LIFE IN LOCKDOWN | Day 17: Enjoy a live concert from your living room

A few weeks ago, during social distancing but before lockdown, about 250,000 people gathered to watch rapper Swae Lee perform. It was arguably the most Covid-19-friendly concert ever put on.

Having seemingly spotted a gap in the market for attention, Swae Lee announced that he would be taking to Instagram live to perform a concert from the studio in his home and boy was it a show. The rapper brought someone on stage (let him join the live feed) and even did a stage dive onto what one hopes were pillows.

Since then, people's Instagram live feeds have been inundated with DJs and musicians hosting impromptu live parties for everyone who follow them.

Moments after the president announced the lockdown, thousands of SA fans flocked to singer James Blake's live feed to watch him perform, and the week before, singer John Legend and his model wife, Chrissy Teigen, wooed crowds with a bit of old-school crooning.

Basically with just a phone and some data, you can attend a concert with thousands of people every night without having to bother with queues, crap food and parking. Sounds like a win to us.

WHERE TO CATCH A LIVE CONCERT ONLINE

Thanks to the fact that Instagram generally notifies you when someone you follow goes live, a lot of musicians haven't bothered with the usual marketing behind their social media concerts. Most of them just get on with it and use the power of the perpetual notifications machine to let fans know. So the best way to catch your fave artists in action is to follow them on Instagram.  

That said if you are looking for a bit of advanced warning here are some upcoming performances:

• SA sensation Jeremy Loops will be performing on Instagram Live as part of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Global Citizen's #TogetherAtHome concert series on April 12 at 8pm. Catch the concert on Instagram: @jeremyloops
• Famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will be giving a solo concert from a historic cathedral in Milan on April 12 at 7pm. Watch it on YouTube.
• Lady Gaga has joined forces with the WHO and Global Citizen to put together One World: Together At Home, a special Covid-19 benefit concert featuring some of the biggest names in the music industry — think Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Stevie Wonder. Taking place on April 18, it'll be streamed on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook from 8pm CAT.

You can also catch an array of past concerts from the WHO Global Citizen's #TogetherAtHome series on YouTube. This includes performances by the likes of Coldplay's Chris Martin to Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello and many more.

• Additional reporting by staff reporter.

• From gripping series to watch, to fun crafts to do with your children, we'll be adding a new activity to our 'Life in Lockdown' series every day. Keep an eye on timeslive.co.za for tomorrow's instalment.