Geniuses needed for solving our virus problems when re-opening

[willienillie]

Maybe, just maybe, people will come to the realization that this virus is just another virus, we are constantly surrounded by a bazillion other viruses, and we shouldn't let this one dictate our lives any more than the others.  Life includes risks, always has.  Air travel was shut down temporarily in the wake of 9/11.  Some could have argued that it should have stayed that way or "people will die!" in plane crashes.  But air travel resumed, some planes crashed, and yes people died.  We deal with it.

[Electron Tornado]

In the mean time, will we see "the rise of the solo performer"? Maybe even duos for "larger" stages. Will Timbuk 3 make a comeback? A Smothers Brothers tribute band? Will all the gigs go to Estas Tonne, or the likes of Bucket Head, or even.....Bob Log?

[anotherjim]

Jim, I was thinking about larger pop screens. Do you think that would be sufficient? Most singers say they can't sing with a mask on.

Pop screens, even DIY pantyhose ones, have a negligible impact on sound quality - they even help by keeping the singer away from the mic. Anyway, they are essential with expensive condenser mics. To work best though, they should be a hands width away from the mic -  about 4".
Even though they may complain, it won't help if the singer wants to constantly take a sip of water, since they will exhale more vapour - and anyway, a wet mouth creates little bubble pop noises that a good condenser mic will pick up.

There's always Bob Log

[Mark Hammer]

Many performers play for a cut of "the door".  Of course, if regulations/bylaws don't permit venues to be quite as crowded as before, one would imagine that a few things would change:
- merch (sanitized, of course) would play a bigger role in remuneration
- maybe a cut of bar sales would sub for a cut of the door
- trios and duos will supplant 4 and 5-piece outfits to make each gig pay individuals more
- musicians will have to be crueler about comping guests (i.e., everybody pays, even mom and dad)
- no free drinks for musicians

[Nasse]

I always wondered what kind of sound system was used in Beatles rooftop concert, for people down there on street level. I had the Idea of marathon rooftop happening where audience is told bands are in the roof (they are not) and IT IS streamed down so they can listen and watch it in nearby pubs and club and in the picnic area

[PRR]

> outdoor church service set up like a tailgate party

I assume stuff like this is happening world-wide.


(I don't know why someone didn't steer the tall trucks to the back corners and let the little coupes have a sight-line.)

(The special reason this was in the local news is the pastor announced he will open the doors to in-person worship in defiance of an order issued by the Governor. That's bounced off a judge and may be off pending debate in court.)

Certainly microphone smutz is NOT a big deal. Shure-clones are $69. Any singer who won't invest that much in a personal axe isn't serious. (Also this summer there must be many idle microphones for long-term borrow.) Opry-style 4 mouths on one mike may be unwise.

[Electron Tornado]

I recall an interview with members of Devo (I think it was) years (and years) ago, where they had a concept of a band performing, but the band appears at venues (many at once) as holograms.

[PRR]

Maybe, just maybe, people will come to the realization that this virus is just another virus...

...my brother survived the nite. covid 19 positive. severe double fibrotic pneumonia. he's conscious and aware. but complications from it are costing him a leg tomorrow. @#$% this shit. @#$% it in its neck.

Older people with immune issues (that is a lot of us) have been dying quite quickly. Some who live will never be the same again. Yes, maybe we should just die and get out of the way. But an astonishing number of not-old people are getting very sick, some dying.

[aron]

Someone brought up the gigs with cars and if they served alcohol and something happened later, the people running the event would be liable. A band couldn't handle that.
As for issues - they said in Hawaii, high blood pressure and diabetes affect 1 out of 3 here so coronavirus wouldn't be good running around here. As it is, the 2 highest profile cases were a young bartender and a 45 year old construction worker. Both healthy before and spent the last 6 weeks in ICU.

[andy-h-h]

Maybe, just maybe, people will come to the realization that this virus is just another virus, we are constantly surrounded by a bazillion other viruses, and we shouldn't let this one dictate our lives any more than the others.  Life includes risks, always has.  Air travel was shut down temporarily in the wake of 9/11.  Some could have argued that it should have stayed that way or "people will die!" in plane crashes.  But air travel resumed, some planes crashed, and yes people died.  We deal with it.

So I guess you would be just fine watching family members die from this, cause you don't want a virus to dictate your life? Too bad for them.  The opposing argument is people will starve from lack of business etc, and they were old or sick anyway.
   
