Rebecca Lowry performs during the Social Resonance Vol. 1 stream March 27.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Technically and artistically, what Ian Aiello and his team pulled off last Friday night at The Sydney will stand as the benchmark by which live streamed performances will be judged, and I don’t mean just local ones.

Multiple cameras, pristine audio and two fine performances in an empty bar in Benson, except for the crew that made it all work, last week’s Social Resonance Vol. 1 represents what can be done with the technology that will be spoon-feeding us live musical performances at least for the next two or three months while COVID does its thing.

You, of course, can see for yourself via this link, which will take you to the performance’s recording hosted in YouTube. Ian said about 250 watched live at any one time and a total of around 450 people viewed the live stream. Since its broadcast, the recording has had just under 1,200 views. Not bad.

Rebecca Lowry with an electric guitar (the last time I saw her perform she held a ukulele) belted out a number of songs a la Bonnie Raitt, while Mike Schlesinger, wearing a John Denver T-shirt, preferred to use an old acoustic guitar for his set of low-slung heart-breakers. Schlesinger is a Nebraska treasure who deserves to be discovered by this great, big COVID-infected world.

The stream defined the phrase “intimate performance.” With multiple cameras and perfect sound, there was utterly nowhere for these two to hide as every breath, every note was stream-ified. Guts. Confidence.

Despite its “Vol. 1” title, Ian said this was a one-shot — there will be no Vol. 2, which is a shame considering Vol. 1’s success. It truly was appointment viewing and gave us all somewhere to meet on a Friday night, even if it was just in front of our computers.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.