To gig or not to gig? (Covid content)

[cetera]

So, a  lot of us are seeing our gigs cancelled by venues or clients due to Corona virus....

But what about any gigs in the near future (next 8-12 weeks) that are NOT being cancelled? How do you feel about them? Do you want to pull them yourself? Are you in a band with people who want to pull them? SHOULD we pull them and make an executive decision? Would you refuse to play?

With Govt 'advice' being so wishy-washy are you feeling like YOU need to make a decision... even if that decision for yourself causes friction within your band or with a venue/client?

Interested to see how we all feel about this strange situation we all find ourselves in.....

[White Cloud]

It's a quandary as it stands however, I'd be inclined to cancel.

I agree that current Govt advice is wishy washy but I think we should all be prepared for that stance to harden significantly over the next 7-14 days.

[Dad3353]

Speaking for France, this is already a non-starter. All gigs are 'off', end of, at least for the next two weeks, and, in all likelihood, for much longer than that. If the UK has not yet announced similar measures, I'd take it as 'said' that it won't be long at all before the same measures are imposed. If there are gigs beyond this coming week-end, I'd say that they are already effectively cancelled. Maybe France is a little bit more hard-line for the moment, but the UK will be, in a very short time, in the same state. Stay at home. Don't go out, at all, except for very specific, essential things, such as getting food or medicines. Gigs..? We'll see about gigs later on, when Summer's passed, I reckon.
Sincerely hope this helps. 

[bertbass]

If the gigs haven't been cancelled, I'll still do them.  I don't think there will be many though.  I feel that there's too much panic and not enough common sense.

[gjones]

Venues are staying open because they have no other choice, at the moment. Mainly because they can't claim on their insurance if they're not ordered by the Government to close.

I have a friend who is playing his, probably last gig for a long time, tonight.

I've decided not to go, as I am visiting a good friend tomorrow, who has a 3 year old boy with asthma. If I passed this virus on to him and there were complications, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

I have a gig on Saturday, which I really want to play, but it's probably 50/50 whether it will go ahead (because the venue may cancel or band members may decide it's not worth the risk).

Update: venue has cancelled as they're closing the bar.

Edited March 18, 2020 by gjones

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

22 minutes ago, gjones said:

 I am visiting a good friend tomorrow, who has a 3 year old boy with asthma. If I passed this virus on to him and there were complications, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

If it was me I would cancel that visit as it is possible to have the virus and be contagious for a week before showing any symptoms.

[phil.c60]

We've cancelled all gigs for a month and we'll roll it on very couple of weeks if or as we need to. If the advice is "don't go to pubs etc." then clearly that includes gigging. A hard thing to do, but slowing the transmission is the only way the NHS can cope. Both my wife and my daughter are in the thick of it, my daughter is at  a major hospital, and my wife as a community nurse who deals with patients currently having Chemotherapy. If I passed something on to her from going out gigging which meant she had to stop work, or worse passed it on to a patient with no or little immune response I'd be beside myself. A few gigs  are just not worth it to me. YMMV.

BTW: The Duke of Wellington, which Mykesbass posted about recently is one of our venues: They've cancelled all gigs for the present with immediate effect.

Edited March 17, 2020 by phil.c60

[Maude]

We've got nothing for the next few weeks now due to cancellations, our next gig is now Looe Scooter Weekender on 16th May but I really don't know how we'll stand as far as rallies and festivals go in the nearish future. 

[alant]

We have cancelled our two upcoming gigs in March. Will probably end up cancelling April as well I think. Hard decision as we all know getting gigs in the first place is difficult.

[EBS_freak]

I’ve just had 15 decent jazz gigs cancelled. I’m bloody livid. That’s 129 quids worth of gig fees I won’t be collecting.

[Chezz55]

2 hours ago, bertbass said:

If the gigs haven't been cancelled, I'll still do them.  I don't think there will be many though.  I feel that there's too much panic and not enough common sense.

