The Great gig in the sky…
Yet another initiative that Discover the World has developed is for a live streamed concert on a truly global scale. Inspired by the ideas that shaped the Playing for Change recordings and the music of Bob Marley the concert would continue for 24 hours. Using existing technology, but adapting it to a new use, musicians from Eastern Asia, Oceana through Australia would perform individually or in groups over a 6 hour block of time. Then 6 hours later the concert would continue centered in India and Central Asia. Then in another 6 hours from Africa and Europe. And finally a 6 hour concert from the Americas.
And with a possible adapted technology, this concert may be able to enable musicians from different parts of the world to perform live with each other in a way that has never been done before. This has the potential to be a huge event.
Motivated by the ideas that created the album, Playing for Change, this project uses a similar central idea and adaptive use of technology, but in slightly different way and on a much larger scale.
And inspired by concerts like Woodstock, Live Aid and more recently Lady Gaga’s “One World Together at Home”, which also uses a similar adaptation of technology that allowed the performances feel live.
The music centers around the songs of Bob Marley, who’s influence is a unifying idea around the world, and will bring musicians and audiences together as well as set a direction for the programming.
The day will begin in the first region- Eastern Asia, Oceana through Australia and New Zealand. Driven by Marley’s music, a selection of local musicians will perform alone or in small, safe groups. Artists will cover his songs (or sometimes songs by Bob Dylan, Manu Chow, Joe Strummer, or anyone else appropriate) in addition to playing their own music. This concert will go on for 6 hours.
Then, area 2- Central and southern India start with the same model, but with their own special influences to the music. They play for another 6 hours. At the finale of each of the 6 hour blocks, as many musicians as possible will collaborate on that region’s signature song, pushing the envelope for what’s been done live before.
Area three follows next combining live performances from Africa and Europe, as well as many points in between.
And the day closes on the Americas. At the end of this 6 hour concert the finale is composed of as many representatives from the rest of the world as possible.
An example of a day would be like this. Let’s say that region 1 starts its concert at 12:00 noon. Performances would range from 20-30 minute sections, with variations of location and musicians. This means that for each region only 15-18 performers could provide enough music for 6 hours.
Each region then has a similar model with other location and musician variations. And as the concert goes on, each of the region’s finale could get bigger and bigger as artists from previous regions join in. Ultimately at the end, the last set of songs would attempt to include musicians in combined segments from around the whole world.
Now to the satellites that make this all work and the fact that I have no idea what I’m talking about. A simple model of this concert could be done with existing constellations of GPS satellites or commercial satellites, but even with one from the geo-synchronis belt, the delay between live musicians is a big problem. The fastest systems are probably similar to military drone technology. The delay is so low that done right, musicians could potentially perform live with someone far away. There is also potential for Apple’s top secret direct to satellite initiative.
There is the technology that can make this happen. The problem is not being able to communicate with key people who can understand and authorize concise satellite networks.
There is software already available and in use, such as Abletone Live, Telemidi and Artmesh. These are programs with great potential, like Zoom was a year ago. Do you remember Zoom from a year ago…?
This combination of technology is ready, just like Zoom was, to do something unique. If a fast enough system is developed and the team had time to work with it, musicians could perform live with people from other parts of the world in a way that has never been done before.
Let’s use Massar Egbari’s recent live stream concert at American University in Cairo’s Ewart Hall, viewed live by 90,000 people. They could have guest singers such as Amr Diab or Sherihan perform live with them from other parts of Egypt. Or they could add musicians from the Congo, Germany, South Africa and western Russia in a larger attempt. These musicians from all over the region could also perform with each other. Or potentially this everyone together. This model shows 7 groups of people that could perform live in a way that would be the first of its kind.
This concert in its simplest format could be put together with minimal costs and within 2-4 weeks. Depending on what becomes the technology used is what can take it to more complex levels and longer time frames. But even then, the expenses and resources required would be a small fraction of what a 2 hour, multi-musician old school live concert would be.
The idea is not to replace the beloved live concert, but to think about how it’s used to bring people together. Then using the common language of music to introduce audience and musicians from around the world.
While I’ve been working on these devious plans for over 10 years, what we’ve seen over the past few months only reinforces the idea that it’s all possible, and above everything else, it’s needed.