Twitter Listening Parties

When the COVID lockdowns started a year ago, I think everyone was at a bit of a loss as to what to do.

Tim Burgess, the lead singer of The Charlatans, had a great idea. He started hosting "listening parties" on Twitter: #TimsTwitterListeningParty

So what is a listening party?

Everyone who participates begins playing a chosen album simultaneously and tweets along, asking questions and sharing their memories while they listen.

The artist is usually involved and tweets behind-the-scenes stories about the recording, guiding you through the tracks.

A wide variety of artists have participated, from 10cc to Iron Maiden.

There is also a complete back catalog of all 700+ listening parties that you can check out. I find the replays not as much fun as listening live, but they are still enjoyable.

I have participated in about 15 of these live listening parties and have enjoyed them all.

Even though I love music, I don't always have the patience to sit down and listen to an entire album from beginning to end.

Reading and posting on the live Twitter stream and getting some insights from the source and other fans is an excellent way to experience the music. It's like live-action liner notes.

Give one a try. It's a great way to wind down and start an evening.

Pour yourself a nice drink, drop some vinyl on your Dansette (Spotify works too), and listen to some great music while you gain a new appreciation with some live-tweeted commentary.

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