Iona Fyfe

Live Stream

20 March 2020

I've listened to live streaming music before, but this is the first time I've ever bought a "ticket" to a planned event like this, so I'm not sure how it will feel. I'm going to treat it like I would a real concert, so turn off all the distractions, lights off, get here early to buy the merch ...

This is probably where I would talk about the venue. Well ...

Iona Fyfe is sitting in front of a piano in the corner of a room, with the camera tightly focused on her. I think the camera was probably just her phone, and it's streaming over the Internet to her Facebook page. The broadcast quality, both sound and vision, is good. I think a rock band would lose something from not having the power of a big sound system, but for a folk singer this is fine. There is one brief period where the stream dropped out, but it's not a live gig without some minor technical hitch! One amusing point was that she had the picture flipped left-right, which messed with your head if you watched her hands on the piano!

The gig was billed as lasting an hour. It was actually around one hour fifty minutes. The audience hovered at around 100 people. "Tickets" were £5, but that was optional so I don't know how many people paid and how many just logged on and listened for free. But nearly two hours of live music for only £5 seems like a bargain to me.

Ok, the music, because that's the only important thing. Iona Fyfe is a singer of traditional Scottish ballads. And it seems I know a lot less Scottish ballads than I thought I did, as I only recognised three out of the twenty she sang. She alternated singing unaccompanied and singing with the piano, and seemed to be making up the set list as she went along, including taking requests from the audience (via the chat feature). She spent a lot of time talking, giving the stories behind the songs and answering questions from the audience. It was all very informal.

And, she just has a beautiful voice, and sings this style of song perfectly. I've never seen her in concert before, but based on this I would certainly go to see her again.

Of course it's not like a real concert. The atmosphere of a live gig, the reason I love them so much, isn't there, no matter how much I try to feel it, and I didn't have the same buzz afterwards. I would never choose this format over a real live concert. But as long as this is all there is, I'll take it. I loved her voice and her songs, and for two hours I was entertained. That's all I'm asking for.