Live Performance in the Age of Covid

[Anderton]

I did some recording in bands, and I'm proud of the work we've done. The work was enjoyable, but it doesn't compare to playing live to an appreciative audience.

 

For many musicians, the goal seems to be recording something, making money from the recording and/or leaving something to be remembered by when they are gone. And there is nothing wrong with that. There is more than one right way to go through life.

 

There's a very different angle to recording. I think there is a difference between composers and players. Players live for the stage, composers thrive in a recording-type environment.

Good point, Craig

 

To elaborate further...one really great aspect about the democratiziation of recording is that it allows cross-fertilization. Although I love playing live, I also love recording so I consider it important to create a live "vibe" in the studio. For example, I'm going much more often with first takes on tracks, and making composition a more spontaneous process. If I ever get to play live again, it will be informed by what I learned in the "research lab" of the studio.

[KuruPrionz]

I did some recording in bands, and I'm proud of the work we've done. The work was enjoyable, but it doesn't compare to playing live to an appreciative audience.

 

For many musicians, the goal seems to be recording something, making money from the recording and/or leaving something to be remembered by when they are gone. And there is nothing wrong with that. There is more than one right way to go through life.

 

There's a very different angle to recording. I think there is a difference between composers and players. Players live for the stage, composers thrive in a recording-type environment.

Good point, Craig

 

I'm not a very good composer. Everything I write sounds too common, and the lyrics sound too corny to me. I've written a couple of parody songs and added a verse or two to some of the songs I play that I thought weren't long enough, but that's very different from finding the inspiration to start from scratch.

 

I am a good arranger, a good player, and a good improviser. We all have our gifts.

 

It makes sense that if I were writing music, the best way to get it out there would be to record it.

 

Yes, I'm a player, and I live for the stage.

 

And I am very glad there are songwriters that create the material that I get to perform and reinterpret on stage. Thank you songwriters.

 

Notes â«

 

I am both, a performer and a song writer. The band I was in until recently did several of my original songs. One of my songs was our most requested song, even more than stuff like Sweet Home Alabama. I played it once and the front table of 7 people had 5 people who were singing along and knew all the words.

 

I can't tell you how that feels but it feels wonderful.

 

The last gig I played with the band I was in was at the Eagles Club in Sedro Wooley, a fairly stoic sort of atmosphere until we kicked off Summa Yers (another of my tunes) and packed the dance floor.

 

I do need to play live but I also need to get these songs out there. Maybe someday you will play them and people will like them. I do love the feeling of playing music for people and making them happy. The intensity multiplies when it is a song you wrote and sang, it's like standing a foot up off the stage or something

[Anderton]

One way to predict what might happen here is to look at other countries that have followed a similar course. This article from Der Spiegel about the situation in Germany isn't very encouraging. Much of the article is about the politics involved (very similar to the USA), but the reason I think it's important in this thread's context is the takeaway that the country will need to double down on contact restrictions, which of course doesn't bode well for concerts and clubs.

 

The other discouraging element is that in the face of variants, the vaccine's efficacy wears off more quickly than had been hoped. I now know several people who have had breakthrough infections. Fortunately the vaccine kept them out of the hospital, but even a mild case of covid can really interfere with your energy level and mental acuity.

 

We may be on the verge of another winter where we'll look back fondly on the waning days of the hot weather, when outdoor concerts were a thing, and we thought gigging might become possible again. Keeping my fingers crossed...

[Anderton]

OMC (Omicron) - Here we go again. It will take weeks before we know whether this is a flash in the pan, or something serious.

[KuruPrionz]

OMC (Omicron) - Here we go again. It will take weeks before we know whether this is a flash in the pan, or something serious.

 

Today I go get my Moderna booster and today in the news the head of Moderna announced that the Omicron variant may require a re-formulation of the vaccine to be effective.

I've resigned from my band and it looks like they will have plenty of time to find a replacement. The bandleader is still gigging, all indoors now. You could not pay me enough.

