Livestream concerts take center stage
The Covert Concert Series presents livestreams of full bands performing in an intimate Berks County studio.
COVID-19 restrictions have taken their toll not just on area musicians but also on those who provide sound for music events.
But with the prospect of an eerily quiet summer looming, Mike Santarelli of SanCo Sound & Light in Reading and some of his musician friends became proactive.
In late May, they launched the Covert Concert Series, which offers livestreaming concerts via their Facebook page featuring full bands, with high quality sound and multicamera video.
One of Santarelli’s partners in the venture is Zack DeSantis, who in midMarch started the Berks County Quarantine Open Mic Facebook group, which has attracted nearly 14,000 members. DeSantis’ band the quiet campaign served as guinea pigs for the trial run of the Covert Concert Series, which streamed live on May 28.
This normally would be a busy time of year for DeSantis, who plays in a fistful of bands, so he was happy to be able to get the quiet campaign back together for a live show. The band had been gaining traction before the pandemic hit and had to cancel a bunch of gigs.
“The last shows we played we had a really good response,” DeSantis said, “and I felt like people were starting to talk about us. It’s been a setback.”
The band has continued to work on new music remotely during the quarantine, but DeSantis said it just isn’t the same.
“Playing that first set with the band was super-cathartic,” he said. “Just being able to interact with other musicians for the first time in three months made me realize how much I miss that and how much I need that in my life. And I think that’s of real value for the musicians who are going to do this concert series.
“It’s not the same. It’s weird. You’re stuck in headphones in a room, and the only audience is the production crew, but it feels like you’re playing a show, which is cool. It’s what we all miss as musicians, for sure.”
Santarelli has been providing sound for local venues and bands since about 2008, but this side business (he works full time as a teacher in the Reading School District) really took off in 2014.
In a typical summer, you would find him working the concert series at Union Jack’s Inn on the Manatawny and Bear Creek Mountain Resort, as well as at West Reading’s festivals and West Chester’s Restaurant Festival and Turks Head Music Festival, to name just a few.
In 2019, he said, he worked 110 gigs.
He had 84 lined up for this summer alone before everything went dark.
“What really kills me is I ordered a new PA system, and it showed up in the middle of March, that same week everything started getting canceled,” he said. “It’s all really high-end, professional stuff.”
Santarelli admits he doesn’t rest easy — “I hate being bored; I hate sitting around,” he said — so he was itching to get some music back into his life when he, DeSantis, John Becker of Anomalous Audio and photographer/videographer Karl McWherter came up with the idea for the Covert Concert Series.
Their shows, filmed in a makeshift studio at a friend’s house, run 45 minutes to an hour and give bands a chance to play live in a safe atmosphere that conforms to CDC guidelines, including social distancing.
Santarelli is glad to be able to give bands an outlet for the first time in months.
“The open mic thing is cool,” he said, “but a lot of it, the production value isn’t great. You have people just sitting there with a phone camera. The audio quality isn’t great. People tune out quickly if it’s not interesting.
“We wanted to do something that was more intimate — like a ‘Live From Daryl’s House’ kind of thing.”
Santarelli said they’re shooting for one concert per week. Last Thursday was Echoes Talk Back, followed by the Berks County band Neo Trio on June 10. Upcoming are shows by Plynth and the Jake Joyce Band.
Other regional bands interested in performing can send a message on the Covert Concert Series Facebook page.
McWherter summarized the spirit behind the endeavor, saying: “I’m glad for the opportunity to help produce quality live content for musicians and lovers of music. I look forward to a future when my team and an audience can share the energy in person again.”