I agree with Bertbass.

[Cuzzie]

It’s just not worth it in the big picture - you can ‘hold’ the booking if you wish in the future but it should be in the expectation that it will be cancelled.

More measures have been announced to try to help businesses just tonight.

There is some panic, but there is a load of common sense as well.

It should be taken seriously

[gjones]

4 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

I’ve just had 15 decent jazz gigs cancelled. I’m bloody livid. That’s 129 quids worth of gig fees I won’t be collecting.

I thought, with jazz gigs, you had to pay the venue to let you pay

[Monkey Steve]

I was discussing this with a mate last night - his band usually have a very busy summer festival season, and typically play a few shows across Europe, but fortunately for them they played Portugal a few weeks ago when it was only seen as an issue in Italy, and don't now have another trip lined up until October.  Good for him, but they have no idea what to expect for the rest of the period in between

I think it's worth keeping in mind that the current advice isn't aimed to stop us all getting the virus, but to delay when we all get it.  Most people won't have much beyond minor symptoms, and I suspect that some of us have it at the moment but assume it's the usual seasonal sniffles.  If everybody with a good immune system could get it as soon as possible then that would suit everybody, but unfortunately there's no way to ring fence them without also infecting those who are genuinely at risk of more serious consequences

like @phil.c60 says, the idea is to push it back until the NHS has dealt with the usual winter demand, with the summer being seen as a "better" time for vulnerable people to get it.  This might mean that things are relaxed in a couple of months, when we actively want as many people as possible to get it and develop a herd immunity

Obviously no consolation for those that have lost earnings in the meantime.

Back to the OP's question, and keeping in mind that I don't have any gigs in the diary at the moment, I think it would depend on whether I or a band mate has a compromised immune system (in fact I do, and I've probably been more cavalier about this than I should have been over the last week or so, certainly as regards public transport) or has close contact with somebody who does

 

 

[lou24d53]

We've been forced to pull the plug unfortunately. With one band member who has COPD and is currently on day 2 of self-isolating himself for however long it needs to be and a second who has a four year daughter who's had umpteen heart operations in her short life, it simply wasn't an option for us to continue and take the risk. 

Band wise, it's a real shame as we had some gig lined up, at least 6 between now and June, but common sense prevails and it simply isn't worth the risk to ourselves and our families for the sake of a gig or two.

I'm very conscious typing this though, that the band is a hobby for us, beer money if you like, I fully appreciate the quandary full time musicians who make your living gigging must be in.  

[Cuzzie]

1 hour ago, Monkey Steve said:

I was discussing this with a mate last night - his band usually have a very busy summer festival season, and typically play a few shows across Europe, but fortunately for them they played Portugal a few weeks ago when it was only seen as an issue in Italy, and don't now have another trip lined up until October.  Good for him, but they have no idea what to expect for the rest of the period in between

I think it's worth keeping in mind that the current advice isn't aimed to stop us all getting the virus, but to delay when we all get it.  Most people won't have much beyond minor symptoms, and I suspect that some of us have it at the moment but assume it's the usual seasonal sniffles.  If everybody with a good immune system could get it as soon as possible then that would suit everybody, but unfortunately there's no way to ring fence them without also infecting those who are genuinely at risk of more serious consequences

like @phil.c60 says, the idea is to push it back until the NHS has dealt with the usual winter demand, with the summer being seen as a "better" time for vulnerable people to get it.  This might mean that things are relaxed in a couple of months, when we actively want as many people as possible to get it and develop a herd immunity

Obviously no consolation for those that have lost earnings in the meantime.

Back to the OP's question, and keeping in mind that I don't have any gigs in the diary at the moment, I think it would depend on whether I or a band mate has a compromised immune system (in fact I do, and I've probably been more cavalier about this than I should have been over the last week or so, certainly as regards public transport) or has close contact with somebody who does

 

 

It is not just about winter pressures easing and summer being the best time to deal with it, and herd immunity........don’t go there on that one.

