Many of us probably had plans for spending the year roaming festivals and checking out clubs and concerts – but fate, it seems, had other plans. The ongoing pandemic has locked us into our homes, and cancelled everything from sports to movie premieres and music festivals. Lucky for us, though, as someone put it, that the pandemic happened now – imagine being stuck at home with nothing but broadcast TV and feature phones…
Technology has helped many of us navigate through the gloomy days of the lockdowns. Those looking for the thrill of the game could step inside their virtual gaming floor at the JackpotCity online casino, roam among the endless rows of slot machines and table games without having to leave their homes. The JackpotCity successfully brought gaming within reach for the millions locked out of their favorite gaming halls, and while it doesn’t have resident DJs and grand performances, it has a vast collection of games and the bonuses to go with them. Plus, it has a slot machine dedicated to EDM veteran deadmau5, featuring his signature music.
The public health crisis we’re facing has stopped us from going to concerts and festivals – but technology brought them to us. This year, streaming has become the new norm, with artists from all over the world broadcasting their performances online. We’ve seen everything from virtual proms to concerts inside video games, and the list could go on and on.
The New Year’s Eve parties of 2020 will likely be a lot like most of the year was – socially distant. With the global pandemic still raging in most corners of the globe (with a few exceptions), it is unlikely that we’ll see many parties, concerts, and similar events to celebrate the passing of perhaps the worst year of our lifetimes (so far, that is). But what this year has taken from us in live events, it made up for it through live streams. In 2020, we had the chance to follow everything from artists jamming from their living rooms to entire music festivals held in cyberspace.
The year is slowly coming to an end. While ending it with a massive get-together in a public square, joined by performers mixing their way into the new year is not an option in 2020, we can make up for it with some truly exceptional live streams we’ll have the chance to follow on New Year’s Eve.
In Our Spirit – #DanceAway2020 (December 31, 11 PM AEDT)
EDM and booze are part of pretty much every New Year’s Eve party. This year, Beatport and Absolut bring both of them to our homes – virtually, of course.
As part of the two brands’ ongoing “In Our Spirit” campaign, the two organize #DanceAway2020, a 20-hour music event streaming from cities around the world. The party starts with DJ Carl Cox mixing live from Melbourne, Australia (he starts before midnight local time) followed by broadcasts from Shanghai, Berlin, London, and San Francisco, among others, before returning to Australia, where Carl Cox will also close the event.
The monster stream will feature performances by Cox himself, RayRay (Shanghai), Mendy Indigo (Bangkok), BLOT! (New Delhi), Jixo & Danz (Dubai), Nastia (Odessa), Honey Dijon (Berlin), Patrick Topping (Newcastle), Jaguar (London), BLANCAh (Florianopolis), Nicole Moudaber (Barbados), Jamie Jones (Miami), Sydney Blu (Calgary), and TOKiMONSTA (Los Angeles).
Welcome to the Other Side (Jean-Michel Jarre, December 31, 11:25 PM CET)
Electronic music veteran Jean-Michel Jarre was once known for his especially grandiose concerts often gathering millions of in-person viewers. Later, he toned it down, while also bending his style away from electronica and toward EDM.
Jarre already tried his hand in virtual events with his “Alone Together” event in the summer. And, to end the year on a high note, he’ll do it again on December 31.
This time, Jarre will perform in a virtual Notre Dame for 45 minutes. The tracklist includes reworked versions of his classics Oxygéne and Equinox, as well as tracks from his last album, the GRAMMY-nominated Electronica.
The concert will be broadcast over traditional and not-so-traditional channels: it will be shown on the BFM Paris TV channel, it will be broadcast on the France Inter public radio, it will be available free via social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, and in virtual reality on any device with a VR headset.
