Live Music for a Time Without Stages twitter.com

It has been over six months since the last live music performance with singing in Calgary. I understand the necessity of restrictions and, given that I have kept my job and have not lost a loved one to covid-19, I do not wish to complain.

But if there is one single thing I cannot wait for the return of, it is live music. I want to stand right up against the barrier next to the stage getting crushed on all sides by other people and the mosh pit behind. I want my favourite musicians to dive off the stage and onto the adoring crowd singing along with them. I miss music made visceral.

Matthew Perpetua has put together a playlist of twenty hours of live music from hundreds of different artists, available on Apple Music and Spotify. Whatever you’re into, I am sure you will find something in this list that you will love. But it starts with MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” and I see no reason to skip that.

To replicate the experience of every live show I’ve ever attended, spill some cheap beer on your bathroom floor, put this playlist on pretty loud, turn off the lights, and violently shove your chest into the towel rack.