By elongating the phase of people getting it it flattens the peak. Essentially imagine a situation where you had 30 beds available. A massive spike, they are all filled day 1. These people need intensive nursing care for 2-3 weeks at a time. The following day another 30 will need beds - no where to put them, staff at risk etc. And so forth

If you can get them in in 2’s and 3’s and by the time the first ones are better, their beds are available then they can go into that.

Think a babbling brook as opposed to a waterfall.

Its why social distancing and appropriate isolation is important 

[mouthmw]

I'm pretty much counting on having all gigs cancelled until at least June, maybe even July. We've had a busy schedule planned this year, but it's all off now. I didn't have a single weekend (Friday, Saturday) free until May, and probably would have filled that up too, until Covid that is.

[ead]

We have a booking for a private party in a couple of weeks time.  I guess we'll soon know the decision from the client side.  On balance I think the four of would do the gig; we're having practice tonight so maybe we'll discuss.

[Cat Burrito]

We've lost 2 tours, Spain and the UK. Anything in the diary I think will be getting pulled by the venue over the coming few weeks. It's going to take a while to recover from this. Things are so desperate already that one band has even had our rehearsal space pulled!

[gary mac]

My feeling is that we have a moral responsibility to cancel the gigs that are booked in for the next few months. Not sure my band mates are in agreement though.

 

[cetera]

Just now, gary mac said:

My feeling is that we have a moral responsibility to cancel the gigs that are booked in for the next few months. Not sure my band mates are in agreement though.

 

 

This statement is where I was going with my original topic starter post.
I'm feeling like I shouldn't play any gigs until mid-late summer but at the moment that decision is being made by our venues (who, so far, are cancelling/postponing). Not sure how I'll feel if a gig in a month's time still looks like going ahead....

[FinnDave]

We've not had any gigs cancelled yet, but it doesn't look likely that our April, May & June gigs will happen.

[Passinwind]

On 17/03/2020 at 09:00, cetera said:

So, a  lot of us are seeing our gigs cancelled by venues or clients due to Corona virus....

But what about any gigs in the near future (next 8-12 weeks) that are NOT being cancelled? How do you feel about them? Do you want to pull them yourself? Are you in a band with people who want to pull them? SHOULD we pull them and make an executive decision? Would you refuse to play?

With Govt 'advice' being so wishy-washy are you feeling like YOU need to make a decision... even if that decision for yourself causes friction within your band or with a venue/client?

Interested to see how we all feel about this strange situation we all find ourselves in.....

Nothing to think about over here; everything for a while has been cancelled by government mandate. Some venues are just closing permanently right off, but so far it seems to be more restaurants than music venues doing that.

[Nicko]

3 hours ago, mouthmw said:

I'm pretty much counting on having all gigs cancelled until at least June, maybe even July. We've had a busy schedule planned this year, but it's all off now. I didn't have a single weekend (Friday, Saturday) free until May, and probably would have filled that up too, until Covid that is.

We have two gigs coming up in early April, both of which are still "on" according to the venues.  However I visited one of the venues last Friday to see a mates band and the place was empty - and that was before the Govt advice to avoid pubs.

2 hours ago, gary mac said:

My feeling is that we have a moral responsibility to cancel the gigs that are booked in for the next few months. Not sure my band mates are in agreement though.

 

I think the opposite.  We have a moral responsibility to fulfil our promise to the venue.  However, I'm hoping the venues will cancel because if they don't our self preservation and social responsibility will trump our responsibility to our client.  

[gary mac]

2 hours ago, cetera said:

 

This statement is where I was going with my original topic starter post.
I'm feeling like I shouldn't play any gigs until mid-late summer but at the moment that decision is being made by our venues (who, so far, are cancelling/postponing). Not sure how I'll feel if a gig in a month's time still looks like going ahead....

Who knows how long this is going to go on, or which venues will survive.