by: elizabeth schneider

I count live music as one of the great pleasures in life. People from disparate backgrounds getting together in one venue, all brought together with a common love of the music. I went to live shows often and already had plans, in some cases purchased tickets, for shows through 2020. Whoops!

During the first weeks of quarantine and isolation, I kept myself busy with all the unfinished projects around my house, waiting to be called back to work. Six months later, I find myself without a job, returned tickets and cancelled plans. I am grateful for all that I have, including my health and the health of my family, and live music.

While the music industry has suffered greatly during this pandemic, art will never be stopped. We see this with street murals, short form videos, soaring interest in crafts and cooking, and all the performance art that is available on your computer, in most cases free of charge or for an artist tip.

Imperfect Fifth celebrated their 3rd anniversary September 7 – 13th and viewers got the gifts – six nights of performances along with seven days of Instagram takeovers that included performances! Here are a few highlights from Day #1!

Instagram takeovers on September 7 included Austin Archer and Griffin Holtby. Austin Archer is a Los Angeles based artist with plenty of great music under his belt (“Sweet Rejection”, “Dangerous Liaison”), as well as acting, writing, and directing credits. Griffin Holtby calls Texas home and gave us a tour of sites in and around Dallas where he would be creating his newest video. The Blues guitar will reel you into his music.

The headliner on FB Live on Day #1 was Eric Dash. The New Jersey native, now living in Los Angeles, played a spirited 40-minute set that covered older material as well as songs he is getting ready to release (“Jealousy” and “I Just Need to Get Away”). Although he hasn’t played a live show in awhile, he sounded fresh and very excited to play. Dash broke out with an acoustic version of the Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender” that was higher energy than you might imagine with just a guitar. The second song he covered was “Lithium” by Nirvana and he made it his own. My favorite of the night was “Stay Arms Reach,” a ballad with energy.

Make a plan to watch the replay of Eric Dash’s show below!