Live Performance in the Age of Covid

[PrairieGuy]

Personally, I think if someone who is eligible to be vaccinated, refuses the vaccine, and gets COVID, should be required to pay for their treatment before he/she is admitted to the hospital, and if they don't have the money, sent home to forced quarantine. It's about accepting responsibility for one's own decisions.

 

Let's not stop there. Once they've been refused treatment, it's time to go after the smokers, alcoholics, and obese people.

 

That's just the start...

 

No, it's not the start. It's a continuation because what you're describing is already the case. Health insurance rates can already be considerably higher for smokers, alcoholics, obese people, diabetics, etc. Certain conditions may even be excluded completely, and there are exclusions for prior conditions (and it wouldn't surprise me if insurance companies end up considering covid a prior condition, if long-term organ damage turns out to be the norm). And if you don't have health insurance because you can't afford it, and don't get medical care because it will bankrupt you - well, that's your own stupid fault for not being born in Europe.

 

It's ironic that people talk about being freedom-loving, independent individuals because they don't want to get vaccinated...and then socialize their costs on the people who did get vaccinated.

There are far too many people suggesting that unvaccinated people be refused medical treatment of any kind. Some people even want them jailed. Pfizer has decades of history of bribing doctors, falsifying studies, hiding data, billion dollar fines, etc. Look up their past record. And yet today no one is allowed to question them or be wary of a fast rushed shot that wears off in just a few short months.

 

We were told 2 weeks to slow the curve.

Then we were told herd immunity and we could get back to normal.

Then we were told the vaccine would prevent getting Covid or passing it along.

 

Those were all lies so don't be surprised if some people are skeptical of what we're being told today.

 

I haven't been on this site for very long but the hatred and bitterness coming from some people is disturbing. The piano tuner vaccine thread was especially revealing. Anyone who questions the official agenda is attacked, even though it changes on a daily basis and a lot of it has been proven to either be wrong or a lie. People have very short memories as to what was considered fact or fiction just a few short months ago.

 

Anyway, I'm just adding to the divisiveness so I'm bowing out. Good luck to everyone.

[Anderton]

I haven't been on this site for very long but the hatred and bitterness coming from some people is disturbing...[snip] Anyway, I'm just adding to the divisiveness so I'm bowing out. Good luck to everyone.

 

From me, there is no hatred, and no bitterness. There is a deep desire for dialogue and discussion, because I don't claim to have the answers. I want to know when what I think is right and what I think is wrong (which is very different from when I'm "right" and when I'm "wrong"). Although I try to do research, post questions that look for answers, study medical bulletins from other countries, and attempt to create a dialogue by responding to the points that others make, if the points I raise are not addressed but are instead met by a monologue, then by definition, there is no dialogue.

 

That defeats the purpose of a forum that is intended for discussion. If people are so dug into their positions that legitimate questions from others can't be addressed, then discussion is not possible - whether it's about covid, or Strat vs. Les Paul.

 

I have been heartened by the instances of people on this very forum who create a dialog, and go back and forth a few times. Sometimes, they end up being of the same mind and sometimes, they agree to disagree. Either one is fine with me, because it at least indicates that people gave consideration to other opinions in the course of fine-tuning their own.

 

AFAIC the worst possible format is to answer a legitimate query by deflection - "but what about..." This is something all "news" organizations that cater to their tribes do, and now, that loathsome behavior has filtered into the public consciousness as a legitimate way to discuss an issue. It's not.

 

Meanwhile, the central issue remains: people's lives have been disrupted, all across the world, causing pain, suffering, loss of income, and more. The toll in terms of death, hospitalizations, sickness, and the fracturing of society is beyond any other medical emergency we've seen in the past 100 years.

 

One would think the correct response would be using our hands to lift up our fellow humans, rather than using them to point fingers. But I guess we aren't there yet as a species.

