arrow Pinc Louds performing in Tompkins Square Park this summer Courtesy of Pinc Louds
One of the many soul-crushing things about a deadly virus that makes it illegal to gather with other people is that live music can’t really exist. It’s the cultural loss I’ve felt most acutely this year, and the pre-plague memory I spend the most time revisiting.
Never again, I promise myself,
will I take for granted the chance to swap harmonies and respiratory droplets with a room full of sweaty strangers.
Under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, many performers did their best to give New Yorkers a taste of music responsibly. Nightly live-streams offered an escape during the harshest days of lockdown. As we slowly emerged, the city’s parks and sidewalks came alive with distanced performance: the funky brass ensemble on a porch, the nightly jam session in Prospect Park, the impromptu Philharmonic in the streets.