Live Performance in the Age of Covid

[Chip McDonald]

 

Maybe the goal should not be to wait to a return to the status quo, but to figure out an alternate model for concerts that some (many?) people would find preferable. Once VR kicks in for real,.

 

We don't need to wait for VR.

 

People aren't thinking about the way "broadcasting" online can work, dynamically.

 

An online performance has so much potential to be *more* than a concert situation. There can be great mystique. A synthesis of the morphology of cinema with a musical performance, in an almost "dawn of MTV" way - people just haven't realized that yet. People are thinking too much along the lines of "a live performance on a stage in front of a camera", when the "stage" *doesn't have to be a stage*.

 

We're in an uncanny valley equivalent to the dawn of television, the Milton Berle era of presentation when everything initially was thought of as "showing vaudeville on a tiny screen". Artists could be selling exclusive performances online - the only hindrance being bootlegging, simple copying of performance that could be negated by a unique steganography based encryption stamp in the video stream, which would tie the copy back to a credit card that paid for a performance viewing. You'd then have the potential for selling limited "seats", making the performance unique and potentially more valuable depending on the "seats" sold. "Pay Per View" but through a ala carte encrypted version of Skype/Zoom/etc.

 

I was sort of looking forward to the online performance thing becoming more popular, it started getting traction for small artists in the middle of last year - when there was still some of the original sentiment of "we're in this together, we have to defeat the pandemic". So much creative potential, because of the novelty of setting that can be presented - it only needs a uniquely encrypted steganography scheme in order to work.

[Notes_Norton]

I could do online performances with a talented producer, but my skills are in playing music, not recording/mastering and definitely not directing a video, especially one that is more than sticking a camera in front of the band.

 

In the studio, I've always been on the side of the aquarium glass with the microphones.

 

If the industry should go streaming, I'd miss the immediate intimacy and reactions from a live audience. I feed off the energy the audience broadcasts to the stage, and I am constantly watching the audience, judging their reactions, and modifying the song selections to give them the best experience that I am able to. Plus when appropriate I like to joke with them.

 

My first gig was at a junior high school dance. I was in a little rock band. We were terrible, but so was everybody else back then.

 

We got booked for the dance, and I found myself on stage, with my best friends in the world at that time, playing covers of the pop hits of the day to the best of our ability, and when I looked up, that cute girl who wouldn't even acknowledge my existence was 'making eyes' at me. At the end of the night, they actually paid me money for that!!!

 

That's when I decided, "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life". And so far, that's what I've done, and I see no need to retire.

 

I've done some recording in studios from in local strip centers to Motown, and I can usually hit a first take performance. The local studio who used to call me before they closed called me a "one take Jake". I try to come prepared, and if surprised by something, I'm good at faking it.

 

So I did OK in the studio, but it wasn't nearly as much fun as playing life in front of an audience.

 

What I do is have a dialog with the audience, they are part of the experience.

 

I guess that makes me a dinosaur.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[Anderton]

What I do is have a dialog with the audience, they are part of the experience.

 

I guess that makes me a dinosaur.

 

I've often said that if I could ONLY play in the studio or ONLY play live, I'd take playing live. But, if the opportunity to play live doesn't exist...you do what you can. I've done quite a few interviews where comments were turned on, and although it's not the same thing as speaking in front of a live audience, it does give at least a sense of interactivity.

[Notes_Norton]

I agree. I would only do live if it were an either/or choice.

 

Fortunately, I've found a niche where I can do just that.

 

The audiences are smaller than they were in my glory days, I don't get to jam with the stars like I did in my glory days, but I'm still making a living doing what I love to do the most.

 

I have a little Band-in-a-Box sideline that is mostly recording (MIDI) and what that does is to keep me from having to travel 'up north' in the summer when the work gets slow here in Florida. I actually love the Florida summers.

 

I also like it because I get to use my bass, drum, guitar, wind synth, keyboard and arranging chops, and they all have improved since I started using them regularly.

