A Gig During A Pandemic

I might have had my only gig of 2020. Last weekend was the only gig that had not been canceled so far. A gig during a pandemic is no small thing. Will it be safe? Will there be an audience?

When I arrived several of my band mates were all ready there. Of course we were all wearing masks. This was an outside gig under a tent in a field with plenty of room for the audience to be distanced. However it quickly became apparent that the stage was to small for our big band to feel comfortable. This is were talking to the event organizers and stage crew becomes necessary. If you approach this with a positive attitude, and respect for the hard work these people do, most will be more than accommodating. After talking with them we were able to move our saxophone section in front of the stage on the grass. This allowed enough room on stage for our brass and rhythm section to distance, and plenty of room in front of the stage for our sax section to feel comfortable. In between tunes we kept our masks handy. Will we be able to do more concerts like this in the future? That is yet to be determined. We had a nice audience, that I thought for the most part respected mask wearing and distancing. I think this could be a model moving forward as we learn to live with Covid-19. I will say it was stressful getting setup, and worrying how the group would play. Our rehearsal time has been very limited. However, our group played very well and that audience was very enthusiastic. It was nice to be able to play live in front of an audience!