Can Cinemas Substitute Live Events?

Recently, I've found myself watching a lot of live events in the cinema. It seems that live events are no longer as exclusive as they may have once appeared. Whether it's a concert movie, a stage show, or a Q&A, more and more of these ticketed in-person events are transitioning to the big screen, available for viewing in theatres far and wide. It's a nice option for those who can't attend, but can it really recapture the feeling of being there?

If you look online at any major cinema ticketing site, you'll likely see a product category for “event cinema". What they mean by “event” cinema is pretty much anything outside of the traditional film distribution pipeline. It might be a live sporting event, a filmed concert, or an anime or documentary project that is only receiving a limited release. These event screenings are designed to replicate the exclusivity that the real attendees have by programming only a limited number of sessions and bumping up the price. They then attempt to transport you to a time and place you physically could not be. So does it work, and more importantly, is it worth it?

A couple of months ago, I saw Hans Zimmer and Friends: Diamond in the Desert. Hans Zimmer has released several of his live concerts as films in the past, but this one was slightly different. The concert (which took place in Dubai) was interwoven with clips of Zimmer interviewing his famous friends and collaborators. The likes of Jerry Bruckheimer, Timothée Chalamet, Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, and Billie Eilish all sit down for a chat with Zimmer where they unpack their work together, and the musical piece you're about to hear in the concert. I thought this was a pretty neat addition for the cinema-going audience. It made the experience feel more like a documentary than a live replay.

Additionally, some songs took place outside of the concert arena, with Zimmer and his musicians playing in different locations and on sets rather than live on stage. The sets were designed to emulate the setting of the respective film. This was another addition that felt like it was exclusive to the theatre audience and elevated the performance beyond just being a concert film.

When it came to the live music segments themselves, I was curious to see how these would resonate. I'd seen Hans Zimmer live on his previous world tour a few years ago, and it was an ethereal experience. As it turns out, the movie still captured that feeling, which I think comes down to Zimmer's songs themselves just being that good.

While I felt Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert was a worthy cinematic experience, not all concert films are. I think of something like Taylor Swift's Eras Tour movie. While yes, I appreciate this was a great alternative for those wanting to see the Eras Tour (without selling an internal organ for a ticket to a live show), having seen both the concert in-person and the filmed version, unfortunately, the movie couldn't live up to being there.

For one, there was an element of unpredictability at the Eras Tour that just isn't feasibly captured in a concert film. Every night, Taylor Swift would shift the setlist with her secret songs, sometimes adding in announcements or special guests. Eventually, she changed the entire setlist by adding in the Tortured Poet's Department section, which is something that still hasn't been added to the concert movie. The Eras Tour film is a great immortalisation of one specific show from the tour. It captures what happened, but it doesn't capture the feeling of being there.

Shifting tact again, another filmed experience I saw in theatres recently was Critical Role. The famed online Dungeons & Dragons group has been touring with several live shows this year and partnered with a film distributor to bring recordings of the live shows to North American cinemas. This allowed fans who weren't there to meet, mingle, and experience the campaign together. For me, this was going to be a true test of whether the cinema experience could replicate being there because I was having serious FOMO. The two screenings I saw (Tag Team at the Teeth) were recorded at live shows in Sydney and Melbourne. It was the first time Critical Role had toured down under, and I knew several friends who were attending these shows. I also would've been there had I still been living in Australia, so this was my proxy.

I had mixed feelings about the results. There were things, particularly interactive crowd elements, that you just had to be there for. That being said, there were times when the 10,000+ attendees could be heard on the recording, and their reactions often worked in tandem with the audience reaction in my cinema, so I did feel in some ways like I was a part of the crowd. I got only a hint of the atmosphere that I'm sure was amplified tenfold by being in the room, but it did translate. Adding to that, seeing this screening in cinemas gave me the best view in the house. When looking at some of the pictures my friends posted from their Critical Role show, the cast members were the size of ants on a stage far away. Watching the recording meant that I could see every outfit, every dice roll, and every reaction up close.

When it comes down to it, I think that's one of the major advantages live event screenings like this have. The view from the camera is always going to be better than from the seats in the crowd, no matter how expensive your ticket may be. It's another reason I think these pre-recorded live events are becoming more popular. The average attendee can't afford to fork out hundreds of dollars on a front row seat, or to pay thousands to fly out and see a show in London or New York. But they can probably afford $10 a month to watch Hamilton on Disney+ or $20 to see David Tennant play Macbeth on stage in a cinema.

Of course, that comes at the expense of the live atmosphere, which is the real trade-off here. You can have the best seats in the house from the comfort of your local cinema, or you can have the crowd atmosphere and the knowledge that you were really in the room where it happens.

In the end, I think I like that there are both options available and that these cinema screenings make art more accessible to a wider audience. But I don't think cinemas or pre-recordings will ever replace live events because one wouldn't exist without the other. If Hamilton was filmed exclusively for Disney+ instead of in front of a live audience, it would lose the magic that comes with the performance in front of a crowd. The stakes instantly drop because there's no risk of failure; you can just do another take.

A lot of the thrill of these live performances comes from the fact that they are live. Performers have to adapt in the moment; there are no do-overs. The cinema screen can't ever emulate that nature, but it does a decent job of replicating it.