 

If the ability to play live dries up, I suppose I'd lean heavier on the BiaB while I figured out which performance path to take.

 

I consider myself a very lucky person.

 

Notes

[techristian]

So I'll be doing the church gig OUTSIDE this Sunday. There may also be a local cable company recording it. Pray for nice weather for me !

 

Dan

[Anderton]

Sounds like a prudent plan. In the early days of covid, doctors didn't understand at first why churches were being hit particularly hard, but the singing gave clues about how it was spread. So doing it outside makes a lot of sense.

[Notes_Norton]

I suppose my saxophone would be a COVID funnel if I caught the plague and continued to gig.

 

I hope I don't catch it, but if I do, I'll do the right thing and quarantine myself.

 

Notes

[Anderton]

I've been saying in my future-oriented stuff that VR would take off when businesses started using it, and then it would trickle down to consumers. I don't know how well MeetinVR is doing, but I can see this so easily adapted to a cafe-like concert experience. It would be so cool to interact with the audience, which could be done more easily virtually than in physical reality.

[RABid]

Our little town had home coming this weekend. Food trucks. Live music. Normally a popular event. A friend went and said there was less than 50 people there.

[Chip McDonald]

I know of 2 "big artists" I can't name that are now out of commission because they or their organization is infected, who has been out touring. No doubt people in their audiences have been infected as well. Maybe nobody has died or been intubated because of it, that I'm aware of?

 

 

VACCINES SAVE YOUR LIFE AND KEEP YOU OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, unlike the unvaccinated jerks that have crippled our medical system in the U.S..

 

IT DOESN'T ABSOLVE YOU OF RESPONSIBILITY. You can still be infected and infect others.

 

WEARING A MASK HELPS but isn't perfect. It also doesn't absolve you of responsibility.

 

YOU HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING, unless you took a PCR the morning of a gig, whether you're infected or not.

 

 

5-15 seconds exposure for delta. As easy as standing behind someone in line at the bar, or having someone shout in your ear at the gig. Concerts with bleacher seats, sitting in front of the infected person behind you.

 

 

Our hospitals are full locally. If something happens to me, my wife or father I'm not sure if there is an ER within hours of us that is open. Kids are intubated. Grocery stores are having supply chain problems again. UPS/delivery is starting to have problems. I'd suggest the military are having problems kept under wrap. Being reckless, in superficial denial of what's really taking place, is NOT helping the economy in the long run and is certainly making things worse. Ignorance is bliss, but this isn't February 2019 anymore: YOU KNOW THE REALITY.

[Anderton]

The New York concert that was supposed to be held on Saturday underlined everything. My wife bought tickets to a few concerts during the post-vaccine introduction "lull," when it looked like there was enough vaccine to dramatically reduce hosts for the virus, and people couldn't wait to get the jab. It seemed we were on our way out of the woods. Similarly, the New York concert was planned during that same lull.

 

Here we are a few months later, and we didn't go to the concerts. One would have been at a packed amphitheater, the other, at the Ryman (indoor rock show). Would we have gotten infected? Maybe, maybe not. But by not going, we knew we wouldn't get infected because of going to those concerts.

 

I'm hearing anecdotally about empty seats at concerts. The latest Lefsetz blog post says that bands cancelling because of Covid may actually be cancelling because of slow ticket sales. That could be for the same reason as any slow ticket sales, but it could also be because a significant portion of the population doesn't want to take the risk. Right now it's such a mixed bags - places not having concerts, having concerts, only outdoors, postponed to other dates...it's the patchwork quilt of approaches that caused the problem in the first place. But I also understand that people are desperate to hear live music, and the people who work for tours can't do GrubHub forever.

[Anderton]

So maybe here's an answer. There used to be concert-oriented shows on network TV (I'm not making this up, there really were). Maybe it's time for MTV to create MTV+, where they set up studios in New York, LA, Nashville, Chicago, Vegas, and Atlanta, and book bands to do in-studio concerts - with just the bands and their gear, no big fancy stage setups. Then they charge a modest subscription fee, like $4.99/month for live concerts every Friday and Saturday. Previous performances would be available on demand. I'd pay for that.