Do you live in a country that has proper social & health support?  Maybe closing down businesses for a couple of months is less of an issue than dying.   I'm Australian by the way, we're certainly not perfect, in fact we have many many flaws...  but we do try and look after each other.  Seems fair doesn't it?   I can go without if someone else gets to live another day.

[Fancy Lime]

No offense meant to anyone, but I feel it important to add a few thoughts to the discussion on this date.

Life is risky, sure. The problem is, that we do not really know how risky it would be to let the virus run wild. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But a look at the situation in northern Italy suggests it would be very bad. You get to the point where someone has to decide which patients get treated and which are left for dead outside the hospital entrance. How do you weigh that against a recession? I don't know and I am pretty damn glad I don't have to decide that. Nobody will know until afterward, that is the catch. In hindsight we will know that some measures were unnecessarily harsh and even harmful, and others not strict enough. But currently we are sailing through the fog without a compass. The best thing we can do is go slow until we see a bit more clearly and hope the ship does not catch fire before we reach land. </unnecessarily_convoluted_metaphor>

What we are exercising by trying to save everyone we can even at (potentially, probably?) great cost to the economy, is what the military calls "No Man Left Behind". In an army every soldier needs to know that they will not simply be abandoned by their comrades at the first sign of trouble. As a society we are kept together and kept from being at each others throats all the time by the knowledge that in a crisis our neighbors will fight with us and for us, not against us (unless you're neighbors with Alex Jones, in which case hide the BBQ sauce). It's whats called civilization. We are living in incredibly stable and comfortable times in the industrialized world and it is easy to forget what happens when core tenets civilization are abandoned because it seems politically or economically expedient in the moment.

Before deciding whose life is worth living and whose is expendable and for what reasons and who gets to decide that, I suggest a quick meditation on the question: Liberation from what exactly is it that we celebrate for the 75th time today?

It's also worth noting that people being sick and dying all the time is pretty bad for the economy as well. The great pandemics of the past have not only killed people they also devastated economies for decades or even centuries. Without any governmental intervention. So the question if the mitigation measures do more damage to the economy than would happen if we just let the virus play out, is far from easy to answer. The great economic strives we have mad in the past would not have been possible if we had not been able to keep the plague, tuberculosis, smallpox, polio, measles, and the like from regularly decimating the workforce. Sick and dead people don't earn money and poor people don't buy stuff.

Again, no offense to anyone. I fully understand why people are annoyed and scared, I'm too. I'm not saying anyone is wrong, either. I don't know what is right or wrong in these times. Nobody really knows at this point, and I think that is important to remember in these discussions. Just wanted to widen the perspective a bit.

Cheers despite all,
Andy

[willienillie]

Walter:  "It's like Lenin said..."

Donny:  "I am the walrus?"

[Fancy Lime]

We don't stop the world to stop people from dying in car crashes. We do have speed limits, drivers licences and seat belts, though. We don't stop the world to keep people from dying from alcohol or tobacco abuse but we do tax and regulate those things heavily. Deciding what regulations are necessary and what regulations do more damage than good is never easy and always a trade-off. And with anything new, it is very difficult to make informed decisions. How many people died preventable deaths because they did not wear a seat belt? There was a big Freedom and Personal Responsibility discussion on that as well. But are we really "unfree" in any meaningful sense of the word because of seat belt laws? Is that a hill we are willing to LITERALLY die on? Not a perfect analogy because the Corona restrictions are much tougher than that. On the other hand, they will pass. Definitely. Some countries managed to get through this with very little hard restrictions because the people followed the voluntary recommendations. If everybody who does not absolutely have to go out stays home, those who actually have to can go out. But if people are unwilling to skip spring break parties one year just because it would save someone else's life... Personal responsibility is great but it only really works in a highly contagious pandemic if there aren't too many idiots running around. It's like heard immunity.

And you are absolutely right, there are always people trying to take advantage of whatever crisis to push unrelated agendas. Staying vigilant on that front is certainly necessary. Every crisis brings opportunities for change for the better or worse. Making sure things go in the right direction afterward is going to be the next hard job we all face.

Andy

[EBK]

Andy, you snuck the f-word into your posts again.   

...Freedom....

(I'm just having fun.  Not judging your content.)

[Fancy Lime]

Andy, you snuck the f-word into your posts again.   

...Freedom....

(I'm just having fun.  Not judging your content.)

Oops