Tina Arena and Courtney Barnett show the virtual gig’s staying power with ticketed livestreams

Tina Arena dazzled fans as she performed favourites from her songbook including Chains. Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and Heaven Help My Heart.

Tina Arena channelled old Hollywood screen goddess glamour when she returned to the concert stage with the MSO on Thursday as virtual concerts graduate from the iPhones in the loungeroom to cinematic musical feasts.

As Arena’s fans and orchestra lovers watched her dramatic, elegant performance at Hamer Hall via the MSO. LIVE subscription concert channel, indie rock lovers in Australia and around the world enjoyed Courtney Barnett intimately rocking out in the cavernous Royal Exhibition Hall in Melbourne.

Tina Arena performs for MSO. LIVE. Picture: Supplied/MSO/Laura Manariti

That concert marked her first live performance with a band since January when she played bushfire benefits at the Corner Hotel in her hometown.

Ticketed virtual gigs or streams of COVID-restricted concerts for those who missed out on a seat are likely to remain part of the live gigs economy even as local tours and festivals return in Australia.

Courtney Barnett in her Royal Exhibition Hall “concert” venue. Picture: Supplied/Marcelle Bradbeer

Already Nick Cave, Billie Eilish, Kylie Minogue, Niall Horan, Foo Fighters and Dua Lipa have sold millions of tickets to their live-streamed or filmed performances.

British pop star Dua Lipa set the record for an online artist concert event with more than five million viewers of her Studio 2054 broadcast with guests including Minogue, Miley Cyrus, Elton John and FKA Twigs.

Emily Ulman, who co-founded Australia’s longest-running virtual “festival” Isol-Aid when COVID-19 shut down concerts in March, believes the online audience will continue to grow even as “the real thing” returns.

Isol-Aid is up to its 39th gig this weekend.

Nick Cave’s Idiot Prayer concert was live-streamed and then hit cinemas. Picture: Joel Ryan / supplied

“Isol-Aid has definitely given hundreds of musicians and thousands of fans connection to live music and to each other. The feedback from musicians is that they’ve relished the opportunity to rehearse, dress up, make their “sets” look nice, perform, earn money and raise money during this time when otherwise they’d not have much else to do,” Ulman said.

“But I hope ‘the real thing’ will also include ‘the virtual thing’ when things open up again. “What has been highlighted for me during this time is the need for live streams, for people who are otherwise facing geographical, physical or psychological barriers to be able to attend live gigs and festivals.”

Arena’s MSO. LIVE stream on Thursday night helped launched the new membership-based online concert destination.

Tina Arena brought the glam to Hamer Hall. Picture: @tinaarena/Instagram

And it also served as a preview of her Enchante tour in May.

Some orchestra members wore masks when they weren’t playing on the Hamer Hall stage and Arena dazzled in a collection of stunning gowns as she performed favourites from her songbook including Chains, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Heaven Help My Heart and REM’s Everybody Hurts.

“I am also pretty excited to have a reason to glam-up again, to be honest,” Arena said when she announced her tour in November.

Barnett entertained a global audience with her From Where I’m Standing: Live from the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne concert, also streamed on Thursday night.

Barnett was playing the BIG room. Picture: Supplied

It was her first gig with her bandmates Bones Sloane, Dave Mudie and new member cellist Lucy Waldron, since the sold-out bushfire benefits she played in January.

“It will just be nice to make music with my friends again,” Barnett said ahead of the concert shoot.

There were moments of nerves and muscles resuming their memories of how to play live for their one-night only show but Barnett and her bandmates shared smiles as they kicked into gear and entertained with Walkin’ On Eggshells, Depreston and Need A Little Time.

Courtney Barnett performs global livestream concert from Melbourne on December 17, 2020. Picture: Supplied

She also introduced new songs Here’s the Thing and If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight.

The award-winning artist said she regarded performing live for the cameras a “challenge” as opposed to the “traditional (gig) to an audience and the same set-up.”

“I really love doing things like this because it’s a challenge for me, personally, and it’s different and it makes me think about the songs differently and makes me see the music differently,” Barnett said.

More international artists will undoubtedly support their new releases or “tour” with virtual gigs in 2021.

Swedish rock band The Hives will “tour” the world online in January. Picture: Supplied.

Popular Swedish rockers The Hives, who last played in Australia with AC/DC in 2015, announced The World’s First World Wide Web World Tour last week.

There will be six ambitious interactive gigs in Sydney as well as Berlin, New York, London, Sao Paulo and Stockholm between January 21 and January 30, and you can buy tickets to any of the shows you desire.

“We will play live shows for specific cities, even if it means we play at 6am or some other totally bulls … time for a rock ‘n’ roller. (We’re looking at you, Australia.) All this, from a hermetically sealed, virus-safe bunker in Sweden.,” the band said.

Check out mso.com.au to sign up for the Tina Arena concert stream.

Originally published as Tina Arena and Courtney Barnett show the virtual gig’s staying power with ticketed livestreams