[Greg Mein]

 

I'm hearing anecdotally about empty seats at concerts.

 

For many years already I've wrestled with what concerts I actually want to go see. At most places people are packed in like sardines, no elbow room and there always seems to be some loud people behind spilling beer and/or someone in front of you on crack or meth gyrating like they haven't been out of the house in years (imagine how much worse that would be now!).

[techristian]

85 degrees but I managed! But something I learned. You can play drums LOUD but outside you can't hear the drums in the mix without a microphone. Inside , I don't need a microphone. So if anyone can hear me...let me know. But we learn from our mistakes.

 

Dan.

 

[Anderton]

Interesting observation. Makes me wonder if a lot of the drum "sound" isn't as much the drums, as high-impact transients living on in the form of reflections. Outside, the transient hits once, and it's gone.

[Joe Muscara]

These weren't my gigs, but we attended themâ¦

 

The local "big" jazz promoter who brings in most larger jazz announced a jazz festival for this past weekend. It was announced back when cases were dropping and we all thought the pandemic was nearing its end. To be honest, as the date got closer and the cases kept going up I wasn't thrilled about going even though they were three great acts and had some rules and precautions in place.

 

A Safe Environment for SUMMERJAZZ

 

We are committed to providing a safe environment for our audiences and artists at Houston SummerJAZZ. In accordance with recently updated CDC recommendations for indoor gatherings, masks will be required for all audience members. DACAMERA will provide masks on request. At this time, local officials recommend that unvaccinated individuals should avoid large public gatherings.

 

Safety is additionally assured through:

 

Performances in the spacious Brown Theater, with controlled audience capacity.

Limited, socially-distanced, staggered seating.

No-intermission, 70-minute performances with Wortham Center"s state-of-the-art air circulation system.

Enhanced cleaning and disinfecting measures in place.

https://www.dacamera.com/summerjazz/

 

We went to all three shows. Everyone was masked except the performers, but they were on the stage and the orchestra pit was empty so there was that much distance between them and the first row. Seating was arranged that only people who bought seats together sat together, and there were gaps in the row in front and behind each group. The Brown Theater seats 2405, and I heard they limited it to 400 people. I saw one woman leaving the final show yesterday with her mask on her chin for no apparent reason, but that was the only one I noticed. Before the shows, the artistic director (who introduced the acts) said each time, "we all know how we can bring back live music, we have the tools, vaccines and masks." I can't say everyone there was vaccinated (though I know most if not all of the first band was), but I think there was a strong possibility since this promoter caters to an older, more upscale crowd, and the crowd tends to respond positively when the performers make more liberal statements (not to get political but I think you get my point).

[ajstan]

Is there anyone here playing in a state other than Ohio that has live music back to the 2019 experience?

 

Other than the local Live Nation venues that follow the national mandate for proof of vaccination or negative COVID test (and some of the private venues that target the artsy crowd that are enacting similar policies), it feels quite normal. Crowds in the hundreds, indoors and out, community festivals and events, private events, bars, etc.

[KenElevenShadows]

Just went to a small local gig. The venue requested proof of vaccination ahead of time.

 

The Joshua Tree Music Festival is requesting a negative coronavirus test before entering.

[RABid]

Just had a neighbor die of Covid. 55 and otherwise healthy, built a new house and was winding down for retirement. Right now in my county it is worse than it has ever been, yet they are sending kids back to school and having football games. The supreme court just ruled against the governor's mandate of masks in school. It is wild that so many people feel that the right not to wear a mask is more important than the children they protect. A local high school band is raising money to go to Washington DC to be in the Memorial Day Parade. Guess that is a different type of live music venue. I'm happy that they get to go, but also worried. Trips like this are frequently canceled if someone comes down with Covid, and in a group that big it is pretty likely.