[Anderton]

If only they'd called it Omega instead of Omicron, we'd have some...resistance

[KuruPrionz]

If only they'd called it Omega instead of Omicron, we'd have some...resistance

 

What is a "Cron" anyway? Oh! My Cron!!!

 

Reports from South Africa seem to imply that the version of Covid that Omicron carries is fairly mild. Could be true, let's hope so.

We are really early in the variant game at this point. Any virus that kills it's host quickly will fail - Ebola was supposed to wipe the human race off the face of the earth but nobody lives long enough to spread it.

We haven't even made a vaccine for it and we've had decades.

 

Eventually Covid will be like a cold or the flu, not because it "evolved" but because those types of mutations will be the survivors.

[Notes_Norton]

We're gigging outdoors, but not with as many gigs as pre-COVID. Mostly 2 gigs per week. That's enough for now.

 

And I must say, that it feels really, really good to get gigging again and seeing our dedicated fans, who seem more like extended family to us.

 

The good thing about the mRNA technology is that they can tweak it for the new spike protein fairly quickly if need be. The mRNA vaccines have proven to be extremely safe, so if necessary, I'll have no problem with another shot.

 

Some people are predicting that this might end up like the flu shots, with an annual booster for the new strains. Others are predicting that it will mutate to a milder version like the common cold that won't kill healthy people.

 

However, it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. (I heard a guy on an NPR talk show blurt this out, I found it amusing, so I thought I'd share.)

 

Notes â«

[Anderton]

However, it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. (I heard a guy on an NPR talk show blurt this out, I found it amusing, so I thought I'd share.)

 

OTOH, my record on predictions about the past is 100%.

[Joe Muscara]

However, it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. (I heard a guy on an NPR talk show blurt this out, I found it amusing, so I thought I'd share.)

 

OTOH, my record on predictions about the past is 100%.

According to my friends and my wife, my predictions about the past are pretty poor.

[NewImprov]

Just read this thread from top to bottom, all 11 pages. Really good insight and discussion here, and I'm thankful for the discourse. I normally hang out in the Keyboard forum, so I hadn't noticed this thread until today.

 

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.

 

The long version: Some of my best friends have bought a popular, historic and locally beloved restaurant/microbrewery and have been remodeling it for the last 2 years. They are also making it into a venue with an excellent PA (one of the owners is a great live-sound engineer) and a 400+ max capacity. Their timing was definitely not great, but in a way it has worked out, they had plans and negotiations happening when COVID hit, they knew they were going to take at least a year to remodel (complete kitchen rebuild, many other major changes) and were able to do it during a time the they would have been closed or seen reduced sales due to the pandemic. With inevitable delays, the construction stretched to longer than anticipated, and when it looked like everything was coming together to re-open in mid-December, they decided, because of the holiday season, they would just hold of and have their grand reopening on New Year's Eve. The asked my funk/soul/afrobeat band to play the party, and we jumped at the chance. This will be our first gig since Jan 2020, and my first gig since 1 outdoor show last July. We are chomping at the bit to play.

 

The gig will be limited to 100 attendees, and require proof of vaccine and/or proof of a negative COVID test at the door. We have discussed the risks at length, and recognize that there is still risk of infection with these precautions. We as a band are all vaccinated, I believe we have all had boosters as well, and our county has the highest percentage of vaccinated people in the state, and our county has generally taken all mask and distancing mandates seriously, resulting in one of the lowest infection and hospitalization rates in the state (OR). There are other venues in town, and in the area, that are having regular indoor shows with the same requirements as our show. The venue will not be requiring proof of vaccine for all open hours, they will follow the state mask mandates for indoor dining, and only require proof of vaccine for shows.

