some very unique experiences that, as good as they were, hopefully won't have to happen again. Keep your fingers crossed that by 2021 we will be able to return to our second homes, sitting in camping chairs, drinking warm cans and tripping over guy ropes in the night.

But will this become more common in the future? Will some events divert to an online format in a bid to save money and avoid any potential social distance rule breaking? Or will things return to the way they were soon enough, and this will be a one off? We can only wait and see.

In the meantime, here I am enjoying a Saturday watching Iron Maiden on Download TV, when I should have been in a sea of 100,000 metalheads at Donington Park instead... watching Iron Maiden.

The impact of Covid-19 on the music industry

If you're reading this, chances are you're a fan of music, and I don't blame you.

Maybe, like me, you had plans to go to a few gigs this year, but they have now been scuppered by the global pandemic known as coronavirus. Our enjoyment may be on the line, but it goes deeper than that. A lot deeper.

We have to remember that on the other end of this, human beings aren't making any money from touring, album promotions or other similar activities. It is well documented that Covid-19 has hit the world's economies with the sort of critical hit we are used to seeing a Razor Leaf inflict, and there aren't enough Hyper Potions in the world that can bring some normality back soon enough.

Of course, it goes beyond the artists too. Think of all the venues that are currently losing money, just sitting there idly waiting for the green light to start hosting live entertainment again that won't require the use of a webcam. Until then, they can only wait. Some may be closed forever, while the lucky ones will be able to survive, but sacrifices will have been made e.g. furloughs, job cuts etc.

Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton (Credit: Chris Whippet)

In the UK, venues valued under £51,000 are entitled to a small grant of between £10,000 and £25,000. The majority of smaller venues are said to be in serious trouble, with roughly 83% of grassroots venues in the UK under threat of closure, which is why these grants are so important. Thankfully eviction isn't an option (for now), but the main issue for these venues is rent. The longer the lockdown is on for, the more likely that these venues get the touch of death.

Aside from live music, artist sales have also taken a knock, what with the temporary closure of shops that sell music such as HMV and independent retailers. Even online options have become more limited, with retailers deciding to focus on more essential items than CDs and vinyls. It seems that the easiest way to gain access to music is streaming services, but it is now common knowledge that musicians barely make any money from services such as Spotify or Apple Music.

Some artists (Biffy Clyro, Alanis Morissette, Dixie Chicks, Lamb Of God etc...) have even decided to delay the release of their albums because of the situation. What do you think? Should artists help us get through this by releasing new music, or should they wait so that they can promote it accordingly with tours and music videos?

Like a lot of retailers, music stores have been hit hard (Credit: Jennifer Boyer)

What to take away from this is that, just like with the majority of things in life, there is so much more to it than meets the eye. There are so many levels to this that it takes some time to process the domino effect that the downfall of the music industry will have on both the economy and the people who drive it.

When this is over, support your local music scene more than ever before. If you can, buy that record you like at your local music outlet, pay for that "slightly expensive" gig, and keep the industry afloat after it has taken such a whack. You can also support your favourite musicians by buying merchandise. If you can, buy it from their website so the revenue goes directly to them.

We may have lost our whole summer, maybe even the rest of the year, but we should spare a thought for those across the nation, whatever the industry, who have lost their jobs as well. Nobody could have predicted this, and as such, not many people will have prepared for such a situation.

Let's hope this is over soon and we can see our families, friends and favourite musicians.

Album review: Enter Shikari - Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible

Never one to stick to the rules, St Albans outfit Enter Shikari have continued to go for the

(Credit: ThereIsNoAlternative)

jugular with their form of vibrant, cutting music.

If you haven't listened to Enter Shikari before, they tend not to skirt the issues. A band which has previously challenged climate change deniers, the government and girls who have wronged them, the boys don't exactly follow the rule book. Each of their albums are part of their journey and shows a progression - album number six Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible is no different.

Produced by lead vocalist Rou Reynolds, Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible is a journey filled with both speed bumps and no speed limits. Compared to previous effort The Spark, it feels more stripped back, yet also more unhinged.

Filled with fast dance numbers such as opener The Great Unknown and the Faithless-esque T.I.N.A, the band flex their sugar-fuelled muscles to remind everyone of their rights to the British dance rock throne. The quartet have their fingers in many pies though, especially on this record. Some of those pies consist of the sweet, bubblegum fillings of Crossing The Rubicon and The Pressure's On, while others are for the more sophisticated palate such as Elegy For Extinction (recorded with the City Of Prague Symphony Orchestra, no less), as well as others that have the feel of  a more classic flavour that fans have become accustomed to such as The King and The Dreamer's Hotel.

It also wouldn't be an Enter Shikari album without a musical interlude or two, and nothing changes here. Apocaholics Anonymous is for the dubheads, while Reprise 3 harks back to breakthrough album Take To The Skies in both track name and lyrical content.

Fans know that where Enter Shikari's real strengths lie though is in their live show, and boy are there some tunes curated for such an event. Take the gargantuan pop hooks of Marionettes (II. The Ascent) for example, or Modern Living.... and its lyrical nods to Oasis and Phil Collins, whether intentional or not.

With most acts, an album featuring such a mishmash of styles would go over most people's heads and be classed as a mess, but this is Enter Shikari to a tee. References to each of the past forms they have taken on are well complimented by sounds from them we have not heard before. This is a group who aren't short of ideas and are still looking for more.

Rating: 8/10
Recommended songs: Modern Living...., Marionettes (II. The Ascent)