Best Virtual Concerts of Fall 2020

 
As the semester nears the end, it’s time to give credit to our BEST VIRTUAL EVENTS of the fall! It’s hard to choose our favorites from the many events we helped our clients produce, but we are going to blog about our top three concerts, top three Q&As/conversations and top interactive activities of the fall semester, followed by the honorable mentions.

Today we highlight our best virtual concerts of the semester!

1. Most Interactive:
Bryce Vine at Northern Arizona University

Bryce went above and beyond for this one. Produced the set with full band, in a studio, live, with three camera angles, interactive Q&A taken from the live zoom comments from students, and the chat was lit with positive comments. A lead student monitored the chat and commented as questions came up, and by the end of the event she was famous! During the Q&A, a student mentioned a song they didn’t have in their set, so Bryce started serenading the lucky students, and his band quickly jumped in. Incredible, intimate, and the highlight of the semester for us.

“Thanks NAU this is what I needed I feel like im actually there” 
– Happy anonymous student who rightfully has no time for punctuation

2. Highest Quality:
Black Pumas w/ Tank and the Bangas at University of Iowa

Honestly, with a lineup like this, how could you go wrong?! The quality of this event lands it in the top three of the fall. Both artists worked from a studio or venue hurting by the pandemic, the quality was impeccable, each set ended with live Q&A from the artists, and during the meet and greet the artists gave each other so much credit that it was all the positivity we needed to see right now.

3. Most Fun Virtual Production:
Jason Derulo, Rico Nasty, and Avenue Beat at Illinois State University

Amazing line up, with quality artists, and held on Halloween weekend so we could add some fun Halloween effects between sets. Dance-off between skeletons and the committee? No problem! We are proud of the production quality our team provided to this event.

Fall concert honorable mentions include:

Denzel Curry w/ surprise special guests, UMI, AJR, Elohim, Chloe x Halle, Young MA, Josie Dunne, Hannah Ellis, MIKE, Juice, Propaganda, Habstrakt and more. Our fabulous virtual tech, Jake Ostrow also ran virtual production for events involving Echosmith and PVRIS as well.

Things we learned this semester:

• Some artists have streaming down to a science. Some don’t know how to hook up a usb cable.
• As time passes and artists find a sustainable way to make some income during this time, artist prices for virtual events are rising rather than shrinking. Branding events and private/corporate opportunities are high-paying and hard to compete with. Ticketed online streaming events are engaging super-fans and making artists money. Make sure your list of artist options is long so you can choose the best value for your virtual concert.
• Attendance is hard to measure. For every “participant” listed as watching your event, expect at least 2 people. We know this because during post-show meet and greets there are 2-4 people in every zoom window.

And, we aren’t finished yet. We will continue to book quality artists, continue to plan for more engaging events, and continue improving virtual production. For as long as needed. Let’s do this!