Ben Gibbard: Live from Home - a new way to tell time

Today marks a 1-year anniversary of the first ever YouTube live stream of Ben Gibbard: Live from Home. Initially conceived as a nightly home concert from Ben's home for 2-weeks, while we collectively attempted to flatten the curve. "I know you are all really freaked out right now. I am too" read the stream's description of the first performance on March 18, 2020.

At this point in time, the current state of the world was a mixture of worry and hysterics. On March 11, the NBA suspended the season for "at least 30 days." The NHL followed the next day. On March 13, many offices began to instruct their employees to begin working from home. By March 15, lockdowns were in place throughout the world, leaving open only "essential" businesses. Seemingly overnight our everyday lives were uprooted, as all routine was replaced with uncertainty and fear, all while confined into isolation within our own homes.

With all concerts cancelled, it took little time for artists to begin online performances, in what felt like a mixture of their own medication while providing fans some very welcomed distractions. Ben Gibbard was on the early wave of this trend, announcing on March 17th that the following night would begin his "residency". And so began his first night, sitting in the same awkward webcam angle that we all suddenly found ourselves accustomed to, acoustic guitar across his knee and a suspiciously nagging cough from a "strange flu" he had gotten a few weeks ago during a Death Cab show. "I'm going to try to do this for the next 2-weeks or so" he announced, hoping that by that time, we'd begin returning to normal.

Ben continued a nightly show for the next 12 nights, up until the end of April, at which point it was clear that the world was even farther away from returning to normal than when he first began. He then shifted to weekly shows for the next 9 weeks, before wrapping up his "2-week" experiment. With one year behind us since the inaugural show and many of us still in some form of isolation, Ben returns for an anniversary show of sorts - same webcam angle, with his acoustic guitar to sing a few more requests.

I owe Ben a significant level of gratitude for this Live from Home series. As I struggled with a new level of anxiety brought forth from the pandemic, I found myself in a battle to try to find some peace during the evenings - away from the news and persistent fear. I often found myself turning into Ben's channel with my own acoustic guitar, and played along with him. It was a soft introduction into what the next year of my life would look like, with friends coming through in the form of a small rectangle on my laptops screen.

Those nights don't feel that far way - certainly less than a year. Ben Gibbard unintentionally set a cornerstone on March 18th, a new date within the calendar, to reflect about how far we've come during those early panicked days of 2020 and a firm reminder on how quickly they can return.