The future is unclear regarding large-scale concerts. Perhaps meet-and-greets will come with a bottle of hand sanitizer or a mask with the artist's logo, if they continue to happen at all. Either way, Covid-19 is determined to be here to stay. So how do humans in the music scene combat the Coronavirus?
Do we rush back to freedom in public with no concern for the health of others? Do we take things gradually or ignore the opportunity to return altogether until it's deemed 100 percent safe to do so? Do metalheads practice the defiance and rebelliousness our music stands for in times of adversity and make their own rules?
The turning point toward abnormal in this country, arguably, came March 11 when Utah Jazz All-Star forward Rudy Gobert tested positive, causing that night's game at the Oklahoma City Thunder to be canceled moments before tip-off. The NBA shut down its season later that evening, and it was revealed Gobert touched several reporter microphones in jest earlier that week at one of the team's pressers. The remaining sports leagues were knocked down like dominoes, and the concert scene soon followed.
Since the state finals of the Wacken Metal Battle on March 14 in Austin that saw Austin band Hanna Barakat defeat five artists to advance to the national finals May 9 in Los Angeles, live music and bar socializing has disappeared and is only now beginning to crawl again. The national final and Wacken festival in Germany as a whole were no exception, denying not only Hanna Barakat the possible opportunity to perform at metal’s largest annual festival before roughly 80,000 but causing a ripple effect in general.
"After the Wacken Battle, we took a few weeks off to see how the virus closures would pan out," says Valkyrie vocalist Joe Gregory, whose band advanced out of the Feb. 8 regionals at Fitzgerald's, came up short against Hanna Barakat at the state competition, and last week released single "Submissive Decay" and has a video shoot scheduled for it at the end of June. "With that momentum, we’re going to keep writing new music."
Valkyrie was also supposed to play in Chicago on May 15. Drummer Rich Gomez, who like bassist Albert Kelly plies most of his musical trade with Under No One but was recruited to round out Valkyrie's lineup with Gregory and original guitarist Scott Stine, acknowledges he's still having a hard time adjusting.
"I've been out of retirement for over six years playing with Under No One," Gomez says. "Rehearsals every weekend was pretty much a normal routine. We didn’t schedule too many live shows, but the option was always there. (Valkyrie) would get together almost every Tuesday for rehearsal, (but) now going on three-plus months, everything has stopped! It’s just hard to grasp. My day job has been on a 24-hour around-the-clock schedule. It was a big adjustment for a while, (I) had to rearrange my studio office since my wife is working from home, so my studio became her office. I am pretty much stuck in the garage with a makeshift workspace. It took me almost a month after my last live show to get a kit set up where I could at least get some practice in whenever I got a break from work."
In the 2 1/2 months since the Wacken Metal Battle, everyone has been itching to get back. But while the number of Covid-19 cases slightly increases daily in Bexar County and surrounding areas, the realization that the job force and economy's reopening must get underway sooner than later has tested not only our checking and savings accounts but also our mental fortitude. Easter saw church services being conducted virtually. Now, with this weekend's Memorial Day being the second major holiday since the outbreak and the first to mark the road to recovery, albeit at 25 percent capacity in bars and 50 percent in restaurants, the eagerness in many is bursting at the seams.
"At first it was partying and doing acoustic videos online, but as stuff got worse, it became quite clear -- now is the time to get shit done," says the namesake, singer and guitarist of Jason Kane & The Jive. "We've been writing new songs like crazy and will start releasing singles and new videos for our page of livestream videos and live shows for however long this lasts and continue to do so even after this passes. This definitely put a kabosh on (our) upcoming tour to Chicago and tours planned throughout the year and our CD release for our third album Soggy Noggin, but we're still pushing the new album online like crazy. The rock stops for no one."
One of the hardest working artists in San Antonio since prior to 2008, The Heroine has had to weather the shutdown and the challenges the virus has brought forth while trying to transition to a return to playing live without knowing when that will be.
"One of our band members works in close proximity to people who are susceptible to spread this disease, and we have those in the band that are expecting, so we have pretty much shut everything down until we feel a little bit safer to be around each other," The Heroine bassist Wes "Guhlie" Vargulish says. "Our last show was on Feb 20. This has been the longest period of time that we have gone without playing a show, or rehearsing, for that matter. We’ve already had to cancel tours in June (and) July, and August is very questionable as it’s scheduled for the West Coast. In that regard, it’s been a little demoralizing. So for a band like ours that thrives on playing locally and touring, it’s been a real test of our resolve as a band. The positive side of all this is that it’s gotten everyone the ability to spend more time with their family. A lot of people don’t realize what the wives and family go through when dealing with a band. There’s a lot of frustration involved because they have to deal with the missed date nights, birthdays etc. I think once we get on the other side of this shutdown, I feel most people will appreciate live music a little more. Honestly, I think this magnifies the importance of live music; it’s such a cathartic thing."
