Anyone who knows me knows that this year without concerts has been excruciating for me. I normally see at least 8-12 concerts a year. Now I can't remember the last one I saw but it was definitely well over a year ago. I purposefully resisted watching streamed concerts all through 2020. As with awards shows presented to an empty house (or worse yet, virtually through Zoom!) I just didn't see the point. A concert is about more than just the show itself. It's about being part of an audience and responding to an artist that you love in person, it's about that electric, indefinable thing that takes place when the thrum of the speakers course through your body. It's about shouting the lyrics you've memorized after years of playing the songs on your headphones back at the stage. It's a communal event. Admittedly, that can sometimes be part of the irritation about live shows as well. Waiting in line for 20 minutes just to use the bathroom, having to step over a pile of vomit (or worse yet dodge one in the stadium), angry people telling you to sit down or to stand up when you don't want to. And yet for me, the pros far outweigh the cons. Finally when New Year's Eve rolled around as I didn't have any other plans (my usual trip to my brother's house to hang with family was canceled at their end) I decided to stream a double header. Kylie Minogue was streaming from 5 separate timezones her Intimate Disco show, so I picked a Paris stream so that I could watch earlier and then tune in later that night to Justin Bieber who would start streaming at 10:15. I ordered both tickets (making sure that they both supported Chromecasting so that I could watch the shows on my tv) and I was set. The absence of any Kylie videos in this post should first alert you to the fact that all did not go as planned. Chromecasting did not work, so I was forced to watch the concert on my phone which pissed me off to no end which is why I begrudgingly didn't screen record anything from that first show. By the time 10:15 rolled around, I was prepared for the fact that I would have to watch the next show on my phone again, so this time I decided to take some snippets for posterity. The bottom line about both shows is that they were excellent. Kylie's was a more intimate affair, and kind of short at just under an hour, but still filled with hits and synchronized dancing and strobe lights so that in the end it resembled a cross between the Star Wars Holiday Special, Saturday Night Fever, and a Kylie club show and yes I mean that as a full compliment even with the Star Wars reference. Justin's show was much more elaborate with a massive stage and full band and backup dancers. The few negatives I had were his outfit (which looked like he rolled himself off the couch 5 minutes before the show), him forgetting the words at one point but no biggie there, and too many songs from his last album which was not one of my favorites (it plays like a Poo Bear album not a Justin album since the producer had a hand on every song). But I digress. Over all, streaming will never replace a real live concert and I can't wait until they return. I have a ticket to see Def Leppard/Motley Crue/Joan Jett/Poison in August, so fingers crossed. Here are some snippets from Justin's show.