[Notes_Norton]

I'm not saying unvaccinated people shouldn't be treated. They should pay for the treatment themselves.

 

The government (me and you) offers and pays $80 per shot to keep you out of the hospital. Why should we pay millions out of our tax money to take care of someone who can take that preventative action but refuses to do so?

 

If you vacation in a foreign country, you can buy health insurance to cover you on your stay. If you don't buy the insurance, and get sick, you have to pay full price.

 

If you live in Florida, refuse wind insurance on your house, and a hurricane damages it, you have to pay full price for the repairs.

 

If you refuse collision damage on your car, and it gets totaled, you are out of luck.

 

If you go to the roughest section of town with $100 bills hanging out of your pocket, and you get robbed, it's partially your fault.

 

I could go on and on. Some would say, "You asked for it", I say you have to accept responsibilities for your choices.

 

Likewise, if you are offered a "free" preventative from COVID hospitalization, and you refuse it, why shouldn't you pay for the repairs of your body? Please explain this to me, I'm willing to listen.

 

I also question the argument that this is just a drug company scam, because Big Pharma will make a lot more money if you get sick than if you are prevented from getting sick. I believe one aspirin in a hospital can cost the patient about $5.00. At least it did for someone I know, and that was over a decade ago, it might be $50 by now.

 

I am also amused by the people who claim to want freedom and liberty, but also want to have their religious beliefs written into law, their sexual beliefs enforced (no gay or trans people), and a number of other personal values imposed on the population. What about the freedom of others? I'm willing to listen.

 

Back on the subject of this thread, gigging.

 

The reason why I am turning down indoor gigs is because a certain faction of our population feels their freedom to not get vaccinated is more important than the freedom of others to not be exposed to something deadly. I know four bands in our small town that all caught covid, one member died, another will never sing again. They all played indoor gigs.

 

What about the freedom of people to gather indoors, having the confidence that no unvaccinated person is spewing out a virus that can kill or permanently harm them? A singer or wind instrument player cannot perform with an N95 mask on.

 

You aren't allowed to drive intoxicated, because you might endanger the lives of others. You aren't allowed to smoke indoors because you might endanger the health of others. Yet you insist it's your freedom to go unvaccinated into the public, where you might endanger the health and/or lives of others. Please explain to me how that makes sense? I'm willing to listen.

 

If you don't want to get vaccinated, that's your freedom, I agree. But if you choose not to get jabbed, I firmly believe you should stay home so as not to endanger the lives, health and freedom of your neighbors to walk around safely in our society. If you disagree, please explain yourself, I'll listen.

 

I see the problem with both the far right and the far left is that they aren't willing to debate and talk about it. It's either agree with me or you are the enemy. If we can't have debate, we remain a nation divided, and a house divided cannot stand.

 

If you want to pick up your toys and go home because someone questions your position, so be it.

 

Insights and incites by Notes â«

[NewImprov]

I have a current situation that I haven't seen discussed, and, please, if this is too political, please delete.The TL/DR version, an NYE gig I am playing is getting threatened by boycotts and protests because the venue is requiring proof of vaccination and/or negative COVID tests for admittance.

 

So, I haven't been hanging in the forums all that much since the NYE gig, and thought I'd follow up.

 

Omicron started to hit locally in the days before the gig, the Wednesday before NYE was the first day that local case counts and hospitalization rates started rising. THere was some talk of canceling, but, it was literally happening so fast that none of us had any idea of what to expect. Had we waited a week, we would have definitely cancelled, my county(Benton, OR), which had some of the lowest rates in the state since the start of the pandemic is seeing record rates right now.

 

So, we did the gig. We played great. It felt great. No protestors, as expected, and, as far as we know, everyone in the venue had at least had the first round of vaccine.

 

But...

