"Everybody stay away from us. We've quarantined, and want to perform a show"
Members of local band Milfoil discussed having to sing in their masks for the “micro-show” they hosted late August while practicing beforehand. “We’ll be away from the group… and we’ve quarantined together for the most part” Said singer Joe Wiley
The current mandate from New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is the standard indoor-room capacity is halved. This requirement was subverted by the venue as member Alex Wentworth works at a local farm. Audience members were brought in from the side of the building and the band stayed within the barn doors all night.
The large open field made for a wide open floorspace for the limited number of attendees, nobody was allowed inside the house or barn. With 18 people total, including the farm owners, all sitting apart on blankets or beach towels in the field.
At practice, the band may have joked about their worries but when it came time to load their gear into the cars it was nothing short of brute seriousness. Each member was dealing with their own equipment, even while loading in and out. The biggest variable would be the crowd, which as friends began to show up in group no larger than 3, the worry began to settle. Each person was given a run down on group spacing and to not interact with the animals.
The sparce crowd felt like a full house, even with the social distancing and carpool grouping. Funnily enough the biggest fear for any musician became the bands greatest hope for the audience: as few people as possible.
“Life got put on hold for this year… It felt good to safely bring people together for a quick show,” said drummer Jack Hellman, “we’ve been trying to figure out a proper time to release new music all summer. And we shot a pre-quarantine music video that we just don’t feel comfortable releasing right now.”
The audience adhered to the “stick with your group” rule, many of them there to support Milfoil in any way, looking forward to their new songs Milfoil gave a sneak peek. “I keep thinking about what the next show we play will look like, and that leads to me thinking when that will even be” Said bassist Josh Giaquinto.
With large-scale shows like the Sturgis Smash Mouth rally bringing a stigma to the idea that bands can perform safely it clear to see the general reaction to the pandemic is hurting artists abilities to perform. Less time to practice and more time is dedicated to making sure they’re following guidelines and being safe.
The main idea for “testing the venue” is eventually this could be a way to raise money for both the band and local farm. “Keeping the pandemic in mind I’m just glad to be able to support my friends,” said Owen Scannel, roommate of Milfoils’ Peter Borzellino.
“I know a few other bands who are in limbo, motivation is hard to come by now.” Said Borzellino, “we had to really fight the stress and mental health roadblocks COVID brought up.”
Each member of the band stated at one point they felt their last show in March was going to be their last as a group though now they want to share the hope they feel for the future with their friends in the crowd.
“When I heard there was a show, I knew I was going to go,” said attendee Brenden Cerone. “I hope the goats enjoyed the show, we couldn’t pet them or anything which was a minus” Cerone continued, going to show that the pandemic clearly came with unforeseen downsides.
In September as the mentality towards the pandemic shifted towards “anti-masking” the longer restrictions were kept in place bands like Milfoil find it harder to organize. Now there must be an unprecedented amount of cooperation between the audience, artists, and venue owners to ensure everyone’s safety. Limited audiences or not, concerts will never be the same.
With no clear end to the current pandemic the members of Milfoil and bands like them are finding new ways to perform and promote themselves as safely as possible. Slightly detaching the band from the audience (and the audience having to be spaced as well) helped lock everyone’s focus on the performance, which was very well received.
“Thank you everyone for coming out, normally we would condone moshing but the distance is looking good out there,” joked guitarist Alex Wentworth as audience members, finding time in between songs to remind people of the situation and to not get complacent even after the show.
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