"Sofar Sounds", secret concerts in a living room

Have you ever been to a concert where you had someone in the line of view, snapping selfies or recording the concert all night? Perhaps it was having someone by your side constantly talking, or maybe the noise of the bar, the warm beer or a poor sound system what ruined the music experience?

Some sort of thing like any of that probably happened to Rafe Offer (Founder and CEO of Sofar Sounds) when in 2009, after attending Friendly Fires concert in London, he decided to put on his own gig at a flat, inviting over some people to listen to friend and musician Dave Alexander performing in the living room. That small gesture, perhaps at that time did not mean much, but the fact is 10 years later that is a gig format with a presence in more than 400  worldwide cities, having had 40 acts to get Grammys or nominations, certainly quite an achievement!

Oftenly only the things born as a result of an honest and naive act, without having the ambition of being disruptive or making a lot of money, are the ones that end up making a difference and changing the status quo. This might be the case of Sofar Sounds, something that started as a hobby and spread into a global community to come together in unique and changing locations (attendees do not know the final location until the day of the event), discovering new artists and meeting other people with common interests within the same city, always having the music as protagonist.

But 2009 is already too far away, and that initial idea has evolved a lot, so to have lucrative collaborations like the one carried out together with 21st Century Fox to organize gigs around the world for Bohemian Rhapsody film promo, including on every set Queen covers or guest artists like Lily Allen. Despite not having lost the original spirit it was born with, Sofar Sounds is already a serious business that in fact has begun to charge fees in some countries (USA, Norway, UK, etc ...) for attending some of its concerts and thus be able to remunerate their surprise artists or tireless collaborators.

Interested? The formula is quite simple! You got a space to offer or maybe have music skills on you that you are willing to share? Then you better get in touch with the local host of Sofar Sounds, they will manage the rest. But if you just want to attend any of these secret concerts, then register yourself and apply, hopefully you will be lucky enough to get some invitations for the next event!

Take a look at their website and learn more about Sofar Sounds!

Cover photograph by Bogdan Serban