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Concerts in a time of plague
Aug. 13th, 2022 09:45 am I feel like I should be posting about more important things, like Salman Rushdie (holy fuck) or Doug Ford (more of a holy fuck than people are willing to admit b/c we are all in denial), and I think I will, but those are each more lengthy and thoughtful posts than I can manage right now.
So in the meantime, I have been going to shows again. This is a huge big deal for me, as 1) concerts, in the Before Times, were one of the only things that got me through life, 2) I have been utterly terrified to go to a concert, and 3) no way I would go to a concert without a tightly fitting mask, but the tighter the mask, the more it hurts, so I wasn't sure I would even be able to enjoy the experience.
The first thing I attended in the Covid Era (I refuse to fall for the propaganda that we're in a post-covid era) was a very lovely performance of Swan Lake with a mask and vaccination policy and quite remote seats. Then two comedy shows, Hannah Gadsby and Henry Rollins (did you know Henry Rollins did comedy? he's very funny). And then I took the plunge and saw Rage Against the Machine, which was a huge big show with most people unmasked, but it was also in a giant cavernous space and I emerged, miraculously, unscathed.
I've worked out a thing where the masks that are slightly too small for my face and pull at my ear are bearable if I wrap a piece of foam around one of the earpieces. It's weird and unwieldy but it reduces the pain enough that I can, in fact, enjoy myself.
So this week was Concert Week, wherein my friends and I saw three shows in five days. Ahaha. Look, I'm making up for lost time.
Monday was Elvis Costello, who I have never seen play before. Nick Lowe, who wrote one song you know about and a bunch of others that you've heard before, was the opener. Elvis Costello is such a strange artist—he's hard to pin down in a particular genre but he rocks many of them—and writes such weird, interesting songs, and it was an awesome show.
Tuesday was Orville Peck. You've heard me rant about Orville Peck before. I am very grateful that he exists because I think with many of us, we hit a certain age and we can appreciate new artists but we don't bond with them emotionally in the same way that we do as teenagers. But Orville Peck proves that isn't true for me. His songs live rent-free in my head and grip me emotionally in the way it felt when I discovered a new artist as a kid. I think I've seen him every time he's played Toronto—the first time at the Monarch Tavern, before he'd really worked out his stage performance and the sound engineers had worked out the acoustics. This time he played Massey Hall in a space that actually is worthy of his voice. And he's such a mesmerizing performer. Also it was his 6-year-old niece's birthday, so he paused a song so that we could all sing "Happy Birthday" to her and he gave her a rose, which basically made my heart explode.
Last night, Friday, was Peter Hook and the Light. In the Before Times, every year my friends and I used to go to see him play at the Danforth Music Hall. He generally does one set of New Order songs, one set of Joy Division songs. I love New Order but Joy Division is baked into the very fabric of my being and cannot be detached from the rest of my personality. So he ended up opening with a short set of New Order songs (mostly with his guitarist singing) and then two sets of Joy Division, which was almost their entire discography.
Definitely a scarier scene than the Massey Hall shows for me—general admission, and a smaller space. But it also meant that I got to dance for the first time in three years. I hope I didn't get sick from it but also I really think there is something in me that needs to dance to Joy Division songs or I wither up and die inside, because I feel better than I have in ages.
If you are interested, the best mask compliance (still not great) was at Orville Peck. I think maybe because a lot of his audience are gay men and they know from plagues? And also because he quite famously wore a mask before it was cool, and there is literally nothing stopping Peckerheads from attaching beads and fringes to their masks, which is a great idea and why didn't I think of that? Gonna do it next time. I was a little shocked at how few people at either Elvis Costello or Peter Hook were masked. Look, if you even know who either of them are, you have at least one underlying condition for covid. Trust me on this.
I too would very much like to go back to shows and not even have to think about it and feel free. But in the meantime this is loads better than how it was for a very long time.
So in the meantime, I have been going to shows again. This is a huge big deal for me, as 1) concerts, in the Before Times, were one of the only things that got me through life, 2) I have been utterly terrified to go to a concert, and 3) no way I would go to a concert without a tightly fitting mask, but the tighter the mask, the more it hurts, so I wasn't sure I would even be able to enjoy the experience.
The first thing I attended in the Covid Era (I refuse to fall for the propaganda that we're in a post-covid era) was a very lovely performance of Swan Lake with a mask and vaccination policy and quite remote seats. Then two comedy shows, Hannah Gadsby and Henry Rollins (did you know Henry Rollins did comedy? he's very funny). And then I took the plunge and saw Rage Against the Machine, which was a huge big show with most people unmasked, but it was also in a giant cavernous space and I emerged, miraculously, unscathed.
I've worked out a thing where the masks that are slightly too small for my face and pull at my ear are bearable if I wrap a piece of foam around one of the earpieces. It's weird and unwieldy but it reduces the pain enough that I can, in fact, enjoy myself.
So this week was Concert Week, wherein my friends and I saw three shows in five days. Ahaha. Look, I'm making up for lost time.
Monday was Elvis Costello, who I have never seen play before. Nick Lowe, who wrote one song you know about and a bunch of others that you've heard before, was the opener. Elvis Costello is such a strange artist—he's hard to pin down in a particular genre but he rocks many of them—and writes such weird, interesting songs, and it was an awesome show.
Tuesday was Orville Peck. You've heard me rant about Orville Peck before. I am very grateful that he exists because I think with many of us, we hit a certain age and we can appreciate new artists but we don't bond with them emotionally in the same way that we do as teenagers. But Orville Peck proves that isn't true for me. His songs live rent-free in my head and grip me emotionally in the way it felt when I discovered a new artist as a kid. I think I've seen him every time he's played Toronto—the first time at the Monarch Tavern, before he'd really worked out his stage performance and the sound engineers had worked out the acoustics. This time he played Massey Hall in a space that actually is worthy of his voice. And he's such a mesmerizing performer. Also it was his 6-year-old niece's birthday, so he paused a song so that we could all sing "Happy Birthday" to her and he gave her a rose, which basically made my heart explode.
Last night, Friday, was Peter Hook and the Light. In the Before Times, every year my friends and I used to go to see him play at the Danforth Music Hall. He generally does one set of New Order songs, one set of Joy Division songs. I love New Order but Joy Division is baked into the very fabric of my being and cannot be detached from the rest of my personality. So he ended up opening with a short set of New Order songs (mostly with his guitarist singing) and then two sets of Joy Division, which was almost their entire discography.
Definitely a scarier scene than the Massey Hall shows for me—general admission, and a smaller space. But it also meant that I got to dance for the first time in three years. I hope I didn't get sick from it but also I really think there is something in me that needs to dance to Joy Division songs or I wither up and die inside, because I feel better than I have in ages.
If you are interested, the best mask compliance (still not great) was at Orville Peck. I think maybe because a lot of his audience are gay men and they know from plagues? And also because he quite famously wore a mask before it was cool, and there is literally nothing stopping Peckerheads from attaching beads and fringes to their masks, which is a great idea and why didn't I think of that? Gonna do it next time. I was a little shocked at how few people at either Elvis Costello or Peter Hook were masked. Look, if you even know who either of them are, you have at least one underlying condition for covid. Trust me on this.
I too would very much like to go back to shows and not even have to think about it and feel free. But in the meantime this is loads better than how it was for a very long time.
