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Uh Oh - Maybe This Stupid Coronavirus is Having an Effect on Audience Numbers

I hear you. I would do the same. If I am playing for someone else, I Would be a trooper and follow. But - I would also being verbalizing what I think is the right thing to do. Stay healthy and safe.
If we were expecting a large crowd, I would probably be making more noise. I feel like I am walking a tightrope. Our local venues are really struggling; several of the club owners are friends, also, and I know they are having a hard time with this. But I feel like a small gathering at a local pub with 25 people who are there all night probably is less exposure than the trips we make to the grocery store, which have had far more visitors in any given day. So there's risk, but perhaps not as much as I might fear. The whole thing is just hard to wrap your head around.
 
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Hello All,

Please note that several duplicate threads concerning this important subject have been merged and moved to Band Management. I and other Moderators will be watching this pretty closely, we expect it to stay on topic (that is how this may be affecting you and your band) and be respectful as well as free from politics.

Thank you,
Veronica
 
Older crowd ... could be they lost a good chunk of their net worth last week in the stock markets and aren't feeling spendy?
Its only lost if you sell. Never have figured out why people freak over the market. If you sit on it, it will come back at some point. And if you're waiting on retirement then most likely you're going to be sitting on it anyway.

Now if you're trying make money by buying and selling all the time, yeah, you could be in a hurt right now.

The flip side is right now is definitely a buyers market.
 
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Its only lost if you sell. Never have figured out why people freak over the market. If you sit on it, it will come back at some point. And if you're waiting on retirement then most likely you're going to be sitting on it anyway.

Yep!

Now if you're trying make money by buying and selling all the time, yeah, you could be in a hurt right now.

Yes, but in that case you might as well just take a trip to Vegas and shove all your money into the slot machines. It's gambling, not investing.
 
Yep!



Yes, but in that case you might as well just take a trip to Vegas and shove all your money into the slot machines. It's gambling, not investing.
True, but if you know what you're doing, your odds are still better with the market than a slot machine. And the past week with it's up and downs has presented a lot of opportunities to make a some quick cash.
 
Switzerland here. Our government issued a ban of all events with more than 100 people involved (i.e. including band members, staff, security etc.) yesterday, until 30 April, with the option of an extension. So this basically means no gigs at all until then, because nobody books a band that draws less than 100 people anyways.

This is an adjustment of a former ban – prior to yesterday, it was events up to a 1000 people that weren’t allowed anymore. We already had cancellations even with smaller bands back then, mostly by US artists. They were afraid that the US might induce harsher travel restrictions than they already have for Schengen states, and that they couldn’t get home once their tour was over. Unfounded fears as far as we can say today, but well, understandable that they’d be cautious. Who knows what sorts of additional travel bans the US might impose in the future.

I’m a freelance photo reporter in my main job, mostly doing event reporting, concert photography etc.. I’ve lost eight assignments in the past 48h. I can cope, lots of my colleagues and small businesses associated with events in general (catering, convention carpenters etc.) cannot. And event locations struggle lots, some might need to close down for good.

That’s about two “serious” weeks in. And it’s expected to peak in the next 7-10 days around here. Most experts expect a second, harder-hitting wave in October though, and perhaps a third wave come next January. So yeah, at least in central Europe, you better don’t budget with just a few weeks of lost income due to cancelled gigs in mind. This may well keep us all occupied for a lot longer than the common seasonal flu. Not due to hysteria or panicky news broadcasts I may add. But because the whole situation actually really is not a great thing to get hit with.
 
Its only lost if you sell. Never have figured out why people freak over the market. If you sit on it, it will come back at some point. And if you're waiting on retirement then most likely you're going to be sitting on it anyway.

Now if you're trying make money by buying and selling all the time, yeah, you could be in a hurt right now.

The flip side is right now is definitely a buyers market.
Well, my husband just retired and I am planning to retire in about a year, so sitting on it is not totally an option for us. But we are being frugal about what we do and trying to avoid dipping in right now if at all possible.
 
I can't make the call on mine. It's up to either the venue or the LS who booked the show. We are her backing band. If she wants to move forward, I feel like we have to do that.

Yes, that's a tough call. You want to be professional and keep your comittment but you want to balance the risk.

In this case though, IMO, you shouldn't feel like you're forced to play. Ultimately this is your choice, and you could influence the LS into a decision.

I have as feeling that we will know in a week or so whether we are being too cautious now, as this will subside, or not being cautious enough as this thing explodes.

Best wishes with whichever way you choose.
 
