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So six months ago, on March 6th, I showed up to work at @MetroChicago and had several conversations with coworkers about COVID and what was beginning to happen around the country.
we were already coughing into our elbows, sanitizing and washing our hands incessantly and trying to get adjusted to what would become a daily ritual in the next few weeks.
That weekend I bopped around town, as I would, hitting shows and bars and restaurants, even playing a show out of town with my band at the time. People were starting to get worried, but nothing in Chicago was leading us to believe we would get to the point Seattle / New York were
On March 8th I quit smoking, breaking half a pack of Camels in half and running them under the faucet. The data was showing COVID was attacking respiratory systems and I thought no way in hell was I gonna keep up my habit of sneaking cigs after shows just to get a nic fix
That week we spend the majority of our time creating, editing, revising and sending out safety guideline documents to the city, our aldermen and the state, thinking that hiring extra cleaning staff and disinfecting handrails was going to solve the problem and keep folks safe
On March 12th @everytimeidie @BandofNOTHING and more played the last show @MetroChicago would see for what is about to be six months. The very next day everything would begin to fall completely apart.
Metro had a @drivebytruckers show booked for the 13th of March that was moved to September 12th. The consensus being that all this COVID nonsense would be *well* behind us by then, and mid-September would be a great date for the band.
Now I& #39;m sitting here, at my desk in Kansas City, writing this thread about how COVID has absolutely fucked the live music industry and looking through old emails at Metro thinking "how naive we were to think everything would be alright by the Fall"
This pandemic has put countless friends of mine out of work. It has killed nearly 200THOUSAND people and continues to be a divisive topic in the US. You add on racial injustices, unemployment benchmarks and general civil unrest and you best believe we& #39;re looking at history
I want to go to shows again. I want to get drunk in a bar with my friends, take a cab to a 4am taco joint and walk home and fall asleep on my couch watching Frasier reruns, but that& #39;s not in the cards if people don& #39;t stop being selfish and start being compassionate
We have to be better to each other. We have to be teammates. We can& #39;t fight like this forever.
