Rolling Stone: Just before New Year’s, Brian Fallon of the Gaslight Anthem made a decision to cancel the first two weeks of his solo theater and club tour, which had initially been scheduled to start Jan. 11. Given the unknowns of Omicron, it seemed to make sense. Besides, he says, “I thought everyone was doing this.”
3 comments:
I really appreciate how cautious this artist is when it comes to the safety of not only himself but all of his fans. I agree that it is pretty silly to go to such lengths to keep a concert going, I don’t know if having the dogs is worth it honestly. I think there should be a lot more focus on necessary events/travel. This new variant is especially worrying because of how fast it is spreading. I hope that in the long run everyone who is doing their part catches a break. It is exhausting to have to be able to keep adjusting plans. This artist is certainly doing his part and we can only hope that his fans will understand. It is incredibly important to be flexible in times like this because of how easily they can change. Everything the artists in this article do to continue to prioritize safety is inspiring.
It seems like Fallon certainly made the prudent choice to cancel the first two weeks of his tour, especially given the skyrocketing rates of infection. This has made me wonder: with how many people are getting Covid, would having concerts specifically for those who have a positive test be something that’s feasible? While at first glance it may seem irresponsible, if everyone is already infected, what would be the difference between this and isolation housing? One immediate hurdle would be staff: they would understandably have no interest in working somewhere with Covid positive people, so would they also have to test positive? As the Omicron variant spreads with incredible speed, and (hopefully) reaches its peak within the coming days or weeks, we’ll have to rethink our virus response measures and come up with ones that reflect how widespread the new virus is, as well as account for its lesser severity.
Something that immediately struck me in this article is the mention of “dogs trained to sniff out Covid”. This is the first time I am hearing of this concept, and I am surprised of that as I do feel I am up to date on most precautions that are able to be taken to prevent the spread of Covid. This article also makes a lot of good points about minimizing how many people travel place to place with the main tour “bubble” such as cancelling opening acts. I can see how this relates to the theatre industry as well because I am sure many touring shows are also having issues with personnel and drivers since, to my understanding, these shows pack up everything to be transported on the road. Although going through similar technical problems, protecting performers from covid is a little different in both industries as concerts tend to have fewer people on stage and that ratio to the size of the stage is much larger than a musical, for example.
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