I thought this was already a thread.

How's it going for you?

My band played our first show in a year and a half on Friday night. A month ago, I was so pumped for it. As the delta variant has emerged with a vengeance I was feeling less and less so. Plus it stormed like all hell the night of the show so hanging outside to get away from people was no longer an option. It was as good as it could have been; all venue staff masked up, most of the patrons as well. Big place and small turnout helped to make things comfortable. No crowding. All in all, it was great to play and see some live music, though somewhat awkward. Not booking anything else for the near future though. Comfort level is not there yet.

I was looking at pictures of a friend's show in NYC from over the weekend and it was packed, people jammed wall to wall, sweaty dancing all smashed together, not a mask in sight. It would have looked like fun before all this shit, but it honestly looked like a nightmare.

While I don't play music my wife and I have attended multiple shows, one all ages punk show, sold out, very few masks. These kids were all like "what pandemic?" Very likely many unvaxxed. Also been to many bars. I have faith in the vaccines. I'm sure I have been exposed at this point to the DV.

I've only seen a few things outdoors, most notably an improv jazz duo on a patio. I'm definitely not ready for packed and sweaty indoor shows yet, but would consider going to something I know will be chill with people I mostly know. Vaccine passport proof (a few venues have just recently adopted) may help a bit, but even then I'm finding it a little hard to care about punk shows in the midst of global chaos..

The only active band I'm in is nowhere close to being ready to play shows (material wise), and I'm kind of enjoying that lack of pressure. We don't fuck around, but are very picky with our individual parts and we can certainly afford to be right now..

Wifey and I went to a show this Saturday. Vaccine cards or verified negative test within x hours was a requirement for entry. It's a nice gesture, but like anything I'm sure either one can be faked, although I don't think the sort of people who are going to see the Cactus Blossoms are necessarily antivaxxers or spreaders. There were quite a few masks in the crowd, and the general sentiment felt like it swung between "yeah, shows!" and "...um, maybe we shouldn't be doing this."

My band has had a busy season, though our gigs have all been outdoor shows. We're the closing act for the final night of our county fair, which I'm sure will be crowded with unvaxxed hillbillies. I've kind of given up on the local population as a whole to do what's right. The guy who plays guitar with us is a doctor, who happens to also be the state infectious disease emergency response director. We didn't play/rehearse/anything AT ALL last year, as there was no way in hell he was going out. This year he's just more resigned to the phenomenon that by and large, people out here in the sticks are idiots who gobble up detrimental disinformation from Fox "news" and other garbage sources. People are coming into the ER more and more, and they're dying.

I was planning on going to see Dinosaur in Philly in November. Not really sure I want to do that anymore.

We were supposed to play an outdoor show this past Friday. It got rained out after one band played. With the prospect of new variants emerging and everyone acting like a goddamn chooch, I don't have high hopes for the future. I've been more depressed this past couple days than I have been in some time. Probably bad form to boohoo over this small of a thing, but here I am.

Saw Facs back in March. Beautiful, eerie show. There was an attendance cap - probably around forty people, maybe less - staff and audience all masked, tables positioned for social distancing. Legit.
Saw Helen Money not too long ago. More folks in the crowd, tables positioned for social distancing, masks encouraged. Wonderful show.

Saw Facs again not too long ago. Decent-sized audience. No social distancing. A few masked folks (I wasn't one of them). Fantastic show.

Have designs on seeing Air Supply in October and Protomartyr in November. Will probably mask-up for both of those...definitely the Air Supply performance. Big boomer energy will be strong at that one.

My bands have been practicing again and having a blast. Body Futures is writing stuff with our new bassist and it's a grand time. HiFi has been digging through our old catalog and re-learning songs we haven't played in 10 years. Lots of smiles and laughs.

Are either band ready to play shows? Pfff. If we were asked to play something outside, maybe we'd consider it, but honestly, promoting a show is something I don't have much taste for right now. "Hey everyone! People are still getting sick and dying! Come see my band play!" I mean, there's always evil in the world, but right now amidst a global pandemic, trying to get people to give a shit about my band seems trite and selfish, if not sociopathic.

There's a wrestling show coming up at the UW-M Panther Arena that was rescheduled 4 times during lockdown, and I desperately want to go, and we're wrapping our brains around it, wearing masks the whole night and trusting our vaccines, but...yeah, I'm not relying on wrestling fans to do the right thing and mask up all around us.

rsmurphy wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 1:29 pm Saw Facs back in March.

Saw Facs again not too long ago.

I would see Facs live even though I'm not a huge fan of the record(s). Bet it's better live.

rsmurphy wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 1:29 pm
Air Supply

Wait, what?