 

About a week ago, the venue made a public announcement on social media, announcing their reopening and this show, including the attendance requirements. At first, the response was overwhelmingly positive, but somehow, in the first 24 hours of being posted, their social media got flooded by anti-vax activists. Stuff got incredibly ugly, the owners were being compared to Apartheid-era South Africa, the Third Reich, and the Jim-Crow South, as if not allowing an unvaccinated person to attend a show were somehow equivalent. There were literally thousands of posts/reposts, etc condemning the business. The vast majority of posters were not even in our local community, only very few mentioned ever visiting the venue under previous management, and none of the protesters were fans or followers of our band. The likelihood of any of these people actually wanting to attend the show was nil. This has escalated to where there is an active call to mobilize a street protest outside the event, and a call to permanently boycott the business (which hasn't even opened yet). The owners have reported receiving threatening messages privately. It really is insane, and infuriating. At first, some of us tried engaging with the anti-vaxxers, but there was no possibility of changing their minds. Eventually, the owners blocked commenting on the threads they posted and took all commentary about the gig private, but we have seen evidence that the antivax army are still threatening to come out and protest this event.

 

Anybody else dealing with this crap at their gigs? Any suggestions? I'm pretty certain we won't actually see protesters at the show, as most of those protesting online live outside the area. But with nut job like these and the current social/political climate, who knows?

[Anderton]

Wow. Just...wow.

 

My first thought is that all these people are cowards anyway, hiding behind anonymous names online. They probably won't do anything.

 

My second thought is that you can say you're standing up for what they claim to believe in, which is the freedom to control your own life. Of course logic won't work, but it might make you feel better.

 

I highly recommend making a copy of anything that's threatening, and stopping by your local police station. Ask them to make sure that they cruise by from time to time to make sure all is well.

 

Finally, I want to say something that's been on my mind. This kind of behavior is a symptom, not a disease, and has nothing to do with politics. It's about people who feel disconnected and want to be part of something significant. They feel their lives have been marginalized (they have), that the American dream has become extremely difficult to attain (it has), the odds are stacked against them (they are), and they see no future (the jury's out, but it's not looking good). They are incredibly passionate, and truly believe they are doing the right thing, but they see the world through the filters I mentioned. They're angry, but don't know where, or how, to direct it.

 

In the words of Darth Vader, "If he could be turned, he could become a powerful ally." Anyone can see Uncle Darth has been very effective at doing that with these people. It's up to the rest of us to see if we can somehow embrace them instead of reject them, and with that lack of rejection, give them reason to believe they've found something more meaningful than what Darth has to offer.

 

I can dream, can't I?

[KuruPrionz]

(whole bunch of crazy, yikes!)

 

Just play the gig. I agree that you should contact the police and alert them that you'll be playing.

You might want to arrange rides with Uber and taxi services for those that imbibe so they get home safely.

 

They have a right to peaceful assembly. They do not have a right to harass people or engage in mayhem.

I suspect their "demonstration" will fail to attract enough people to be worth mentioning. The occasional police car driving by may bring it to an early end.

 

Plus, most of them will want to go somewhere else and be part of a New Years Eve party. It just sounds like sour grapes to me.

[Doerfler]

Anybody else dealing with this crap at their gigs?

 

Hey Dave, glad you found your way over here.

 

This guitar player named Bruce Springsteen got all kind of bad things said about him as all attendees of his show on Broadway earlier this year had to be vaccinated. Fans were being harassed as they waited in line to get into the venue by anti vaccers.

 

There is another band you might have heard of, Foo Fighters, they are arguably as big as any rock and roll band in the USA. Just announced a large tour of the USA next year. They won't play anywhere unless the venue requires everyone has to be vaccinated.

 

They cancelled a future show somewhere in Minnesota (maybe Michigan, can't remember) because of this, and yes, they are hearing lots of bad things because of their policy.

 

It's affecting everyone, large and small.

[Joe Muscara]

I share this story that happened down the street from me to say that sometimes these protests backfire, not for the politics of it. In the case of this restaurant, they got a big bump in business from people who wanted to show their support against the people who were anti-mask.

