I’d be much happier going back to gigs if masks ARE a requirement. Not that I relish the idea of wearing a mask in a hot, crowded room for 3 or more hours, but seems like a small price to pay to get back to seeing live music.
However, drinking is indeed the problem. Could straws be the answer? Sounds ridiculous, and almost certainly is, but…?
please could you link the article?
feel like I need to get properly clued up on where we’re at
Wonder if someone will invent a gig mask that’s like a sippy cup?
Could even be something a big brand could sponsor to help bring back live music safely?
Same. If we’re still in a situation where masks are considered necessary, I wouldn’t shove myself in a room with a load of sweaty bodies singing along.
I go to about one gig a year so I’m not really the intended target audience for this. But - no! Absolutely not.
I’ve never fully managed to sort out wearing a mask indoors with glasses for any amount of time, I can barely fecking see at gigs without a mask and it would be a colossal waste of money for me to go to a gig, not be able to see anything and be suffocating, swamped by people/body heat/fucking mask. Like, surely there is no chance in hell that it won’t be hot enough to steam up the glasses.
I’m a short woman and frequently end up wedged in tall men’s sweaty armpits/backs at gigs - having a mask covered in their BO which I have to wear the whole time… no, it’s just not happening, fuckkkkking hell.
These are some of the main reasons I don’t go to gigs anyway in addition to living outside of a city, I can find them a really hostile environment to me personally and having a mask on top of that is honestly one of the worst activities I can possibly imagine. Especially as, presumably, gigs are about to get a hell of a lot more expensive.
I’m a long long way off feeling able to go to any event no matter what the precautions are tbh.
More generally I’m just not sure I am going to be able to cope in the future with say public transport or busy shops. This isn’t anything to do with scientific risk analysis it is just situations that would have caused me anxiety anyway but now I’ve had 18 months of no social interaction it feels very unlikely I can return to dealing with those situations.
If the gig venue insists on the wearing of a mask then I guess I would, but would not be especially happy about it. I would choose a maskless gig over a masked one in the unlikely event that there was a choice. Personally I don’t fear COVID any more than any other respiratory disease now that I’ve been double jabbed, so have no qualms about attending a packed, sweaty gig right now. But that’s just me, and I fully understand why others are apprehensive.
As others have said, it’s here to stay, so we have to learn to live with it. I’m ready to just crack on
Some tips for that
Tips and tricks for preventing foggy glasses
I know, I’ve tried everything because it’s been so completely insufferable. the only thing that’s even slightly helped is a nose wire in the mask and even that sometimes doesn’t work. you could not pay me to go to an indoor gig wearing a mask
Glad you feel like that.
Word of caution: You know you’re not totally immune, right? There are still people being hospitalised or getting really sick who’ve had their jabs.
Despite doing my due diligence, I don’t feel like I have enough information about how much risk there is, and I would love to share your confidence.
Of course there are, and there always will be because the vaccine isn’t 100% effective. The nature of reporting around this will be to highlight those unfortunate cases, but the numbers are tiny.
I hope you get to a point soon where you feel comfortable, but to me it feels like we’ve reached that point where things are not going to get much better, and the risk is so hugely reduced that an entire industry should not be eradicated for the sake of a miniscule proportion of society being desperately unlucky.
Personally I just wouldn’t be interested in going to go to a gig if masks were a requirement. It makes me hot and uncomfortable even going on the tube with one, and I want to stand and chat with my friends and drink pints and dance around without needing to constantly be adjusting it or speaking even louder or trying to hear what my muffled-sounding mates are saying. It just negates a lot of the point of even going to a gig in the first place for me, unfortunately.
I’m aware a lot of people are extra-cautious or have health anxiety and that’s totally fine, but the fact is that even if a crowd is fully masked up it could still spread, and is only extremely effective unless combined with stuff like distancing, which again is impractical for small venues.
These venues aren’t going to get any more support from the public purse and what they’ve got wasn’t enough.
If they can’t open at full capacity and have pre pandemic bar turnover they’re fucked.
The pivot from “save our venues” to “venues aren’t safe” that’s happening is going to be an absolute disaster for all venues.
All of this is true which makes me feel guilty that I am, frankly, too scared to go to a gig for a while yet (the situation, not you saying it).
These all help up to a point, but there comes a point (to do with temperature, humidity and exertion levels) where no matter what I’ve done to negate the effects my glasses steam up. I’m pretty sure a packed gig would be steam city regardless of precautions.
As others have mentioned too, if the situation is still such where mask wearing is considered necessary it probably means gigs aren’t safe. Masks can help you stop spreading it (if they’re worn correctly at all times, are of sufficient quality etc etc etc) but if you’re in a sweaty box with loads of people singing along then they’ll make very little difference. I’ve reached the point where I’m happy to go to a bookshop with everyone in masks but it’ll be a long long time I reckon before I’m even thinking about gigs.
Honestly no. I wouldn’t enjoy it
The economic impact assessment by the government’s Internal Research Programme (copied from Politico Playbook):
‘Low intervention’: The most lenient measures considered saw face masks listed as the only blanket rule. According to the findings of the Events Research Programme, the impact on businesses of even this most minimal of interventions was still major. The entire events industry would reach just 82 percent of its 2019 turnover. Indoor seated venues would get just 72 percent. Indoor non-seated just 65 percent. Outdoor non-seated venues would manage just 82 percent of their 2019 figure.
Internal polling: The Events Research Programme tried to find out why non-pharmaceutical measures, even relatively small ones like face masks, would have such a massive impact. They surveyed 3,810 adults, finding that all these interventions significantly decreased demand, with the exception of COVID testing, which actually boosts demand. Mandatory COVID testing meant people were 15 percent more likely to attend an event. But face masks meant people were 28 percent less likely to go. A ban on food or drink meant people were 43 percent less likely to attend.
And that’s fine that you don’t feel safe and you shouldn’t feel gulilty. It’s not yours or the venues fault.
No matter what mitigation’s are put in place a significant number of people aren’t going to feel comfortable attending currently so putting in things like masks and no drinking is potentially going to put barriers in front of an already dwindling customer base. Having these in place will also perpetuate the narrative that it isn’t safe and it’ll death spiral
Edit. And @HannahIngramMoore has provided evidence of the barriers to attendance bit above which is miles better than just my opinion
How would you feel if artists started doing this?
Venues appear to be safe from some of the test event data. But those events had certain factors involved.
I would feel much safer knowing people have had a PCR test, been double vaccinated, and people will be wearing masks most of not all the the time.