Well, my husband just retired and I am planning to retire in about a year, so sitting on it is not totally an option for us. But we are being frugal about what we do and trying to avoid dipping in right now if at all possible.
Yeah you're kind of in a precarious situation, but hopefully not for long. Leaving it alone as much as possible for now is definitely the best thing to do.
 
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We cancelled tonight's gig a few hours ago. I initiated it after my S.O. begged me not to go tonight. The band discussed it this morning via FB messenger. My BL, who more than the rest of us is depends on gig money, announced on fb that she was cancelling the show. That's leadership, friends. I feel like I did the right thing, but I"m also miserable right now. What are we going to do? If the band is anything, we are in the social contact business. For five years, we've built up this whole community of people for whom we are (well...have been) regular weekend entertainment. Now I'm afraid it's all going to go to pieces, and it was me who made the first crack. Again, I think I did the right thing, but at the moment it is cold comfort. Cocktail hour is going to come early tonight.
You did the right thing. I had a long chat with a friend today who is at Gates Foundation, virology background, working on a bunch of models based on spread, containment, trail of diagnosis/knowledge vs actual infection date, etc. in no uncertain terms, she told me “the sh%t is very real”. We’re in NYC area and she had a cold and can’t find a COVID test either.....

so yes, while the vector dynamic is the bigger issue at the moment, and the modeling suggests more vulnerable patients are going to have issues over the foreseeable future. She has reason to believe that the 100k flu deaths in the US per annum will be surpassed by the time this is done (model suggests we look more like Italy than S. Korea...). I’m in biotech and a number of us have been contacted about testing our technology for treatment and prophylaxis (cell vector in my case).

so long story short, plan ahead, hunker down, 20sec of warm soapy water as often as possible, and always after being at grocery, etc, Purell for when you are out without sink/soap access. And yes, hot soapy water is better than Purell. If you have any respiratory weakness or other history, are above 65, etc, take very good care of yourself, (strongly) consider a flu and pneumococcal vaccine.
Gates has some high quality info on their site as to latest and greatest knowledge.
 
I just had two shows cancelled because of this, but I'm honestly not 100% sure what you are asking. Are shows being cancelled? yup, lots. Are some of us noticing it? Yup, lots of us.

Should probably just turn this into a poll if you aren't after any other discussion on it. I mean, there is lots of other stuff to talk about before you actually get to the point where it is a political discussion with links to statistical websites. Definitely some gray in there.
I'd thought about a poll, but I was really interested in the brief narratives. The poll would likely have been a split between "middle 3" categories, maybe with a slight positive skew (ie, leaning toward weak effect side).

Things seemed to worsen dramatically in the past few days. My small company joined the many in Massachusetts who are working from home. We still hope our next gig in 6 weeks won't be canceled, but we're living in times of social distancing (which this ex-scientist applauds). Not exactly conducive to going to a bar to dance to a band!

As a serious hobbyist, the C-note-ish payment isn't worth the risk of getting myself or family sick. I feel for those who rely on gig income.
 
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Central PA here. Just had a nice corporate gig canceled in Pittsburgh for end of April. Problem is lots of folks coming into town now dealing with travel issues.

Played a pub gig last night - marginally attended ... awaiting word on Tuesday’s St. Patty’s gig.

I’ve always lived by “the show must go on” but here we are.

Had to drive to Philly today to get our kid from college - classes canceled for the semester. Crazy times.
 
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Hi,

Just marking myself safe. ;)

corona-charmin-bear.jpg


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Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
OK so Friday night numbers were down as people stayed home but it was still a decent audience, actually compared to the rest of the club it was huge.
Events over 500 have been cancelled, we have next Saturday with 250 pre-sold tickets so that’s still on.
I have a feeling that next month may be cancelled but no word yet. Australia hasn’t seen the top of the curve with this yet so it’s hard to tell what will happen here, keep you posted.
 
A NYC situation report from a bartender. As a member of a stinky little bar band, I usually pay attention to what bartenders have to say. So I hope the mods will accept this. I think it directly connects to the topic of cancellation. Here's a quote:

"It’s within this context — widespread economic precarity being just barely staved off under the best of circumstances — that we must understand Mayor De Blasio’s decision not to fully close nonessential businesses. It would create massive poverty & hardship immediately, on a city-wide scale.

Still, anyone wandering the streets of a New York borough last night — an unseasonably warm early March Friday night — had to notice that basically no bars or restaurants were even making an effort to pretend to be following the new seating capacity requirements. And it’s not hard to understand why — these bars & restaurants are simply not designed to survive at max-half-capacity. It’s a death sentence in slow-motion."

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