 

2 of my 7 band mates came down with Covid in the days following, and we know of at least 5-7 audience members who got sick as well. Both of my band mates (vocalist and sax player) had "minor" cases, meaning they were very miserably sick for 3-4 days, but it passed and they are both back to 100% now. They were the youngest and (probably) healthiest members of the band, and interestingly as a data point, both had the initial double vaccine doses, but did not have the booster. The other 5 of us had gotten the booster, and none of us got sick, and we have all tested negative since the event.

 

I've pretty much gone back to full quarantine, and cancelled all gigs until March, and the one show I have then is pretty tentative.

 

Omicron is no joke, it's still out there.

[Doerfler]

thanks for the follow, up, Dave.

[Notes_Norton]

<...snip...>

But...

 

2 of my 7 band mates came down with Covid in the days following, and we know of at least 5-7 audience members who got sick as well. Both of my band mates (vocalist and sax player) had "minor" cases, meaning they were very miserably sick for 3-4 days, but it passed and they are both back to 100% now. They were the youngest and (probably) healthiest members of the band, and interestingly as a data point, both had the initial double vaccine doses, but did not have the booster. The other 5 of us had gotten the booster, and none of us got sick, and we have all tested negative since the event. <...>

 

Sorry your mates got sick, but I'm glad you are all OK now.

 

These are challenging times for live performers.

 

Notes â«

[Anderton]

Omicron is no joke, it's still out there.

 

And so is Delta...

 

Thanks for the follow-up. The booster thing seems important. Although it's not Omicron-specific, it seems to add an extra layer of protection, even if it's not optimum, after the original vaccine efficacy starts to wane.

 

As to the protesters...sometimes all talk, no action is a good thing

 

Glad you're okay and that the other band members made it through to the other side.

[Anderton]

Up until now I've been pretty lenient about posts that contain politics as it relates to Covid, because the pandemic has been intertwined with politics from the beginning.

However, in the immortal words of Darth Vader, "I am altering the deal. Pray that I alter it not further." Posts that have nothing to do with this thread, or that I consider overtly political, will be edited if I'm in a good mood, or deleted if I'm not.

[Doerfler]

seems fair to me. I dont post often in this thread but I do read it. 

[Anderton]

5 minutes ago, Doerfler said:

seems fair to me. I dont post often in this thread but I do read it. 

Yeah, I haven't seen one post that said "You know, your post totally changed my mind about [fill in the blank]." As I've often reminded people, this is the novel coronavirus, not the "been there, done that" coronavirus. No one knew how to deal with it initially, and then the curve balls started coming that have complicated everything further.

I do think medical data about covid itself (not political fallout) is important, so that's okay with me. But the bottom line is just we want to gig, try to get a handle on when it will be safe to do so, how far out we have to assume things like gigs and trade shows will be cancelled so we can plan accordingly, discuss potential alternatives to live performance when covid is surging, and learn the intricacies of risk assessment.

[Notes_Norton]

We jammed the Sunrise Sands Restaurant's outdoor porch this week. Overflow customers sat out on the sand beach to hear us, and got served there.

People are tired of COVID, and are happy to go to an outdoor gig where they can feel less in danger.

This is our new home. The porch we play on is on the right of the building, on ground level

The people walking in the foreground are on the jetty that keeps the inlet from silting in, so the boats can some and go.

Second view is the porch viewed from the north. The booths outside the porch actually rock back and forth.

After 1.5 years of not seeing our friends, the word is getting out that we are in a new location, and we are as excited as our fans.

Until this COVID thing is either waning or science has a better hand on preventing it, we are only accepting outdoor gigs, and I'm lucky to be in Florida where outdoor gigs are good all year long, and we have a good enough reputation to get the gigs.

I figured a little good news is in order for this thread. Hopefully when spring arrives 'up north' my fellow musicians on this thread can be first in line for the outdoor gigs.

[KuruPrionz]

Nice pix, Notes. 

We are having the cold, gray, dark, wet time of year now. 

