Most of the world is in some sort of lockdown at the moment, due to the coronavirus crisis.
In such a situation, having outdoor events is out of the question, and thus there is no possibility of music festivals taking place any time soon.
However, music artists all over the globe have been putting together virtual events during this time to entertain their fans, across various forms of social media. There are multiple artists who have been going live on Instagram to play virtual concerts for their followers, with the #TogetherAtHome series, started and finished by Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, being one of the most high-profile ones so far. The likes of OneRepublic, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes and many more performers had gone live on Instagram to put together short musical performances, and there was even a global #TogetherAtHome concert on 18th April, with musicians and celebrities from all over the world joining in. This is just one of the initiatives that have been doing the rounds; in the world of electronic music, a number of DJs have been doing live performances on streaming platforms such as Twitch.
Another notable area in this regard has been the video game Fortnite, which has previously also hosted a number of virtual concerts. This time around, we saw the game host a virtual concert with a number of DJs, including Steve Aoki, Deadmau5 and Dillon Francis.
The in-game concert, known as the ‘Party Royale’, was the largest yet, and was streamed on 8th May, bringing together three of the biggest DJs in the world today. As always, people playing the game could see a giant virtual screen, where the concert played out and in front of which their virtual avatars could ‘relax’, or try and recreate the mood of an actual concert by launching paint at their surroundings and fellow players. This was the third such concert in recent months, following similar efforts by Travis Scott and Diplo. It was a 55-minute long concert, with the three DJs playing entirely separate sets, and was started off by Francis and ended with Deadmau5 taking off his signature mask and waving to the virtual crowd.
Of course, this is not Aoki’s first dalliance with gaming. He is an avid gamer himself, and a few years ago, he even launched a game of his own, called ‘Steve Aoki’s Neon Dream’. This musical endless runner game, in the style of the trendsetter ‘Temple Run’, was aimed to enter the real money online casino games market, and so was targeted at casinos. It was even showcased at the Global Gaming Expo in 2017, which is one of the biggest gambling industry events held in Las Vegas.
The aim of the game was to bring millennials and younger people into the casino gaming picture, and provide more options than the standard slot machines which are everpresent on every casino floor. Aoki’s gaming credentials are well established – he even invested in an esports team, Team Rogue, which is one of the pre-eminent teams in the world for games such as Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The game features music inspired by Aoki’s 2014 album, ‘Neon Future’, and he has stated that he went for a runner-style game since it was his favourite type of game. He also added that adding real money gambling and winnings increase the stakes and makes the gaming experience far more exciting, which is why the idea of having this sort of a game in casinos appealed to him. It was also important for the game to be a game of skill and not just luck, as with slot machines, to make sure that the money is well-earned.
Thus, with the Fortnite concert as well as his previous work for gamers, Aoki has completely endeared himself to the gaming community.
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