At the moment we’re all under the oppressive thumb of Corvid19. We’re all stuck at home and most of us are kinda bored of the regular streaming services.
Here’s a list of the live streams, watch parties and time limited of performances of various types of entertainment, big most are free! Most of these are London based as this post (and video) is an attempt to support the London entertainment industry and artists as they are taking a particularly bad bashing from all of this virus malarky (situation).
A great way to hang out with friends and families (virtually?) know that you’re both watching the same thing! Also if you are watching it virtually, then you can have all the benefits including:
- Eating noisy food.
- Cutting down on the drinks bill.
- Pausing the stream to go to the toilet and not miss a thing!
- Farting. 🤷♂️
As most of these are free, it would be great if you can give the organisations a tip as you can imagine the artistic and entertainment industry are taking a particularly bad hit. You can find a link usually at the bottom of the stream’s page.
Music
One of the biggest shame of the lock down is the closing down of venues. I am a big fan of live music (as you can see here, here and here). Here’s list of organisations and companies offering us to get our fix of live music entreatment, but virtually!
Sofar Sounds
Sofar Sounds started back in 2009 in London with the idea of live music performances in smaller and intimate venues. Another aim was to create an environment which the musician is respected by the audience, and not people on their phones or taking to their mates constantly.
I went to my first Sofar Sounds gig back in 2013. Funny enough, not that far from where I live in East London! They did have performances in over 345 cities but they’ve moved the performances online. There’s regular performances live from artists studio or home. I thoroughly recommend it as you never know, you might just see an artist before they get massive! You can see the performances live and archived on their YouTube channel.
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is possibly one of my fave venues in London! I’ve had the opportunity to attend many, many, many, many gigs. It holds a special place with it’s history, great acoustics and it’s just an epic grand venue!
They are have a series of online performances called #royalAlbertHome. Different artists are performing at home and they are free! You can get the latest info from here and you can watch the replay on their YouTube channel.
I really enjoyed and recommend checking out KT Tunstall and the Kaiser Chiefs performance!
Boiler Room
We head back to the dance floor with more of a clubby/rave vibe that is Boiler Room. If you’re looking for something a bit more energetic than you can’t go wrong with these guys. The premise is that club nights are streamed with the catalogue of past streams is truly immense!
There are loads of different genres (most of which I’ve never heard of) and something for everyone with a truly international selection. Boiler Room are offering live streams from DJs playing from their home or studios. It does make me miss going clubbing though 😔
Films
You won’t find many Hollywood actions in this list but instead an insight into our crazy world (though crazy as it is right now) through mainly documentaries. Most of these are watch parties and Q+A with the film makers. So get the popcorn out let’s go!
Bertha Dochouse
Bertha Dochouse is a cinema based in central London which just shows (you guessed it) documentaries. One of my fave cinema’s as it’s cozy plus it’s based inside a Curzon and all their cinemas are great! I’ve had the chance to catch some amazing docs premiering in the UK (and can recommend) such as Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr, Senna and The Great Hack.
The team at Bertha Dochouse are organising watch parties with a Q+A with the film makers after. It’s always really interesting to learn their process and funny stories behind making their films. On top of that, they organise events for other film makers.
Curzon
Curzon Cinema is one of the premier cinemas in the UK offering art house films. If you want something a bit different then you should check out their own streaming service they have got some great films streaming. Like Bertha they are offering live Q+A with the film makers.
Theatre
Not to bump up the culture level to the next with a night out (virtually) to the theatre! I must admit, I always find theatre productions amazing with the amount of work going into making a production and the artists making every performance special every time😳 Of all the industries, I do hope you can throw some coin to these fine people! I am also really regretting not catching more shows now!
National Theatre
The National Theatre is one of the most famous and biggest publicly funded performing arts venues in the UK. There is a stream of one of their productions on their YouTube channel every thursday which is available for 1 week from the premier.
Shakespear Globe Theatre
Not too far from the National Theatre is the famous Shakespear Globe, based on the original designs of the Globe Theatre which was burnt down. There are regular streams of shows written by Shakespear including Macbeth, Romeo And Juliet and Mid-summer night dream. They are streaming shows recorded previously for free which are available for 2 weeks from premiere. Should you miss it, then you can also check out their on demand streaming service.
The Show Must Go On
An interesting channel which purely exists on YouTube channel showing musicals every Friday and available for only 48 hours. So do keep an eye out!
They started by streaming shows from Andrew Lloyd Webber but have branched out into other shows. Previously they have shown Cats, Phantom of the opera and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Kerb
Now for some food! Kerb is a company organising pop up markets for street food. If after all these months of practicing your culinary skills, you fancy setting up a street food business then you should also check out their workshops.
Kerb are offering live stream with interviews with street food business owners, cook alongs and workshops! Check them out on the YouTube channel. I really can’t wait to get some yummy street food once all the markets open again!
What’s next and suggestions?
I hope this list is useful. I am always looking for some more distractions and really active on Twitter and Instagram. Feel free to drop me more ideas!
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