warwickonline.com
By ROB DUGUAY
Live music has had two ways of thriving since the dawn of COVID-19 – socially distanced outdoor shows or live streams being broadcasted on the internet.
Obviously outdoor shows are impossible these days due to frigid temperatures and inclement weather, so the latter has become the only viable option for the time being. A few venues around Rhode Island have been resorting to this creative medium to give local and national acts a chance to keep their music fresh.
One in particular has been putting on virtual performances to raise money for a charity, while the others have been organizing them in their own way. It’s a unique experience for everyone involved, with the collective hope of things returning to a sense of normalcy by the end of the year being apparent.
Down in South County, The United Theatre at 5 Canal St. in Westerly has teamed up with The Knickerbocker Music Center around the corner at 35 Railroad Ave. to put on a series called “Knick Live.” The series shows performances from various acts on Friday nights at 8 p.m. via The Knickbocker’s YouTube channel. The next one, on Feb. 19, will feature Hamilton Leithauser from the New York City indie rock act The Walkmen.
“Thanks to generous support from Rhode Island’s HaRt Recovery Grant, The United Theatre and The Knickerbocker Music Center in Westerly were able to produce a 10-show virtual series of new concerts filmed on the Knickerbocker stage,” United Theatre Artistic Director Tony Nunes says about how the series came to be. “It’s been so great to be able to put some musicians back to work, as well as some of the sound and stage techs that keep this industry running. We curated the series to include a diverse mix of sounds from incredible musicians on the regional and national scene. It was important for us to get those musicians on the stage to feel like a real show might, rather than producing yet another series of concerts filmed at home. We pre-filmed all 10 shows in a four-week period with no audience and a strict COVID-19 safety plan, and we look forward to sharing them every Friday through the end of March.”