[nadroj]

Chiming in here, finally back gigging as of the start of this month. Observations from the UK:

 

- Weddings are now no different than how they were before. Apart from the staff wearing masks, there is no indication anywhere that we've just come through a global pandemic. Back in July I had friends who played weddings where the staff (and government) said people weren't allowed to dance, but they mostly danced anyways. There was one venue where the police drove past every night to check no one was dancing, but that was an extreme case.

 

As of August however, when restrictions (apart from masks) have been relaxed and around 80% of adults are fully vaccinated (a number which is quickly rising), nothing is different. In one band I subbed for we did a celidh (Scottish country dancing) set before the break, which requires people to dance in groups and change partners often, and the manager came up at the end and said that he shouldn't have allowed it. He requested that we don't get everyone in a circle for the final song at the end of the night, but surprise surprise, everyone did it anyways.

 

Dancing, mingling, standing at the bar, all back to normal. My wife helps with tracking the virus for the NHS and weddings are currently COVID hotspots - many outbreaks she's dealing with are linked to weddings, and having been at a few, I'm not surprised. Cases are on the rise again, but symptoms, hospitalisations and deaths are way down, likely thanks to sheer number of people here who are now double vaccinated. There are rumblings that we may be heading for another lockdown in October, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

 

-Ticketed gigs are almost back to normal. We've several sold out shows that, at the time of writing, are going ahead in the next two months. Did one at the weekend where the club capacity was reduced from 350 to 250, but we've a sold out 500 cap ticketed gig going ahead next month, so I can't make much sense of it. I think it just depends on venue size, and what the manager decides on. At every venue the only noticable differences were the staff who wore masks 100% of the time, and some of the guests/crowd who wore them in certain areas, or when asked.

 

Doing a gig at a local club this week that I've played in a tonne of times before. This is the kind of place where the staff come and dance on the tables with the punters, so it will be interesting to see if anything's changed in that regard.

 

Also, I did a session at a studio last month, and the whole band had to take a lateral flow COVID test at the door before being let in, which I thought was interesting! Would have been a bit awkward if one of us tested positive and couldn't do the session...

[Chip McDonald]

A person I knew from HS died from it a few days ago.

 

I have 2 guitar lesson students out with covid; both are 13 year olds. Both vaccinated.

 

A cousin that got it a few months ago has been in and out of a hospital with complications; they're not taking her now.

 

And I have 3 in-laws that have it. One is a school teacher who got it from work; she lives with her 72 year old father. She has asthma and diabetes. My wife had visited them a week ago; theoretically she might have it and is on the phone with her work about what to do right now. Ah. Turns out her boss, who had it a few weeks ago, apparently infected his wife last week - who tried to go to and ER because of breathing problems, but it was full, came back home.

 

The people I know are with "acts that were not having ticket sales issues"; I now see it's public they're infected, and I can say said people definitely have it .

 

I also know there are supply chain problems accumulating with people being out. - lots going on with that, not being said in public. And our hospital system is on the brink of being broken.

 

IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

 

[Anderton]

We know it didn't have to be that way. Those who don't know it will never know.

 

The issue is what can we do about it now, not what we could have done in March.

[Anderton]

Chiming in here, finally back gigging as of the start of this month. Observations from the UK

 

Please keep us posted if the situation changes.

[Greg Mein]

Is there anyone here playing in a state other than Ohio that has live music back to the 2019 experience?

 

Other than the local Live Nation venues that follow the national mandate for proof of vaccination or negative COVID test (and some of the private venues that target the artsy crowd that are enacting similar policies), it feels quite normal. Crowds in the hundreds, indoors and out, community festivals and events, private events, bars, etc.

 

As near as I can tell things are 80-90% back to normal around here, we could be playing all the gigs we wanted but did our last at the end of July because we're moving and our gear is packed away now. We did however attend a charity jam last Saturday night and played a few tunes there. My wife and I along with a number of people we know had covid last year and have moved on although we did lose a close friend and another person we knew. My observation is that millions of others have had a similar experience.