 

Hundreds of Houstonians show support to Miller's Cafe after group protests mask policy

 

Maybe you and/or the venue can similarly make something out of this with the local media? You'll probably get a bunch of people wanting to support what you're doing and fill up the show as well as generally support the venue as time goes on.

[Notes_Norton]

We, the USA, have gone from a reasonably civilized country to a country of barbarians. This makes the patriot in me very sad.

 

I call it the FOX effect, although FOX wasn't the inventor but was the first popular media to give one-sided political opinions disguised as news. That's only half the problem, they and their competitors decided that anger, name-calling, shouting, and abusing anyone who disagrees with their one-sided approach is wrong, and not worthy of the air they breathe. The art of debate has degenerated into a hate-filled, name-calling virtual fist-fight. And that goes for the followers on both sides of the fence.

 

It started in the Reagan administration when the Fairness Doctrine was abolished. Before that, the airwaves belonged to the public, not any particular political party, opinions on a news show had to be clearly labeled as opinions, and both sides of the debate had to be aired. Does anyone remember "Point - Counterpoint" segments?

 

So now we have opinion pundits disguised as news people shouting in outrage about some half-truth, calling the opposition names, and yelling at the top of their lungs in anger.

 

Too may people watch this day after day, year after year, and now decade after decade, and have become so desensitized by instantly resorting to anger and outrage about an opposing opinion that it is considered acceptable behavior. We will cough on people wearing a mask, verbally abuse anyone who has a different opinion from ours, and even fight over a difference of opinion.

 

The art of debate, in which our country was founded on, has become not much more than a bar brawl.

 

We, the USA needs to get back to being reasonably civilized. I don't know how to do it, but the first step should to be to reinstate the "Fairness Doctrine" to the publicly owned bandwidth, both the airwaves and the publicly built Internet.

 

Here in Florida, our governor has decided so-called vaccine passports are illegal and requiring one involves a hefty fine per person denied. As a result, Florida has one of the highest COVID-19 deaths per capita ratios in the entire country.

 

Me? I'm triple vaccinated and only taking outdoor gigs. Fortunately, in Florida, outdoor gigs are in season all year long.

 

But last night the temperature dropped into the 60s, so my fingers and the guitar didn't get along all that well by the end of the night.

 

I'm not trying to voice a political opinion here, both sides now do it. But we need to get back to civility.

 

Notes â«

[Anderton]

I share this story that happened down the street from me to say that sometimes these protests backfire, not for the politics of it. In the case of this restaurant, they got a big bump in business from people who wanted to show their support against the people who were anti-mask.

 

Good point. Voting with your dollars is effective.

[Anderton]

But we need to get back to civility.

 

As I pointed out in a previous post, the lack of civility is due to fear. Reduce the factor of living in fear, even by a little bit, and civility will return. If you look at the countries that register the happiest populations, you'll find that all of them have found the sweet spot between freedom and a social safety net. Tilting too much in one direction or the other increases a climate of fear.

 

To me, this has nothing to do with codifying freedom and a social safety net as politics - it's politics that has put New&Improv in the position he's in. Instead, it's just about asking an engineering question: How do you engineer a society for the most efficient operation? I think the aforementioned sweet spot is the answer. However, attaining it requires that people give up a jingoistic attachment to extreme positions.

 

Let's be honest, some of the pro-mask people are as intolerant as the anti-mask people. You can make an argument that the pro-mask people have more to lose, because of the spread of a disease. But, intolerance always hardens an opposition's position. If pro-mask people weren't intolerant, the anti-mask people wouldn't double down because there would be nothing to double down against. And if they didn't have to save face (don't kid yourself, it's just as much of a big deal in Western as well as Eastern civilizations), I think they would be more inclined to get vaccinated.

 

Intolerance breeds more intolerance, and solves no problems.

