My First Booking of the Covid -19 Season

[montunoman]

Not performing for the last few months has been hard for me . I started to accept that playing out would just not be an option for the foreseeable future. With that being said I am very sad about the circumstances of my first performance of this horrible season. My wife and I will be performing at the funeral of our very best client. His name was Ruben and he died of this dreadful virus on Friday.

 

We meet Ruben at a Dia de los Muertos (All Souls Day) carnival. He came up to us after our show, and told how much he loved our sound, versatility, our daughter"s violin playing, matching uniforms, and so on. He introduced us to his partner, Marco, and told us that they were getting married and asked us if we could perform at their wedding party. Well, this type of wedding would be a first for us but we were happy to do it.

 

Their wedding party was the most elegant I have ever seen. I assumed that most of the guests would be male, but I was wrong! You see, Ruben was a very in demand, hair/makeup artist and style consultant to some of the most beautiful Latina women in the area. He formed very strong bonds with many of his clients, and lucky for us, he would recommend us to every bride and quinceañera that came to him for his services. Every year he would hold big parties for his clients and we would always perform at these extravagant events. He held many theme parties where everyone would dress in costume. If it wasn"t a costume party, everybody would dress to impress with all the ladies in long evening gowns and the men in tuxes. Ruben would do up to 3 wardrobe change a night! This was such a nice change of pace from the usual ripped jeans and t-shirts you see everywhere now.

 

So here"s to you Ruben, the most elegant and kindest man I"ve ever known. We"ll be sure to play your favorite boleros, and cumbias for you, brother. You will be missed by so many. May you rest in peace.

[Doerfler]

Sorry for your loss, but I am wondering about the funeral arangements. Funerals here in the USA are mostly postponed, unless they are extremely small.

[montunoman]

Thanks Dave. I've told been told that there will be very small group of people will be there. Maybe it seems overkill to have live Latin music for such a small gathering, but Ruben loved music.... We're playing after the mass outside of the funeral home.

[Doerfler]

thanks for the quick reply. We are unable to publicly celebrate Mass here in the DC area, churches have been closed since before Palm Sunday. No weddings, no funerals, no baptisms.

[montunoman]

yes, that's the case here too, but maybe since this is at a funeral home and not a church it's different?

[drawback]

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. We had a cherished bandmate pass away just as the virus was declared, and the music community hasn't been able to get together. Play your heart out and let your music speak for you.

[MAJUSCULE]

Sorry for your loss montunoman. Sounds like Reuben's life and impeccable taste will continue to ripple through the community.

[montunoman]

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. We had a cherished bandmate pass away just as the virus was declared, and the music community hasn't been able to get together. Play your heart out and let your music speak for you.

 

Thank you, Rod. We've been rehearsing some very fitting and moving songs and the tears were flowing as we played. I'm very sorry too for your band mate.

[montunoman]

Sorry for your loss montunoman. Sounds like Reuben's life and impeccable taste will continue to ripple through the community.

 

Thank you Eric, very well said.

[Joe Muscara]

Sorry for your loss, montunoman. I'm glad he was part of your lives and you did so much for each other.

[yannis D]

Elegant and sad story. Just like life itself

Sorry for your loss. At least Ruben lived his life just the way he wanted and this is a big achievement

Y.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

It's hard to lose a friend even under "normal" circumstances. Glad you have a way to celebrate his life through music during this challenging time. Stay safe and healthy. We'll be thinking about you.

[Delaware Dave]

We have our first post COVID 19 gig this Friday outdoors. So far we are still a go. Exciting to get back out and playing.

[Mr. Nightime]

Very sorry to hear about you're loss. As has already been said, it can be devastating to lose someone close to you in that manner. It's good that you are finding a way to honor his life.

 

We just got a call for our first post covid gig. July 3. It is an outdoor venue with a canvas roof, and very easy to maintain the distancing.

 

It will be a month after my heart surgery, so I should be in good shape by then.

[Stokely]

The only for-sure gig I have on the books for the rest of the year is July 15. I have to figure something about bathroom breaks, other than that it's a reasonably safe situation for the band members (and I'm in the back with them facing away from me so I'm safe from the other band members!) I'll probably wear a mask and won't sing, which will likely make me the only person in the whole place wearing one from what I heard of the band's May 15 gig at that place.

 

Right now is wait-and-see time from all this "opening up." It has been packed stores and restaurants from what friends and relatives have been telling me, not much mask-wearing except at places that require it (yay, Costco!). If in three weeks we are not seeing a big spike, I have to reckon there's something more going on. Starting to sound like *amount* of exposure really, really matters. NYC subway cars, meat packing plants, rooms full of people singing...this isn't spreading like Captain Trips from The Stand. There seem to be thresholds for exposure and furthermore there appear to be "super spreaders" and it may be luck or lack thereof if one of these spreaders gets into one of those packed-in situations. There has been a study that showed many people that have it don't spread it at all. Florida (other than 3 counties in the south) has been holding steady in cases and deaths have been not growing much at all for a while now, my brother's hospital has no cases in ICU (he's an ICU nurse). I think we may know a lot more before that next gig.

[montunoman]

We did the performance outside the funeral home yesterday. Inside they held they held a mass, and also a viewing earlier. Also a mariachi performed. We rehearsed all weekend and came up with a set that I think was very meaningful, and some songs brought tears to everyone's eyes, while others songs got everyone smiling, laughing, singing and dancing.I think Mexicans and Latinos in general have different way of grieving, and actually part of the process involves celebration through songs,dancing, eating, drinking, laughing, crying, and grieving together as one.

 

Between each song, my wife and I would share a memory about Ruben, and how that song captured his essence.

 

One his best friends/clients, a lovely lady named "Corazón" told me something that really impacted me. She said that, of course Ruben was a good stylist, and had impeccable taste, but his services as a stylist went way beyond that. She said she could probably get just as good results with a number of other stylists. But what set him apart was his ability to build meaningful relationships. She said that an appointment with Ruben would often become like a therapy session. He would listen and often give thoughtful responses. She said he could make a women feel beautiful not so much by how he cut or colored her hair, the make up he would use, or the dresses he'd pick out, but by the emotional support he would he would give.

 

Descansa en paz mi amigo