As everyone knows, pretty much every live event on the planet has been postponed or canceled as a result of COVID-19 concerns. Though it’s absolutely the right call to do away with events that will bring crowds of people together and increase the spread of disease, the preventative measure has forced musicians to get creative with ways to get their music out to people. Many performers are now hosting virtual concerts and streaming live shows from their homes in an effort to entertain quarantined listeners and bring in at least some income during an especially uncertain time for artists.
Long before the sudden wave of homespun performances, there was a series that offers viewers the opportunity to see world-class punk rock performances filmed in the confines of one Midwestern man’s basement. That man is Smoking Popes drummer Mike Felumlee, who started Live From The Rock Room in May of 2016.
Since the series launched, Live From The Rock Room has released more than 300 videos from sessions with more than 100 bands that hail from all corners of the country. Over the course of the nearly four years the series has existed, Felumlee has filmed sessions with notable projects like The Posies, The Mr. T Experience, The Bombpops, Off With Their Heads, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Direct Hit!, 88 Fingers Louie, Red City Radio, and of course Smoking Popes. Along the way, the video series also moved. Last March, Felumlee relocated from the western Chicago suburb of Westmont, Illinois to Milwaukee.
“I was busy touring with Smoking Popes and getting everything set up the first six months or so up here,” Felumlee says. “But over the last several months, we have been very active shooting sessions.”
Since resuming Live From The Rock Room from the basement of his home that’s located just outside Bay View late last year, Felumlee and company have released videos from the likes of Attic Salt, Telethon, Mikey Erg, Limbeck, Church Girls, The Slow Death, The Raging Nathans, Lights Over Bridgeport, and many more. Videos from many of those sessions are now being released at an impressive rate of two per week. As huge fans of the series, Milwaukee Record has also come on as a sponsor recently.
Check out the NINE videos Live From The Rock Room has released within the past month, then watch more performances from the series’ extensive archives. After all, you probably have some extra time on your hands.