[Anderton]

As to the concert situation, there's a solution. Once I gave a seminar, and the venue was totally unprepared for the overflow crowd. The situation is somewhat analogous to the restaurant situation alluded to by New& Improv, because some people were prohibited by law (fire marshals) from participating. But the people putting on the seminar were smart. They rented some big screens, and placed them outside the venue so people who couldn't get in could still see the seminar.

 

Now all of a sudden the people who couldn't get in weren't rejected, they were accommodated. They went from being very negative about the venue to being very positive.

 

So in the situation involving the restaurant, renting a couple big screens and making the show accessible might help. They management could say "Although we can't let you into the building, you're welcome to hang around and enjoy the show. Thanks for coming!"

 

It might even get interesting local press. But what do I know? Maybe they anti-vax brigade will smash the screens.

 

But maybe they won't.

[NewImprov]

As to the concert situation, there's a solution. Once I gave a seminar, and the venue was totally unprepared for the overflow crowd. The situation is somewhat analogous to the restaurant situation alluded to by New& Improv, because some people were prohibited by law (fire marshals) from participating. But the people putting on the seminar were smart. They rented some big screens, and placed them outside the venue so people who couldn't get in could still see the seminar.

 

Now all of a sudden the people who couldn't get in weren't rejected, they were accommodated. They went from being very negative about the venue to being very positive.

 

So in the situation involving the restaurant, renting a couple big screens and making the show accessible might help. They management could say "Although we can't let you into the building, you're welcome to hang around and enjoy the show. Thanks for coming!"

 

It might even get interesting local press. But what do I know? Maybe they anti-vax brigade will smash the screens.

 

But maybe they won't.

 

One suggestion that we tossed around was to set up a concert-level PA system in front of the venue and play an endless loop of Soul Vaccination to drown out the protesters (you do not want to piss off a soundguy with a warehouse full of gear that has sat mostly unused for almost 2 years). But your solution is much kinder. I doubt it'd work, though, our guess is that the people protesting the event are mostly keyboard warriors (and not the type we celebrate around here). None of them would have come to the gig in the first place, and they are only complaining now because they are looking for a place to express their anger. It does feel weird that they have singled out this event, when literally every other event in the area is implementing the same restrictions. I highly doubt that any of them will actually show up. But we are informing the police of the threat.

 

And thanks for the other comments and suggestions.

[Notes_Norton]

Fear and anger are the great manipulators of the populace. It's tried and true and has been used at least for all of recorded history. Stalin, Hitler, Caesar, some Popes and other Religious leaders, some cult leaders, some Politicians, the list goes on and on.

 

Right now, both the "Right" and the "Left" extreme media are using fear and anger to manipulate the citizens of our country. I wish I know how to stop that. Reinstating the Fairness Doctrine would be a good first step, but the proverbial horse is already out of the barn.

 

When our Governor prohibited vaccine passports on cruise ships, a few of them just defied the governor's orders. No protests actually materialized and since they were following federal CDC guidelines the lawsuits filed against them are just wasting my taxpayer dollars.

 

Other cruise lines took a different tack, you can come on the cruise like the executive order states, but you cannot eat in the dining room, attend the shows and join in other indoor ship activities. In other words, you are confined to your cabin or the open air decks.

 

I think Craig's idea might stifle local protests, but the out-of-town attackers will continue to post hate and fear your way.

 

Notes â«

[Greg Mein]

 

grand reopening on New Year's Eve. The asked my funk/soul/afrobeat band to play the party

 

The gig will be limited to 100 attendees

 

The vast majority of posters were not even in our local community, only very few mentioned ever visiting the venue under previous management, and none of the protesters were fans or followers of our band.

 

I'm pretty certain we won't actually see protesters at the show

 

At the risk of stating the obvious, ever since the internet became available for mass consumption people have been emboldened to write things they would never say in your presence.

