A great series of texts in Guardian by the members of Mogwai, Chic, Charlatans, Haim, Hot Chip and others about the joy of playing live. Chris of the Christine and the Queens goes all the way with her text: "I like the animalistic side of touring: it’s about being a nice beast on stage, you have to sniff things and feel things and adapt. I like the accidents, the awkwardness of it. It can be really humbling because you think you know your show, and then you learn it again because the audience reacts differently. I like the challenge – to prove myself on stage, to try to win people over. It’s almost like a Don Juan thing, every time you have to make love, and you have to find a different way".

Tame Impala played two sold-out, maskless concerts on Friday in Perth, as Tame Impala Sound System sets, bringing a sense of normalcy down under where the Covid-numbers are quite low, while the rest of the world is pretty much quarantined, NME reports. Tame Impala’s TISS sees Parker and co. reimagine tracks from the band’s discography with synths, sequencers, and samplers, creating "pulsating, fully live and organic, free-flowing digital jam out”.

New York will allow performances venues to reopen starting April 2, with capacity capped at 33%, with social distancing and face coverings required by all attendees. AEG CEO Jay Marciano has said previously to Rolling Stone that this can't work: “We built an industry based upon selling out. It’s important for the experience. The first 50 percent of the tickets pay for expenses like the stagehands and the marketing, the ushers, and the rest and the venue, and the other 50 percent is shared between the artists and the promoter - so, if all you’re going to sell is 50 percent of tickets, nobody’s making any money. Selling 85 percent of tickets is roughly the break-even”. So, what's left is multiplying the ticket price by 3, right?!?

More than 100 Italian artists staged a silent protest L'Ultimo Concerto last Saturday to raise awareness for the struggling live music industry. Italian musicians came to the venues and prepared everything just like for a normal show - with their instruments and sound-checks and all - and then just stood still in silence.

The prospect capacity re-opening in the largest U.S. markets with over 75% capacity was “within sight”, Live Cation's CEO Michael Rapino told Music Business Worldwide. He said that “a clear outline to a 75% to 100% capacity for outdoor U.S. events in 2021 was looking likely to be green-lit”. Good news from the UK as well - festival organisers are enjoying record ticket sales after the government’s announcement of its roadmap out of lockdown in England, Guardian reports.

Huck tells the story of the LA punk scene which survived the pandemic with dozens of backyard gigs. The magazine argues "this attitude – of taking personal responsibility for yourself and your actions, despite what the rules say – is a common one in the DIY punk scene". Beko, the singer and frontman of punk band Lazy Dream, explains the attitude: “Our whole method is do-it-yourself. We were tired of waiting for people to do the recording thing, so we just did the recording ourselves… With the shows, we did that as well. We were like, ‘Ok, we have this backyard right here, might as well throw a show. Because if no one’s going to hire us or invite us anywhere, might as well do it ourselves’”.

British pianist Joseph Middleton describes the hassle he would have to go through to play a recital in Spain: "Even though I would only spend 24 hours there, my agent would be required to work on a raft of extra paperwork, my accountant to furnish me with documents giving proof of income, and my bank would need to provide me with recent certified bank statements (no pesky home printouts here, thank you). My passport would need to be submitted to the Spanish embassy and held there until the visa was processed, causing problems for when I had to travel for other work". And it's an expensive hassle as well - £600 just for visa costs.

Unable to play in "standard" venus due to the pandemic, the artists had to come up with novel ideas for places to play. It seems as if they're just getting started. Hot Since 82 played his sets from a hot air balloon and from under a pier, Liam Gallagher played aboard a barge as it floated down the River Thames with London's lockdown skyline and landmarks in full view, Biffy Clyro played from within a cube, Disclosure played a DJ set from above a waterfall at a national park... BBC reports about the start of something really new.

The Coda Collection is a new multi-media company featuring rare concerts and music documentaries, exclusive premieres for films and more, Deadline reports. The founders include Yoko Ono and Jimi Hendrix' sister Jaine so it will feature Rock'n'roll leaning shows, including streaming premieres such as 'Music, Money, Madness…Jimi Hendrix In Maui', 'The Rolling Stones On The Air', 'Johnny Cash at San Quentin', exclusive performances by Jane’s Addiction and Stone Temple Pilots, as well as new and rarely seen performances by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Avett Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Paul Simon, AC/DC, and more. The channel is launching on Amazon Prime in February for $4.99 per month and globally throughout the rest of 2021.

The Flaming Lips played their first space bubbles show in Oklahoma City's The Criterion on Friday night (it was postponed from December due to rising COVID numbers). The show had fans in 100 inflatable balls, each of which could hold three people. Members of the band were in their own capsules as well. The band put on a typically bombastic spectacle, Brooklyn Vegan reports.