The bandleader of the band I was in has Covid. I didn't want to play indoor gigs this season, he continued to do it. He has had 3 vaccinations so he'll probably be fine. I hope so, great friend of mine. 

People in restaurants and bars have to uncover their pie holes to eat and drink. As a general observation, less careful people tend to go to those places during this time - Omicron is blazing away up here. 

[nadroj]

One gig cancelled last month due to omicron. Gig was still planned to go ahead, but venue had to cut the capacity to half. Not fair to the other 150+ people who bought tickets, so we rescheduled to April. Apart from that, it seems UK is coming out of the worst of omicron and all restrictions are once again being lifted.

So it looks like all of our planned gigs from February onwards will be going ahead as usual, full capacity. Who knows what will happen later in the year though, I've given up making assumptions with this virus. What'll happen will happen.

[Notes_Norton]

2 hours ago, nadroj said:

<...snip...> I've given up making assumptions with this virus. What'll happen will happen.

And we'll just have to adjust to it.

We all have to make our individual risk vs rewards decisions.

If you make the wrong one, there is no Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z to undo anything.

How much you need the money might also be a factor. I know a bartender who is working indoors because if she doesn't, she can't make the rent.

I'm being careful about the gigs I take, but there is no guarantee for me either. Staying at home forever does not provide a good quality life for me. I need to perform. If I rest, I rust. But taking every gig that comes around is way too risky. Our covering 4 gigs in 3 months for COVID affected performers reinforces that.

And it's not only us in the trenches, Adele postponed her opening in Vegas. Thanks to people getting COVID, she says the show wasn't ready in time. I also read that there were huge blocks of unsold seats, and people trying to sell tickets because they don't feel safe with omicron.

What will happen? Will COVID die out? Get worse? Will the scientists develop a new miracle prevention? If so, will enough people take it? Nobody knows, we just have to take it one day at a time.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Anderton]

3 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

"If I rest, I rust"

Time to introduce your T-shirt merch

[Greg Mein]

We had a good gig for NYE at our local place, Mad Mike's, however there was a downside to it.

 

It's a challenge, being unknown in a new area; a sleepy little desert town filled with retirees. Here, things shut down early so I consider it to be a success that we had some folks with us until midnight (it's 9pm here when the ball drops out east). The downside was a random act of senseless vandalism that left me with two slashed tires on my truck ostensibly perpetrated by a patron who was asked to leave for trying to start fights. Yeah, that sucked, happy 2022!

 

We just got home from a week in FL where we stayed with friends in a condo on the beach in New Smyrna Beach. We met a very nice couple who have a group called The Cyclones. Husband and wife, Jason Lee and Linda Marie, were hosting a jam at Peanuts just down the street from the condo. She was kind enough to allow me the use of her Tele, my wife had brought her flute and we jammed a few songs accompanied by the bass player and drummer, fun! A patron at the bar personally handed me a $10 tip later after we'd performed, very nice!

 

Linda told me they would be performing as a duo at a Mexican restaurant up in Ormond Beach for Taco Tuesday and I got their card so I could nail the location down on their webpage. The four of us (wife and I along with our hosts) drove up to check it out while having some fantastic margaritas and tacos. A really fun trip!

 

I wanted to take a break after the tire slashing incident but my wife is already pressuring me to get back at it in February, they want to have us on a monthly rotation. We may also have a different gig event lined up for March as well. It's certainly good to feel appreciated but I'm still longing to get the studio set up as well as a workbench in the garage and some other things and then just yesterday we bought a Can-Am side by side so we can participate in the amazing wealth of off-roading activity that is available in this area.

