The Concert

In another step back to normalcy, I went to a concert -- an actual indoor concert -- for the first time since the pandemic.

Jungle, a soul/R&B/dance/electronic outfit of two White producers from England.  I've heard a few of their songs on The Current, and I liked them, and they were playing in St. Paul, and it's a Sunday so street parking is free, so I went.  Great show.  Glad the other guy spoke up during the encore; up till then I was getting the feeling he wasn't friendly.

So I went despite having reservations.  This is the next step up, so to speak, in coronavirus risk.  I have been to fairly packed restaurants and ate indoors.  But a full-fledged concert, in a theater, with thousands (it wasn't sold out, but a lot of people were there) screaming at the top of their lungs -- and most of them not wearing masks?

I thought about not going.  But you have to step out of your house at some point, and risk assessment has to be on a spectrum.  Could some people say I'm foolish or even stupid for going to a concert in a state that, right now, is getting hit by the coronavirus worse than every other state in the union?  Yes, and if I get the 'Rona, they'd be right.  I'm not an anti-masker/vaxxer.  But I wanted to get back to normal.  And I wanted to see these guys.  And I got a discount on a ticket at StubHub.  So I went.

Also, I decided to break out the N95 mask, the ones I bought when the air was dangerous.  There is emerging evidence (although I would not count it as scientific consensus, no matter what this Atlantic article wants to say) that they are better than cloth masks, but I have eschewed using them again -- till now.  The close quarters and the loud expulsions of breath made me think that I need to break out the, um, heavy-duty masks and not just the ones everyone uses.  If the N95 also protects me from other people (instead of just the other way around for cloth masks), then I should be protected from concertgoers last night.

Actually, I was more perturbed by these two dudes who sat both behind and to the left of the seat I got in the balcony.  I moved away from them (and partly to move around to the music), only to be shushed back to my seat by the usher.  Hey, the couple in front of me aren't standing at their seats; why don't you tell them to go back?  Whatever.  Those two burly dudes wouldn't move despite open seating in other areas.  It's damn uncomfortable to be at a soul/R&B/dance/electronic concert and have these two bears watch right next to you, you know?

I had initially thought about forgoing my actual seat and stand in the General Admission area on the floor for Jungle from the get go.  The seats were closer to the stage and I would have a clear view of it without some tall dude standing in front of me, however.  But then, after all the crap I had to deal with upstairs, I went back downstairs, stood in the back, and did my best to move my head around the dancing guy in front of me.  And I was able to most of the time, and so I enjoyed the concert from there -- mask on.

I'll need to get tested.  Hope it comes back negative.