Balcony: Online Music Festival | Review

With the current affairs of the world being largely impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping its way across the globe, most social events have been all but cancelled. Some intuitive establishments, however, have been exploiting our over-use of social media in this crisis to continue to hold semi-social events. For example, on Saturday 28th March, Musicians Against Homelessness hosted a YouTube Live event, hosted by Louise Schofield, broadcasting 9 emerging artists from the comforts of the audiences’ homes. This event held the objective of raising money to aid in the fight against homelessness, a problem that is increasingly relevant in today's social climate.

The Burning Hell

Before ‘Balcony: Online Music Festival’ began, the cause had already raised £140, over a tenth of its goal of £1000, which was a great start to the afternoon’s antics. The Live launched at 12:45, starting with an introduction by the charity host, Emma Rule, thanking everyone for tuning in and drawing attention to their GoFundMe page for people to donate to. One of the most striking elements to begin with was everyone’s lighthearted sense of humour towards the situation, specifically The Zine UK’s comment (it should be noted that they were the second comment in the comment box) on the stream: “Ooh. We are down at the front!”

TIGER MIMIC

The set began with Crocroland’s selected band, TIGER MIMIC, who were met with virtual cheers in the comments. By the time their set began, there were already 39 people watching the stream, anticipating their performance - these people were not disappointed. TIGER MIMIC held themselves incredibly well given the unusual circumstances, throwing humour and charisma our way, including hilariously playing an audio clip of fans cheering via their phone when they came on screen. The best song on their set was “Where The Fire Used To Be”, which brought the most comments and money, despite the small blunder halfway through.

A few bands later, we were introduced by Schofield to the solo performer, Jean Genie’s MaSsIvE HUGS. Jean was arguably the most popular act on the lineup, drawing in 67 viewers, several heartfelt comments of support and adoration, and a huge £103 to the cause. A personal favourite from her set was her second song, “Vaccine”, which although was written 5 years ago, was oddly apt given the current circumstances of the world; speaking about missing those we love.

The final act of the festival was my personal favourite of the event, Joyzines’ The Burning Hell. The Burning Hell brought a true sense of homely comfort, they had an amazing loving, unique, and quirky vibe that consoled the audience in this uncertain time. With two voices, a guitar, and bass clarinet, they played their unorthodox tunes - including my new favourite: “Fuck the Government, I Love You”.

The Burning Hell

The highlight of the event was certainly the last set by The Burning Hell on the Joyzine Stage. Despite being last in a very long afternoon of listening to music, they had brilliant charisma and a distinctive, homely "look" that really enticed me to listen more carefully to their music. Then there was their actual music - everything was super indie and truly their's.

The event deserves a true 8/10 - it was such an entertaining way to spend the afternoon even though we’re all indoors at the moment and it was put together incredibly well, not to mention it raised a total of £765 for a great cause.