A Renaissance of Live Music in New York City

The Eric Paulin Band

The live music industry as we knew it may never be the same.

A few national and international touring artists are scheduling tours in Europe, but except for a handful of artists performing drive-in concerts, no one is scheduling tours within the United States. Venues and musicians cannot cover their costs with concerts capped at proposed capacities of 25 or 50 percent, and besides, would attendees really maintain social distancing? Entertainers cannot travel very far anyway, with various states enforcing quarantines on people entering from other states. The only concert dates booked for 2021 are the ones postponed from 2020, not because they will be happening, but because concert promoters and venues have invested the ticket revenue and are in no hurry to return the purchase price to the fans. With no national or international bands touring, one can only hope to see local talent step forth.

Pinc Louds

Innovation is the mother of necessity, that is the old saying. Live stream and archival performances now saturate the internet, some charging a fee, some encouraging donations to a virtual tip jar. These concerts on your computer screen can draw more viewers than an actual concert, and yet the customer knows that while music in one's living room is convenient, it is ultimately an inferior experience to attending a live show. Venues are holding fundraisers to pay rent and support their staff, but if isolation continues for another year or more how long can fundraisers float these boats?

The East Village Social Distancing All-Stars

Summer has arrived, and spontaneous live concerts are popping up in various New York City locations.

The Underground Horns

In recent weeks, Tompkins Square Park has become a music hub, where revelers enjoy at least one locally-based band almost every evening. The New York City Parks Department is not issuing permits, but nonetheless bands and solo musicians are performing and drawing small audiences. The most consistent of these bands, the Eric Paulin Band, performs jazz almost every night near the Temperance Fountain; on July 1, Paulin celebrated his 10th anniversary of playing in the park. Pinc Louds, an indie-rock quartet from Bushwick, brings its own battery-powered amplifiers and draws the largest crowds, performing up to four sets in the park's former band shell area usually on a Saturday afternoon and evening. Two brass bands, the East Village Social Distancing All-Stars and the Underground Horns, perform in other parts of the park on an irregular schedule when they are not playing outside neighborhood restaurants. Impromptu ensembles also materialize when musicians meet for the first time and jam together. Among the solo performers, jazz guitarist Scott Stenten is the most unusual in that he plays a custom-made double-neck acoustic guitar, for the most part simultaneously playing the upper  guitar with his left hand while playing the lower guitar with his right hand.

Random musicians meet and improvise music

Music is starting to fill the New York air again. Buskers, mostly solo performers, have returned to many parks and subway platforms. Marshall Stack has had Strange Majik, Cancion Franklin and other musicians inside the windows performing to an audience outside on the sidewalk. The 11th Street Community Garden has drawn local musicians including Three of  a Pear for loose jam sessions. For those willing to risk the outdoors, live music is having a small renaissance in New York City.

Scott Stenten