Tom Dunne's Music & Me: 'It feels like a gig, but is closer to what a teenage boy gets up to in his bedroom'

Streaming gigs have taken off in our Covid age but, despite playing plenty empty rooms in my time, they just don't feel right

'A gig without an audience is just a performance, a dry run, a glorified rehearsal.'

This live steaming of gigs thing is really taking off! Even Something Happens have been approached. But the promoter was concerned: “How will you feel about playing in an empty room?” he asked, for that is the reality of the Covid gig stream: there is no audience. “An empty room?” we asked, “don’t make us laugh.” 

Because empty rooms and SH go back. We have played in many empty rooms and have travelled HUGE distances to do it. I still remember my first: The Underground in Cork. We had travelled from Dublin but a busker outside had more people. I stood there mortified. “Please come in,” I begged, but they wouldn’t.