The platform will be used on the Sansar app and will allow viewers to move between the dancefloors of the club in vivid detail, with a livestream of all other goers. It will work through phone devices, Mac, tablet, PC or VR for viewers to enjoy a slice of the past in the club.

The company Beatport will be broadcasting the events through Facebook, YouTube and Twitch. The main-events have not yet been announced, as far as dates and times, however it has been released that their will be pre-game parties with music and games for attendees. The main events are scheduled to be announced on February 6th, 2021.

As one of the first widescale virtual events with a livestream and in-person attendees simultaneously, Tobacco Dock Virtual is setting the stage from a more innovative and virtual future. Tobacco Dock’s director Jonathan Read explained the experience, stating that –

“Tobacco Dock is excited to be working alongside our long term partner LWE to develop a cutting-edge virtual venue that will enable remote audiences to have a truly immersive, rich experience with the attributes of being present without the travel. It is a bold new step on our journey to make Tobacco Dock a global destination for music, cultural, fashion and tech events.”

In a press release, it was allusively announced that there will be big acts preforming opening weekend, which does not have a determinate date as of today. Not only were big acts promised, but major party bands situated in London will also be on the ticket.

It is not yet announced how much the app will cost, if anything or if there will be a type of ticket sale for the event. With the plan to open Easter of this year, it is still unclear whether the UK’s most recent restrictions surrounding the Covid-19 new variant will have been lifted at that time, and whether the events will still go ahead without a live-audience.

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This a special performance because Smith will be paying tribute to the UK’s NHS health-care workers that have fallen victim to Covid-19 in their fight to heal those suffering in the pandemic. When discussing her decision to honour health-care workers, Smith stated that it’s just so sad when we lose people who work so hard to rebuild our world.

Patti Smith has been focusing less on her music and more on activism since her last album release Banga in 2012. The majority of her activism has been centered around climate change, playing multiple shows, making speeches and raising money and awareness around the subject.

Smith has also taken up poetry in the last decade, performing poetry live often and releasing her own written poetry as well. To honour her love for poetry and combine it with her activism surrounding climate change, at the NYE showcase she will also be reading a poem dedicated to the climate change activist Greta Thunberg who will be celebrating her 18th birthday in the coming month. Smith wanted to honour Thunberg because she pretty much sacrificed her childhood for all of us.

When discussing the poem, Smith said that some of the work I did in my bedroom, some in a recording studio and some at my desk. I had to teach myself how to use Photo Booth on my computer and film myself reading a poem. She continued by joking about the creative process, saying I’m sure there are 14-year-olds who can do this in five minutes but it took me quite a while. But I got there and I’m so proud of myself.

When discussing her struggles during the covid-19 isolation, for which she needed to isolate because of lung issues, she said it was very difficult for her to overcome. She stated that she had so much responsibility and a true purpose. To be in limbo almost 10 months, for a person like me who doesn’t like sitting in the same place, it’s been very challenging. I feel like I’m part-wolf, roaming from room to room.

It is fitting that Smith will be honouring those who have sacrificed their lives considering she has spent the last decade sacrificing hers to make the world a little cleaner. YouTube’s Circa will showcase Patti Smith throughout January at 20:21 GMT at Piccadilly Lights, London, leading up to the special NYE tribute performance.

Corgan and Reznor are the latest acts set to play the Bowie birthday-show; among the long line-up are big names including actor Gary Oldman as well as musicians such as Gavin Rossdale, Macy Gray, Judith Hill, Perry Farrell and many more. The musicians will each give their own rendition of one or more of the songs off Bowie’s extensive discography and it is expected they will bring unique and genre-spanning covers to the live-show.

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The event will take place near the 5th anniversary of Bowie’s death and will follow the new-release of the album Metrobolist which is set to be released next month. This year, previously unreleased live-show recordings and re-cut songs, such as The Man Who Sold The World, have been given to fans and even last month saw a limited edition of the 1975 album Young Americans. 

Bowie has had great success from posthumous releases including winning multiple Grammys, selling over 5 million records in just the 2 years following his death and being named Rolling Stone’s ‘Greatest Rock Star Ever’. This upcoming live-stream concert will pay tribute to fallen star with collaborations and arrangements of his music spanning all the decades of his career.

Producers of the live-stream event include Kerry Brown, Stacey Sher and Bowie’s long-time producer Tony Visconti, and they are calling it ‘A Bowie Celebration: Just for one day!’. Past band-members and old collaborators are banning together in an alumni fashion to play as one in honour of Bowie.

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This all-star band will include players such as the main band-members from his last touring act and other musicians including Carlos Alomar, Zack Alford, Alan Childs, Kevin Armstrong, Emm Gryner, Omar Hakim, Robin Clark, Clare Hirst, Tim Lefebvre, Erdal Kızılçay, Martha Mooke, Mark Plati, Holly Palmer, Charlie Sexton and Carmine Rojas.

Spanning the end of 2020 and into 2021 a collection of 6 live and unreleased albums from the years 1995 to 1999 will be available in a limited CD and vinyl form. This collection will be called Brilliant Live Adventures and will follow the release of the upcoming album Metrobolist.

Tickets for the Bowie livestream birthday celebration concert are available here and the early-bird pricing is at 20USD (15 GBP). All shows from the ‘Bowie Celebration Tour’ that was set to go off next year have been cancelled due to safety concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

The annual Carousel of Hope event, part of the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, went virtual for the first time this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fundraising gala opened with a stunning duet by Cynthia Erivo and Adam Lambert performing Aretha Franklin and George Michael’s, ‘I Knew You Were Waiting.’

The event featured other performances from singing sensations Andrea Bocelli, Rod Stewart, and Jennifer Hudson. Gwen Steffani and Blake Shelton sung their duet ‘Happy Anywhere,’ and Tony Bennet did a splendid performance of ‘The Way You Look Tonight.’ Barry Manilow did a moving performance of ‘One Voice,’ accompanied with a choir and American singer / songwriter Babyface, performed with his guitar in a black and white video wearing a tee-shirt displaying the words ‘Freedom.’ Video clips of previous performances by superstars Beyoncé from 2004 , Ricky Martin from 2000 and Whitney Houston from 1990 were also shown. The gala hosted by Jay Leno, also displayed video appearances by stars George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Oprah.

Grammy winning producer and musical director of the Carousel Ball shared his favourite memory of the event to variety.com whereby a less famous Michael Bublé, “Kept walking around saying ‘this is more incredible than the Oscars’ – not that he had ever been to the Oscars at that point,” he recalled. “Or getting to accompany a very young Celine Dion, as she dazzled the audience with her out of the world voice.”

Founded in 1978, The Carousel of Hope Ball was set up as a fundraiser for the Barbara Davis Centre for Diabetes in Aurora, Colorado and the Children’s Diabetes Foundation. Davis established the foundation in 1977 due to her daughter suffering from Type 1 diabetes which has since aided research to treat young people with the condition. For the first time in 40 years, the annual charity event opened its doors to everyone with a virtual extravaganza. Saturday nights virtual gala raised more than $1 million whilst also being a night for celebration for Davis’ 90^th birthday. The incredible closing performance of ‘That’s What Friends Are For,’ which was delivered over zoom by Sam Smith, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Kenny G and Erivo was accompanied by a video of photos celebrating Davis’ legacy and the Carousel Ball.