 

Due to our upcoming move we've done a lot of traveling lately (been in 10 other states within the last two weeks) and my observations are that hotels are full, traffic is as congested as ever, places are open for business and concern over covid is relatively minimal.

[Chip McDonald]

We know it didn't have to be that way. Those who don't know it will never know.

 

The issue is what can we do about it now, not what we could have done in March.

 

It is the same issue. The same things could be done now that should have been done in March.

[Anderton]

But remember, the issue isn't covid, the issue is gigging. And the variables have shifted, due to a vaccine being available, and variants rearing their ugly heads. So we have to figure out how to navigate an ever-changing landscape - which we can be sure is going to change further, now that the vaccines have been approved officially, some companies are mandating vaccines, some aren't, different venues have different rules, etc.

 

Let's face it - a lot of this is about gambling. If you've been vaccinated, the odds are in your favor that you're not going to be hospitalized or die. But you still might. If you go to an indoor concert with no mitigations, you're gambling on several levels - maybe other people aren't infected. Maybe most of them have been vaccinated, so your odds of sitting next to someone who has it are less. Maybe the venue paid serious attention to air recirculation. Maybe they don't care about sanitizing. Maybe you'll get unlucky and die. Maybe nothing will happen.

 

I guess Dirty Harry was somewhat of a soothsayer when he said "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"

 

And maybe that's ultimately what the answer is for most people.

[Notes_Norton]

We just picked up an outdoor gig because the singer that was supposed to sing caught COVID and is in the hospital. If she is who I think, she is a very vocal anti-vaxxer.

 

We have been playing one gig a month there, now we get two.

 

I definitely don't want to gloat over our gain. It's not the way I want to pick up extra gigs. On the other hand, If she is the gal that I suspect, I don't feel sorry for her either. If you become a daredevil, sometimes the devil wins.

 

I am still not taking indoor gigs, or outdoor gigs where I can't isolate myself from the audience by at least 6 feet.

 

I am fully vaccinated, but I don't want to be a breakthrough statistic.

 

Pfizer has been fully approved, there is no longer even a lame excuse.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[Jazzmammal]

I did two gigs on Catalina Island two weekends ago and got called last Thursday to go again for two more last weekend. This is outdoors in a small clearing adjacent to Pete's Cafe which is an outdoor Mexican place one block off the beach. Avalon harbor was completely filled with yachts. With people milling around plus sitting and eating we probably had 75 to 100. It goes from 7 to 10 due to city noise restrictions. We started at 7 all four nights with maybe 10 people and within a half hour the whole area is absolutely packed. No stage so once they started coming around there were some who were within 6 feet but not many and not for long. They were mostly 10 feet around us dancing and just milling around and only a few were wearing masks since it was outdoors but it was still pretty crowded. Neither myself or any other band members or anyone else I know has caught COVID.

 

Great gigs, had a lot of fun and the tips were great. One guy came over to me on the break, shook my hand and gave me a twenty and said he loved my keys playing, I was carrying the band {I wasn't, they're all pros} and wanted to make sure I got his tip personally and not the whole band. That was a first. Later on a nice middle aged woman came up to me and asked if I had Venmo because she didn't have any cash. I do and she said it was for the the band and she put $40 into my account which I gave to everybody else, overall the tips were about $275. Coming over on the boat full masks are required whether you're sitting inside or outside since it's under federal jurisdiction. Pretty stupid if you're outside onboard a 120 foot, 300 passenger catamaran going 26 knots across the ocean but whatever. Inside where I was most kept the mask over their noses but maybe 20% pulled it down past their nose and nobody including the crew said anything and the boat was full both ways.

