Laura Marling Sells Out Groundbreaking Geo-Blocked Remote Concert, Adds Second Show

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Among the many options detailed by experts in Variety’s recent article on concerts for the pandemic age , one was geo-blocked shows and tours: Livestreamed concerts with limited capacities, limited to a certain geographic area by a process called “geo-blocking.”

Last week British singer-songwriter Laura Marling announced the first major geo-blocked concert of this year — a live, multi-camera, ticketed event taking place at 7 p.m. ET on June 6 at London’s Union Chapel, limited to North American fans to coincide with the last date of her cancelled tour of the region — and sold it out within days; now she’s announced a similar show on the same day, taking place at 8 p.m. GMT (three hours before the first-announced show) geo-blocked for U.K. and European Union fans. Tickets will also be capped to a limited number, and according to the announcement have already nearly sold out. (Ticket info is available here .)

Ticketholders will be given a unique YouTube link just before the broadcast starts where they’ll be able to view the performance. Minimal staff and crew will take part in order to help produce the show.

When purchasing tickets, fans will also be offered the choice of two charities to donate to in addition to their purchase, with Marling herself choosing Refuge and The Trussell Trust as the two to benefit.

Marling’s latest LP – “Song for Our Daughter” – came out last month via a new partnership between Partisan and Chrysalis Records. Announced with only a week’s notice, the album was initially planned for a late summer release. But as Marling explained in a statement: “In light of the change to all our circumstances, I saw no reason to hold back on something that, at the very least, might entertain, and at its best, provide some sense of union…An album, stripped of everything that modernity and ownership does to it, is essentially a piece of me, and I’d like for you to have it.” ‘