An unknown venue, 100 people in attendance and a band not known outside your area, yeah, I'd have to say you nailed it in your final paragraph.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Just read this thread from top to bottom, all 11 pages. Really good insight and discussion here, and I'm thankful for the discourse. I normally hang out in the Keyboard forum, so I hadn't noticed this thread until today.

 

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.

 

...

 

The gig will be limited to 100 attendees, and require proof of vaccine and/or proof of a negative COVID test at the door. We have discussed the risks at length, and recognize that there is still risk of infection with these precautions. We as a band are all vaccinated, I believe we have all had boosters as well, and our county has the highest percentage of vaccinated people in the state, and our county has generally taken all mask and distancing mandates seriously, resulting in one of the lowest infection and hospitalization rates in the state (OR). There are other venues in town, and in the area, that are having regular indoor shows with the same requirements as our show. The venue will not be requiring proof of vaccine for all open hours, they will follow the state mask mandates for indoor dining, and only require proof of vaccine for shows.

 

...

 

This has escalated to where there is an active call to mobilize a street protest outside the event, and a call to permanently boycott the business (which hasn't even opened yet). The owners have reported receiving threatening messages privately. It really is insane, and infuriating. At first, some of us tried engaging with the anti-vaxxers, but there was no possibility of changing their minds. Eventually, the owners blocked commenting on the threads they posted and took all commentary about the gig private, but we have seen evidence that the antivax army are still threatening to come out and protest this event.

 

Anybody else dealing with this crap at their gigs? Any suggestions? I'm pretty certain we won't actually see protesters at the show, as most of those protesting online live outside the area. But with nut job like these and the current social/political climate, who knows?

 

First, I'm sorry you have to deal with that. I don't see why those folks are so unreasonable considering that a negative COVID test is also acceptable...that in theory should have prevented that since it wasn't a complete vaccinated-only requirement. That's how I would do it as well. [As a side note, I am generally in favor of everyone still getting tested regardless of vaccination status at this point, if one wants to cover all bases]. So I'm really sad to hear that that isn't enough for these people. I'm assuming they're mostly keyboard warriors who are angry at the whole world. I wouldn't expect more than a few people to spill over, if any [unlike the recent scenario with "JFK" in Texas that had substantial real-world translation, this doesn't seem to have the same scale of national following]. From what I can tell your friends are doing everything to give people options and remain safe both, which I appreciate.

 

To answer your question, no, I haven't had that happen with any gigs yet, but then again I haven't really done a lot of gigs since the start of all this, outside of university function gigs and a summer weekly gig at a local restaurant, which was outdoors anyways. I also currently live in somewhat of a wild west area for COVID protocols, though things could be much worse.

[Notes_Norton]

We gigged yesterday afternoon in an outdoor, beachside, restaurant/bar.

 

There were a mix of masked and unmasked customers and employees. Of course, we were unmasked, as it's hard to play saxophone with a mask on.

 

We are triple-shot vaccinated and we test ourselves often. We don't want to be broadcasting COVID to our customers, so we feel it's our responsibility to be and test as COVID free as we possibly can.

 

The stage was separated from the tables by about 20 feet so that was extra safety for us, but some of our fans, who we regard as extended family members, did come up to the stage to say "Hi" and talk to us.

 

Hopefully this new Omicron variant will prove to be milder than the previous strains. There are indications that it might be, but it's still too soon to tell.

 

In the meantime, we'll continue to book outdoor gigs (thankfully I live in Florida), get all booster shots when available, test ourselves frequently, and whenever we go out in public, wear a KN95 mask.

 

Without your health, you have nothing, so my self-preservation instincts tell me to do what it takes to stay healthy.

 

An ounce of prevention in the case of COVID is worth a ton of cure - and with COVID, over 5 million people didn't get cured but instead died.

 

And with all our technology, the USA is still the world leader in deaths from COVID. This is the price we are paying for first ignoring the problem for 6 weeks and then politicizing it. Obviously, a lot of people don't want that ounce of prevention.

