Like all of you, we at DC Music Review have had COVID-19 on the mind, particularly the impact it will have on our music community. As concert venues around the DMV cancel shows, in addition to the stress and hurt we are all generally experiencing, we lovers of live music are reeling from the loss of our favorite activity and worried about the bands we cherish and how they'll continue to grow in the face of these troubling times.
With that in mind, we are announcing the launch of Webcast Aid, a series of virtual concerts. The goal of this virtual concert series is threefold. We aim to:
- entertain the community in the absence of live-audience concerts,
- encourage support of local artists as well as organizations giving help to those in need, and,
- provide people with information and resources to help them weather the storm.
The focus of these virtual concerts will be to replace previously scheduled live-audience shows and to lessen the impact on artists due to those cancellations. The "aid" we are providing is webcasting services free-of-charge to bands who had a show cancelled. We'll be calling on viewers to aid the bands by supporting them, and aid the community by contributing to non-profits selected by the artists.
Appropriate measures will be taken to reduce risks for those involved. Band members will maintain six feet of separation wherever possible and will not share instruments or microphones. There will be no audience outside of the virtual one so that the only people there in person are those who are absolutely necessary for making the show happen. Everyone will wash hands before and after the session.
Our first in this series of virtual concerts will take place on Tuesday, March 17 at 9pm with the DC-based band Ménage À Garage and will be recorded live from 7DrumCity. The band has asked that people give contributions to We Are Family DC, which assists seniors in our community.
On Wednesday, March 18 at 9pm we will join the band Pleasure Train for a virtual concert live from Crescendo Studios.
On Sunday, March 22 we will join members of AZTEC SUN for a morning rooftop concert at 9am.
As usual, we will post the webcasts here at DC Music Review and you can find them via our Facebook page, on our YouTube channel, and on Twitter via our Periscope. Those of you who would prefer an audio-only stream can find those on DC Music Review contributor Will Urquhart's Mixlr account.
You will be able to find all upcoming and past streams at www.DCMusicReview.com/webcastaid and stay tuned for us to announce more virtual concerts as we schedule them.
If you are in a band who had a show cancelled and would like to replace it with a virtual concert, please contact us at webcastaid@dcmusicreview.com. We will do the best we can to arrange it.
