For the first-ever virtual Nova Red Room that beamed a shit-hot artist into homes, sweet sad king Conan Gray dropped into the lounge rooms and bedrooms of a very select few Aussie fans, which made it a really beautiful and intimate show.
Normally the Red Room shows are small, yeah, but you’re looking at a room that’s maybe 250-500 people, right? It’s an actual legit gig that you line up for, with stage lights and the whole kit and caboodle.
Today’s show with Conan? Five people. Yep, five (5) lucky winners from around Australia got to be a part of the inaugural at-home Red Room, watched Conan play a couple of songs acoustically in the evening light from Los Angeles, before asking a few questions and getting to have a chat with the Kid Krow himself.
Literally, when are you ever going to get that kind of pretty-much one-on-one sesh with your fave artist, right?
I got to sit in on the show today, which in itself was a strange feeling; like I was hiding in the wings of a gig but nobody was allowed to see or hear me otherwise I’d ruin the magic.
The crowd (read: five fans and one sneaky +1) turned out in all levels of isolation fashion. From full makeup looks, to comfy clothes, to one person actually having a fully red background with fairy lights (!!!) it was genuinely such a wholesome show – if you could even call it a gig and not just listening to a friend play the guitar on a Zoom meeting.
Look at that literal red room up there, I’m so impressed.
Conan played a few songs from his debut album, noting that he should have been between Coachella performances right now, and after a couple of acoustic tracks each of the fans got to ask him a couple of questions. Which derailed into a Taylor Swift stans group chat faster than I could type. If you want a little sneak peek, Smallzy’s Surgery will be playing snippets of the intimate gig tonight from 8pm tonight.
Genuinely such a gentle and special way for fans to connect and check-in with their favourite artists, especially during a time where we’re reminded that we’re all human, and all connected. I was expecting some serious chaos injected into my day with this show, but it was truly something special.
If I had this kind of access to my favourite bands as a teen, I would have absolutely lost my mind.
And honestly, if this is the way that Red Room shows are gonna look for the next while, you’re gonna want to try and get an invite. Because hoo boy there are some cracking intimate virtual concerts coming up, let me tell you.