 

Insights and incites by Notes â«

[Anderton]

Hopefully this new Omicron variant will prove to be milder than the previous strains. There are indications that it might be, but it's still too soon to tell.

 

If so, and if it's more transmissible, that could lead to the fabled "return to normal." More transmissible will mean that it will win out over Delta, and if not as serious, then it won't kill off its hosts so it can be a more successful virus. At that point, it will be more like the flu or a bad cold.

[Notes_Norton]

Hopefully this new Omicron variant will prove to be milder than the previous strains. There are indications that it might be, but it's still too soon to tell.

 

If so, and if it's more transmissible, that could lead to the fabled "return to normal." More transmissible will mean that it will win out over Delta, and if not as serious, then it won't kill off its hosts so it can be a more successful virus. At that point, it will be more like the flu or a bad cold.

That seems to be the best we can hope for now. I can deal with something akin to the flu.

 

With international travel as easy as it is, with the large numbers of humans on the planet (a 'food source' for pathogens), and with people who don't believe a vaccine or mask is an ounce of prevention, anything that is highly transmissible is going to be impossible to contain.

 

I'm thankful for my gigging calendar, which is averaging 2 gigs a week, all outdoors, but a normal December schedule for us is 5 gigs a week. We're light years better than 2020, but not normal yet.

 

But what I'm jonesing for even more than more gigs, is the ability to travel once a year. We've been to 6 of the 7 continents, 49 US states, much of Canada, quite a few islands, and in 2020 we planned to go to Madagascar. We take a vacation once per year, and we still have 50 more places we want to visit, and unless science comes with an unexpected miracle, we don't have 50 years left.

 

We're not ready to get on an airplane and travel the world if permanent damage to our lungs and brains are anything more than a remote possibility.

 

Notes â«

[Anderton]

We're not ready to get on an airplane and travel the world if permanent damage to our lungs and brains are anything more than a remote possibility.

 

A lot of my income sources were dependent on travel. The silver lining is that being at home has given me a chance to really get ahead on books for Sweetwater publishing.

 

I'm probably being overly cautious by not going to the movies, but then I think about the number of people who depend on me, and...

[KuruPrionz]

We're not ready to get on an airplane and travel the world if permanent damage to our lungs and brains are anything more than a remote possibility.

 

A lot of my income sources were dependent on travel. The silver lining is that being at home has given me a chance to really get ahead on books for Sweetwater publishing.

 

I'm probably being overly cautious by not going to the movies, but then I think about the number of people who depend on me, and...

 

I wish it were not so but it isn't a great time to be social.

Better to wait, things will change. We are early in this game...

[KuruPrionz]

It is now official, a Whatcom County resident in his 30's and fully vaccinated tested positive for Omicron and is in isolation.

 

It's here, just in time for the rainy season when everyone goes indoors. I had a feeling things were going to be difficult this winter, will continue to be careful.

And I am not booked anywhere for anything, I think I chose a good time to step down from the band.

 

No bridges were burned, we are all brothers. It's possible I could be back out there gigging again but I won't predict when that will happen.

I've had my Moderna booster recently as well. Time to hide!!!!

[Notes_Norton]

We're still doing outdoor gigs only. I refused a couple of indoor gigs, including one at a Seminole Indian casino. Too bad for that one, because the pay is good and they feed us whatever we want, including the steaks. But I know that city is largely populated with the kind of people who refuse vaccination and masks and are sure if they get it, horse dewormers will cure them.

 

We played one last Friday, poolside, at a place we have been playing for a couple of times per year for quite a few years now. We went into overtime, and the people told us we sound much better than we did before the pandemic closed everything down. Actually we sound pretty much the same, but absence makes the ear grow fonder.

 

Omicron has come to Florida, so it's time to batten down the hatches again.

 

I know we're all tired of this plague, but that makes it more important to keep our guard up.

 

Insights and incites by Notes â«