A cautious, arguably realistic, approach is palpable in some.
"We will need to have a door person to count and sanitize hands of each person upon entrance per city's recommendations," says Dirce Eguia, co-owner of Bonds 007 Rock Bar downtown with her husband John Eguia. "The venue may open when we get to 50 percent, but only for local shows. At only 25 percent, we could only have 30 people plus our staff and bands, which is not enough to break even. Tribute shows will be canceled and not booked until we are at 100 percent. Who knows when that will be? We applied and received the payroll and disaster loans from the government. It will only be enough to pay my managers and 2 months rent. Our managers are still working -- cleaning, painting. The scary part is the reopen. With the fear that everyone has regarding the virus, it will be slow getting people out again. I would guess it may be 9 months after opening, just to get back to normal. Not sure how we will survive, but if anyone can do it, it will be Bonds. We have great regular customers that will eventually come back. Bands are really wanting to play. We are cancelling them as we go along, just hoping to finally say, 'Let's do the show.' "
Some emphasize the optimistic side of the spectrum.
"I’m very thankful to still be able to teach guitar via Skype and eliminate driving," says Aeternal Requiem singer, guitarist and band founder Austin Zettner, whose group recently released a documentary of its travels to Finland to record Rise with producer Anssi Kippo. "The extra time at home allows me to focus like never before. I hurt for the venues and gigging musicians whose livelihoods have been more affected than mine. I’m hoping that we come out of this soon, more hungry and inspired for great music than before!"
Bobby Jarzombek, drummer for Fates Warning and Sebastian Bach, says an eight-week North American tour with Bach had already been rescheduled for October and November before its original start date of March 13 had been axed.
"Sebastian's agent put it together that quickly," says Jarzombek, who played a local gig last night with Robert Demel at Max's Roadhouse in Spring Branch. "Instead of 33 shows, it's 31 shows, so we recovered just about all the dates if it still happens in October. So that's still the 'if' thing. I started on the Fates Warning record in late November after I got home from the Sebastian tour that we had previously done in 2019. I was able to finish that record and get a decent sized chunk of money for it, you know, at least something to where I'm not being killed right now like some people are -- (the ones that are) playing live music exclusively or didn't have anything else. But still, I'm not in a great position by any means."
Fates Warning singer and fellow San Antonio native Ray Alder has lived in Spain, one of the hardest-hit nations, for a few years. He slept in a recording studio for two weeks while completing vocals for the group's upcoming, as yet untitled, album.
"From what he tells me, they put restrictions on people in a vehicle," Jarzombek says of Alder's nation of residence. "You could have two people in a vehicle at one time if one of them was a child and the person riding, but not, like, two adults. Same with people walking down the street. If a mother was walking a child, you could do that. Or a father. But other than that, it had to be one person walking down the street to the store."
Even the old saying, or Cinderella song, "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" applies for some.
"I really do miss all the live music. I had no idea it was that much a part of my life," says Wall Of Soul guitarist and The Edge Rock Radio concert photographer Allan Linkous. "No rehearsal, no shows. Had to cancel a few. Luckily, Wall Of Soul doesn't rely on that small bit of money to survive. We got signed to an independent label at the end of last year. I haven't really taken many photos of anything lately. Wall Of Soul has a show on June 13 in Houston. Let's see if that happens."
Covid-19 has also brought out numerous tales of touching moments in the midst of surviving a pandemic, particularly among frontline workers. Even those such instances have affected the metal community. Tim "Ripper" Owens, vocalist of K.K.’s Priest, A New Revenge, Charred Walls Of The Damned, The Three Tremors, Spirits Of Fire and formerly of Judas Priest, Iced Earth and Yngwie Malmsteen who last played here two years ago with Dio Disciples in Live Oak, saw girlfriend and paramedic Leilani Williams-LeMonier leave their Ohio home for the nation's Covid-19 epicenter of New York. She returned after 42 days, and Owens' cell-phone video capturing the emotional reaction of her three children was featured on "ABC World News Tonight with David Muir." Ironically, Muir referred to the unidentified Owens as “the voice” behind that clip (the ABC News version can be seen on Owens’ Twitter account).
Although each passing day brings a date with the unknown for everyone, the metal scene is doing all it can to prepare, even brace for, what it’s diving into. Because it has to try. For the community. For our sanity. For the survival of those directly impacted economically. And so tonight at Fitzgerald's, the Memorial Day Metalfest scheduled for 5 p.m. will mark the unofficial original live-music start to when phrases such as "social distancing," "the new normal" and "virtual reality" will be kicked in the ass and sent straight to the abyss.
"The bands that survived this storm have leaned to be more resilient, more creative and more accessible to their fans," says Sean Nations, vocalist for Metalfest artist Even In Death. "Fans have peeked behind the curtain and hopefully come to know the band better. The strong and focused will find ways to overcome!”