[Reezekeys]

I got a last minute call to sub on what would have been my first NYE gig in six years - a trio (sax/vocals, upright bass & moi) playing standards and smooth jazz at a swanky hotel bar on Long Island, NY. The hotel was selling a package - two sittings, prix-fixed dinner and us entertaining in the bar (where dinner was also being served). Well, two days before NYE I got the phone call I was expecting - gig cancelled! But... the dinner? Not cancelled! Yes, just the music. In a way I was relieved. Omicron was ramping up in the NY area, and I was gonna be in an enclosed space with a bunch of maskless people eating and talking. I'm vaxxed & boosted so not particularly worried about winding up in a hospital, but who wants to get sick at all? It's telling the only thing they cancelled was the music. It would have been a fun one with really good musicians, although the bread was light for a NYE gig and the venue was a 1.5 hr drive each way.

 

Some of you may know I tour with AWB. Promoters seem to be very wary of putting on shows right now. The kinds of venues we play need to be booked way in advance – who's eager to do that right now? We have one casino date out west in March, and three nights in April (which are reschedules from 2020!), and afaik - that's it for 2022! This year is the 50th anniversary of the band's founding – this should be a busy year, but it's not looking good right now.

[ElmerJFudd]

I had a busy fall/winter 2021 subbing for players going down with Covid. What can we do… work when there’s work. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, wash hands, don’t mingle, keep space best we can.
 

The Mrs. grandma passed last weekend.  She decided to travel to be with family at this hard time. Counting back - she was exposed the day her flight landed, got home, symptoms showed themselves the next morning. Now me and the kids are quarantining at home. We’re both canceling  lessons, passing on gigs. No work.  It sucks and it will be a miracle we don’t go down one by one and are out of circulation for what - two weeks? three?  The CDC caved and said 5 days we want you back at work.  Yeah, right.  Because they are short on waitresses, pilots, nurses, teachers, cops, firefighters, grocery store clerks.   If you are young, healthy, single, live alone - yeah 5 days, maybe.  Good luck everyone else.  

[Notes_Norton]

We just found out, a club that we turned down because it is indoors just closed due to COVID, for the 4th time.

 

I know the bartender, and she says she is lucky she didn't catch it. She is vaccinated and boosted, but with Omicron, all that means is a less severe case.

 

It will be closed for 2 weeks, and a crew is going to sterilize the club.

 

I'm reading about friends 'up north' getting their gigs cancelled. Remember, it's better to have your gig canceled than for you to be canceled.

 

Stay safe.

 

Notes ♫

 

[ElmerJFudd]

And I’m down.  Feel like crap. Thankfully the Mrs. is 4-5 days ahead of me and feeling less crappy.

[Anderton]

Get well soon! If it's any help, my wife got covid...messed her up for a few days, but she'd had the booster and all that, so she got over it and was back to normal more like flicking a switch than fading back over time. 

[nadroj]

Tested positive for COVID on Sunday morning. Was supposed to be doing a studio session on Sunday afternoon! 
 

Thankfully I have enough gear at home that it wasn’t a huge problem. They recorded the guide and sent it to me. I recorded my own parts into my DAW and sent it to them within the hour. They then tracked the rest of what they needed without me. The wonders of technology. 
 

Not that being in the studio is obsolete - we had to send files back and forth a couple of times until the guys had exactly what they wanted. If I was recording live that would have been sussed out in the booth before we hit record. Still prefer going in and tracking with the band. 

 

Some artists I follow have produced some of their best work over the pandemic. My own band actually started writing and recording properly during it because we couldn’t play live.  Every cloud and all that! 

[Anderton]

4 hours ago, nadroj said:

Not that being in the studio is obsolete - we had to send files back and forth a couple of times until the guys had exactly what they wanted. If I was recording live that would have been sussed out in the booth before we hit record. Still prefer going in and tracking with the band.

If this becomes a regular thing, you might want to check out sessionwire.com. It has video and chat, so it has more of a feel of a studio. It's not the same as the real thing, of course, but it's considerably better than just sending files back and forth because you can discuss things in real time. They have a free tier, or you can pay $15 for a month's access. 

