Article Written By Lucy Fordyce

I’m sure most of us can name some music that’s helping us get through the current global mess. One of my mainstays for these past few months has been Tanerélle’s Mama Saturn’s Virtual Concert, a thiry-minute set posted for free on YouTube. Imagine the vocals of someone like SZA or Solange Knowles mixed with the floaty, dreamy sounds of genres such as vaporwave, a bit like Frank Ocean if he was a cool girl in outer space (fun fact: his song Seigfried is sampled in Mama Saturn’s Virtual Concert, as is Rihanna’s Needed Me). When I heard that Tanerélle was producing a more elaborate follow-up called Mama Saturn’s Galactica, I thought “Why not?” and bought a virtual ticket.

The whole ‘attendance’ process was really easy. I picked my night, paid, then received an email with an access link and code to watch the show. Way simpler than struggling to get parked near the venue, standing for ages in the merch line from hell, and trekking up loads of vertigo-inducing stairs to your seat. I’m speaking from experience here because, to be honest, I wouldn’t normally be much of a virtual concert person. I love the unique atmosphere of in-person performances, how they bring people together and how the listening experience always differs from the studio recording, even if that experience also includes a random drunk fan screaming “I LOVE YOU [ARTIST’S NAME]!” right in your ear every five seconds.

Nevertheless, given the subdued, electronic style of Tanerélle’s songs, I didn’t feel I was missing out on this ‘crazy concert experience’ as much as I would with, say, a stadium rock band. Her sound and visuals are like being alone in a slightly psychedelic nightclub on Mars at 2am, which is definitely an atmosphere more suited to an immersive video than a loud concert hall. Moreover, the absence of everything that makes traditional concerts a bit stressful meant that Mama Saturn’s Galactica could have the same calming effect as Tanerélle’s studio music. I was just listening by myself in a comfy chair with headphones on; I didn’t need to watch out for flying beer cups, awkwardly stand up for someone trying to get past, or constantly be mindful of my safety.

The chilled sci-fi vibes were only emphasised by the creative freedom of pre-recording. Since the songs could be filmed individually then edited together afterwards, Tanerélle had time to change her backdrop, outfits, and persona to suit the aesthetic of each one. For example, her look for Nothing Without You – which focuses on the sense of dependency a relationship can foster – included a delicate dress and minimalist-glam makeup whilst her typically confident body language became more pared-back to emphasise the insecurity depicted in the lyrics. Towards the end of the song, an orchestral interlude was accompanied by a graphic of two planets colliding and exploding into colour in a representation of the destructiveness and beauty that can both come from love.

This almost cinematic approach blurred the lines between a concert and a choreographed music video and was therefore very different – in a good way – to a traditional live show. Instead of having music as the be-all-and-end-all, it felt more like one important facet of a multi-media performance, the sun around which the planets of fashion, sound, and visuals rotated (if you don’t mind a heavy-handed galactic analogy). The immersive experience of being in a concert environment – with loud music, a large crowd and so on – was replaced with that of the show itself, which drew you into its narrative of intergalactic ruminations on love and self-worth. Attending a live show is never just about the performance, whereas for an online show the performance is everything. Music has always been a form of art, and it is this artistry that virtual concerts magnify so effectively.

I think it’s pretty obvious that Tanerélle has made me a virtual concert convert, even if I’ll still rush back to stadium lives once it’s safe. Online shows offer an alternative way of experiencing musical performance whilst also enabling greater reach to fans worldwide, reduced costs, and a way to support independent creatives (like Tanerélle) at an uncertain time for everyone. After all, when it’s all a bit chaotic here on Earth, why wouldn’t I want to take A Trip Through Space To Clear My Mind?

‘After such a challenging and tumultuous year I really wanted to create something that could teleport us somewhere else even if for a moment...I wanted to create something that could connect us all in love.’ – Tanerélle

An online space odyssey with Tanerélle: thoughts on ‘attending’ a virtual concert in lockdown