 

I totally get the concern everybody is having but I also can't help feeling this is just going to run it's course and there's nothing much else to be done about it. Last year I posted a two hour Joe Rogan podcast with Dr. Michael Osterhous PHD who is a world renowned virologist. He was part of Bidens transition team giving health advice. In that podcast which was January 2020 I think, well before we had the data we have now, he described how this whole thing was going to go and it's exactly what has happened so far. The biggest takeaway is it doesn't matter how many get vaccinated or what we do, whether we have herd immunity or anything else. These things go in waves for 3 or 4 years which he described in detail with past examples. Just Google his name if interested. This takes me to a point I've made many times. We have two choices. Live in fear for the next several years or be as careful as we can but live our lives as normal. We've pretty much done all we can at this point and according to Dr Osterhous, nothing will matter anyway. The waves will keep coming until it finally peters out.

 

Folks like Chip who I respect a lot from his posts, are frustrated and I get it but it's human nature we're talking about. Doesn't matter if it's COVID, drugs, other bad vices like letting your weight balloon to 400 poinds or smoking or anything else that can impact society as a whole especially health care costs. There have been articles off and on for years that hard core smokers should be charged much higher premiums for their health insurance or co pays if they're on Medicare but our society is based on us taking care of everybody regardless of their foibles including anti vaxxers and smokers. You can't pick and choose who gets good care and who doesn't with a government program. Private is a different thing. People are gonna do what they're gonna do and that human nature is the reason these viruses take years no matter what we try to do.

 

Bob

[Anderton]

This takes me to a point I've made many times. We have two choices. Live in fear for the next several years or be as careful as we can but live our lives as normal. We've pretty much done all we can at this point and according to Dr Osterhous, nothing will matter anyway. The waves will keep coming until it finally peters out.

 

It seems that Israel, which came out of the gate with a high rate of vaccinations (and also was the first to say that the vaccinations lose effectiveness with delta) agrees with you. Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said "We"ve made a decision that wasn"t simple but strategic, to live alongside the coronavirus, with the understanding that there are vaccines. To accept serious cases of the disease and to also accept deaths, because this is a pandemic and in a pandemic people die.'

 

And there you have it. We can't protect people who aren't willing to protect themselves, and research will continue. There are promising developments in terms of finding out what makes the virus so transmissible, and also, ways to diminish the damage it causes.

 

This doesn't mean it's all sunshine and roses going forward, but there's a sense that we screwed up the initial response big-time, we have vaccines now, and we won't have the horrific number of hospitalizations and deaths among people who aren't vaccinated. So, it's time to admit the virus is smarter than humans, and do the best we can.

 

I've said several times before this isn't a binary situation, where one day the ICUs are overloaded, and the next day, everything's fine. It will hit other places, cause more disruptions, more people will die, and more people won't die who would have otherwise. However, I do think the Darwin Awards is going to be overloaded with nominees this year.

 

Here in TN it's pretty bad, but it comes and goes. The big test for the USA is the winter. If we don't get a mega-surge in winter, that will likely mean covid is waning, and we'll be able to look forward to the kind of summer concert season we were expecting this year. If we do...then see what Ayelet Shaked said above. NAMM 2022 will be a major test for this industry. Summer NAMM turned out better than expected, but to be fair, based on anecdotal evidence it was filled with vaccinated people.

 

The one thing I can say with a reasonable degree of certainty is that most predictions have turned out to be wrong

[Chip McDonald]

But remember, the issue isn't covid, the issue is gigging. And the variables have shifted, due to a vaccine being available,

 

Before vaccines, if you gigged you were risking getting infected and infecting others. Now with delta, it's the same situation.

 

and variants rearing their ugly heads.

 

Because people continue to circulate and allow the virus to replicate.

 

Let's face it - a lot of this is about gambling. If you've been vaccinated, the odds are in your favor that you're not going to be hospitalized or die. But you still might.

 

 

....and you might get long covid, or permanent organ damage. All of which is an absurd in the context of gigging. Nothing has changed. One can make up "reasoning" to be around other people, but it doesn't negate the reality that you're risking your life and others, and making the situation worse by helping it mutate.