[ElmerJFudd]

On 1/22/2022 at 7:05 PM, Anderton said:

Get well soon! If it's any help, my wife got covid...messed her up for a few days, but she'd had the booster and all that, so she got over it and was back to normal more like flicking a switch than fading back over time. 

Thanks for the pep talk.  Up and fixing lunch for the kids today, day 3.  I'm going to take it easy for the next few days while the coughing and sneezing linger.  I should be able to say yes to some lessons by the end of the week.  

[Notes_Norton]

I hope all the folks under the weather heal quickly and completely.

 

We're still doing a couple of outdoor gigs a week, and so far we've been pretty lucky. No illnesses and we test OK.

 

So far, we've covered 4 gigs in 3 months for bands that got COVID. They all played indoor gigs, some in the places we've turned down.

 

Last week, we jammed the outdoor restaurant at the beach resort to over capacity. People sat on the sand at the picnic tables to the east and got served there.

 

Management was happy, we were happy, our fans who seem like extended family to us were happy, and life is good.

 

It's going to be about as cool as it gets here in the daytime this week (60s F) so we hope enough people brave the weather to come out.

 

When it's cold like this, the sax plays flat and my fingers don't work too well on the guitar, but we'll have a lot of fun anyway.

 

We only get a few days per year that don't get up to at least the 70s, so we take them as they come.

 

Notes ♫

 

[Anderton]

5 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

So far, we've covered 4 gigs in 3 months for bands that got COVID. They all played indoor gigs, some in the places we've turned down.

 

I can just see the ads now..."Did that band you booked get Covid? No problem! Dial 305-NOTESOK, and we'll fill in. Outdoor gigs only."

[Notes_Norton]

It's not the best way to get a gig. But I'll take them.

 

Bet I could put that on the back of the t-shirt that says, "If I Rest, I Rust" on the front.

 

We just got a gig cancelled. The RV Resort usually has 600 French Canadians spending the winter there, and almost all of them have gone home.

 

It's a most unusual time to be a musician.

 

Notes ♫

[pinkfloydcramer]

My nice cozy little "unplugged" gig just cancelled for tonight due to venue owner's wife testing positive. A photography studio run by really nice people, actually feels more like a chapel, by the tracks in the "oldtown" area. Peeps get coffee from the independent coffee shop next door, come in and sit on church pews and listen attentively and interact with the musicians. It's when I hate not being an acoustic musician (other than a few harmonica contributions). A refreshing change of pace from the usual bar band stuff, almost like a detox. At least there are 2 bookings in Feb to look forward to. That makes 2 recent gig cancellations, including one that was to take place tomorrow. 

 

Tomorrow's gig shoud be ok, an outdoor gig for a hunting club, subbing in my old country tribute act, in a MS town associated with Jerry Clower. Temps will be in the 20's, but there will be heaters and other accommodations. Cold won't affect me as much as the others because instead of keys I will be trying (and failing) to play harmonica like Mickey Raphael, and after that I will be trying and failing to play harmonica like Craig Anderton 🙂. A local Hee Haw-inspired entertainer "Big Earl from Pearl" has played for the same group, I think, with feral hog hunts being the occasion. 

[Anderton]

2 hours ago, pinkfloydcramer said:

My nice cozy little "unplugged" gig just cancelled for tonight due to venue owner's wife testing positive.

 

I just realized I could have made this thread a LOT shorter by titling it "Live Performance in the Age of Covid: IT SUCKS" and then locking the thread

 

It's really too bad to hear about all these cancelled gigs, but they are helpful data points about how things are progressing. Fingers crossed for your outdoor gig with temperatures in the (gulp!) 20s. Just make sure your lips don't get frozen to the metal parts of the harmonica.

[Notes_Norton]

Ours got cancelled due to rain. Always a problem with outdoor gigs. It's supposed to be the dry season here in FL, but even in the dry season it rains occasionally.

 

Life goes on, and there will be other gigs.

 

Notes ♫