In a special benefit concert for a favorite venue, NYC indie musicians perform for free to keep the local music scene alive.

“Are you all ready?”

“Wait! I lost my pick.”

“Should we start with an applause for essential workers?”

“I think we should acknowledge all the music venues that have gone out of business?”

The anticipation, the chaotic rush, the relief to finally put the preparations aside and put on a great show doing what you love – all of the mixed emotions a performer experiences are palpable in the air.

And now we’re live.

If you’d like to follow along with a replay of the live-stream event, the show starts at 16:00.

WATCH REPLAY

Four months into quarantine life, many musicians have joined the live streaming trend to continue sharing their creativity with the world. The unique circumstances we’re in have challenged artists to explore new options. They’ve been forced to improve their skills in technology and create brand new performance routines with whatever electronic devices they could get their hands on. Some have found success in maintaining engagement with their communities, and most have appreciated the option to earn a supplemental income via digital tipping.

This is another one of those live-streamed events. But this time, the musicians have shifted the focus. This time, they’re turning the spotlight on a local bar and live music venue that has, for many years, been instrumental in promoting local, indie musicians. This time, they’re playing their hearts out while passing around the virtual tip jar to their audience members –who are safely distanced in front of screened devices–asking them to support a business that has long supported them. This time, they’re directing all the proceeds to the owner of Mary O’s, an Irish pub in the East Village in New York City where all of them have either performed in the past or were scheduled to perform before coronavirus arrived and halted all shows.

“In a time of crisis it feels difficult to generate support for the places we rely on while also trying to survive.”

— Kat Minogue

Mary O’s in New York City where musicians have frequently performed to a live audience in pre-COVID days.

Before the pandemic, presenters Victor V. Gurbo and Roomful of Sky Music had held a monthly residency at Mary O’s for a couple of years where hosts Phil Robinson, Victor V. Gurbo and Jason Vitelli each performed and booked musicians to perform live music to the patrons of the establishment. Their last live show at the location was on March 3, 2020. The musical series has been on pause since March. Until now.

In a time when freelance musicians and local restaurant businesses are suffering, these musicians have banded together to give thanks with the gift of music. In three hours, these 15 musicians have helped raise more than $1,000 for Mary O’s and received over 1,000 views on the event’s Facebook live video. The money raised is not quite enough to sustain a business in one of the most expensive cities in the world, but the message they’re sending is loud and clear: Please help support local businesses. Because we need them as much as our listeners need our music.

As musician Kat Minogue shared in a private Facebook chat: “I'm really happy that Mary O's is down. As an artist in a time of crisis it feels difficult to generate support for the places we rely on while also trying to survive, but hopefully this will bring some love and $$ to a venue that is home to such cool shows, while also strengthening this fantastic community of artists!! ❤ and, like, having fun and getting to perform and hang out with y'all ain't too bad, either;-)”

Musicians are a tight and strong community. Regardless of where we can go from here, the shows will go on.

– Louise Lau, founder of Offstage Tunes and the moderator of fun facts at this live stream

Don’t miss three hours of absolutely amazing music, plus fun facts about each of the featured musicians! If you’d like to join the audience in participating in a guessing game to learn more about each artist, stop scrolling (spoiler ahead!) and start watching the replay.

If you’d rather see a list of all the artists presented, their fun facts and the songs they performed, scroll down for a summary of the entire event and timestamps for the start of each act.

Enjoy the show, and we hope to see you at the next one!

watch replay

Music for Mary O's

(in order of appearance)

Heather Conrad – "I was a member of the US Air Force Band."

20:50
“The Girl He Needs”
“Where Do We Go From Here?”

Gary C. Huff – "Last time I played at Mary O’s I had just gotten out of a big surgery 3 days earlier."

32:50
“Say It Out Loud”
“Call On Me”

Shirley Levy – "I gave myself a haircut several good weeks ago!! I think that was very courageous of me. 🙂"

42:30
“Proud Mary” (with Jason Vitelli)

Jason Vitelli – "I'm debuting a new song tonight."

49:50
”Singing Our Song”

Su Polo – "I used to host a long-running weekly open-mic night at Nightingale Lounge."

55:23
”Walking In Your Tracks”

Chuck Dorman (& Friends) – “I was a zombie on The Walking Dead [show] and I ate a hermit. He was very good.”

1:04:45
”A Change Is Gonna Come”
”Big River”

Phil Robinson – "My 4th favorite band is: Indigo Girls."

1:19:40
”Fortunate Son”
”Hey There Delilah”

Petra Jasmiina – "I wrote my first song in a foreign language when I was 9."

1:31:55
“Hours”
”Summer Dress”

Jackie June – "I opened for 80's pop star Tiffany about 6 months ago."

1:41:55
“On The Move”
“Cant Quit You”

Emily Gabriele – "I recently had a song placed in an independent film festival trailer. It’s called Nevertheless Film Festival."

1:52:42
“Norwegian Wood”
”Monday”

Swagata Biswas – "During quarantine, I’ve been cooking a lot and discovered Totchos - tater tots, jalepeños, Mexican spices, covered in shredded cheese."

2:01:28
“Lens”
”Waves”

Victor V. Gurbo – "I build electric guitars.”

2:21:45
“The Roving Blade”
”Mondrian”

Kat Minogue – "I was an archaeologist, but it got old so I traded my trowel for a guitar."

2:35:25
“Jolene”
“Wasted Love”

Ronnie Wheeler – "My band has recorded w. Paul Kostabi, founding member of White Zombie."

2:42:54
”Ventilator Blues”
”Mean Old World”

Youth Moose – "We got our band’s name from graffiti on the side of a building on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway."

“It Ticks Away...”
”Sewer Mouth”

James Lane

Technical director

3:22:16 (A special celebratory Pikachu dance you do not want to miss)

Louise Lau, founder of Offstage Tunes
Fun-facts moderator and author of the blog post you’re reading

1:12:20 Fun Facts – Round 1
2:15:04 Fun Facts – Round 2
3:09:20 Fun Facts – Round 3

Event Partners:
Music for Multimedia
Hot Indie Media
Offstage Tunes

Presented by:
Victor V. Gurbo
Roomful of Sky Music

Forgoing Tips, Musicians Perform to Fundraise for Local Business

Music for Mary O's