The Livestream: 2020’s Ultimate Festival Replacement [Magazine Featured]

As we burrow our collective snouts into another month of lockdown, it seems the monotony of the ‘working week’ is still causing the same trigger of ‘weekend release’ to be pushed by electronic music fans all over the globe, though this time in an entirely different way to ever before. Whether busting the boredom of a furlough with family, or the cabin-fever of working from home and surrounding yourself with the same four walls on a daily basis, the idea of the ‘live show’ or ‘festival’ has enjoyed monumental success since the dawn of time on account of providing an air of escapism. Now, more than ever, even the most ardent of anti-vaccine campaigners are in need of an injection of optimism. Welcome to the livestream: 2020’s ultimate festival replacement.

SENSE OF LOSS

For many, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome – from a mental standpoint – is the extreme disruption caused to the calendar of events which provide a glimmer of hope on the horizon throughout the mundane day-to-day routine. A week in Ibiza, or trip to Tomorrowland, is about so much more than the event itself. It means months of planning, excitement over clothes/merchandise/accessories, copious amounts of buzz in Whatsapp group-chats, and a daily countdown which for many, is the motivation to any given day as the hours tick by. With COVID-19 wiping these circled dates in the calendar off the map entirely, ravers must now find alternative ways to substitute their usual peaks of euphoria in favour of even the most remote of resembling concepts. It’s often said that ‘hope is being able to see the light even in times of darkness’ and via the livestream, a small sparkle continues to glow brightly in the distance, at the end of the dingy tunnel we currently find ourselves marooned inside. 

Image Credit: Tomorrowland