Before the pandemic happened, I had my 18th birthday.
March 12th was a good day, I had a nice dinner and got to spend time with my friends in school before we went into lockdown. I was looking forward to seeing my favorite band: COIN, in New York City later in the month after that but all my plans changed when everything was shut down. A lot of things were canceled during that time so I’m sure you can relate when I say I was disappointed when I couldn’t go. Luckily, I was browsing Facebook the week before they were going to have a virtual concert and found out that I could finally experience a COIN concert. I was so excited!
The concert opened with film footage of the band on their first tour in January 2015. It showed the band talking about how happy and excited they were to play at different venues. It also showed them practicing before the big shows. After the footage is shown, the next thing we see is the set being prepped for the e-concert that will be played. The concert opens with a song from COIN’s newest album “Indigo Violet” called “You Are the Traffic”. I really enjoyed the setup of each band member on the concert set: each member had their own platform to stand on while they played their instruments.
As the concert went on, I felt more and more like I was really there with them.
I love COIN to the moon and back so hearing them “live” was special for me. Personally, I really love their older music such as their album “How Will You Know If You Never Try” because that’s when I first started getting into their music so when they played more than just their newer songs, I was so happy.
One thing that I really felt was unique to the e-concert was the different angles that the band was filmed from: there was a camera on each member’s platform attached to their instrument or mic so the audience could see all of the guys just jamming out. I figured that that particular addition wouldn’t be a thing if I had seen them in person. I also really liked how throughout the concert, there was little conversation and banter between the band members which made the show feel more intimate. Since there was more of this incorporated into the show, it felt like as a fan and audience member, I was allowed into a personal part of the band- just them doing what they love: playing music. As the show went on, different visuals were added for different songs such as bars of led lights along the back of each member’s platform as well as light-up orbs above all the members of the band while they played. Each of the orbs lit up with the beat of the song that was played.
I think one of my favorite parts of the concert had to be the ambiance.
I’ve been so stressed over the past few weeks and when they started playing “Malibu, 1992” I felt calm again because it’s one of my favorite songs as well as it is a song that I listen to when I want to relax. On the other hand, there were moments in the show that made me just sing the lyrics at the top of my lungs and dance around my room.
By the end, it all came together where all the members were on one platform and really playing together as a band. Watching the whole show was truly an experience and I’m so grateful I had this opportunity. To me, this wasn’t just a virtual concert, it was a getaway from reality and a source of escape into stress-relief and happiness. Everything came around full circle when it came to the dream of seeing a COIN concert and I couldn’t be more grateful.