Ep 27 What’s a band to do??
On a plane headed to Jamaica. Wasn’t sure if this trip was going to happen with the way things have been lately.
Just when it looked like things might be heading in the right direction…..OMICRON!!!!!!! It has thrown the whole world for a loop and nobody is not affected. It has certainly had a big effect on both my business and personal life.
I was so excited that my kids were finally able to be vaccinated. Being under 12, it has been a tough go for them and it certainly caused us to live a little differently than we would have with vaccinated children. So much to look forward to after the jabs. The day we knew when precisely 14 days after their 2nd shot would be, we started to schedule stuff. Family get togethers, friends over for dinner for the first time in nearly 2 years and ……WHAM!!!!!!!! Everybody take a step back
We still had the friends over and still did the Thanksgiving dinner with family, but now we ate our meals in separate rooms and reconvened, masked, in the living room for conversation and games afterwards. Not exactly what we were planning and looking forward to, but better than nothing, I suppose. The important thing right now is being able to adapt.
That has been true for the band, as well. We made it through a pretty nice late November/early December run and came out on the healthy side. Everybody made it home safe to spend the holidays with family. As we watched so many bands cancel their New Years runs, we could see the writing on the wall, but of course didn’t want to accept it. That run is a big one, financially speaking and traditionally, gets us into the next year with a little cushion to operate with. Losing that could spell financial disaster for the company.
Not an easy decision to make, and much debate followed. Since we all live in different places, the majority of our communication is through email and I can tell you that in the days leading up to Xmas there were literally hundreds of them going back and forth. It really was all consuming.
-The fans want us to play
The fans want us to cancel
I want to play
I don’t want to play
Is it safe for us to play?
Is it irresponsible for us to play???
Can we afford not to play?
You get the picture????We were leaning towards cancelling- knowing it was the right thing to do, but it might break the company. Tough tough choices
“Luckily”, the decision was made for us- we had a few positives in the traveling party so that put the kibosh on things real quick. Minor symptoms at most, and now everybody is ok.
It sounds weird, but it was easier to have the decision made for us, than having to make the right decision even though it would directly affect our livelihood.
So “we will get by” but that led to a whole other set of questions?
“What do we do about Jamaica?”
All of the same issues as before, but now throw in international travel and possible quarantines if we test positive over there. Not too mention it is not entirely our decision, as we partner with Island Gigs on this adventure.
Again we went back and forth, but in the end decided to go for it and here I am on an airplane.
We’re some fans who wanted it cancelled happy?—NO
Is it a risk for us and the fans who chose to go?? Of course
Will it be different than years past? I hope so, but I mean that only in the way of people making smart choices while we are there and doing their best to insure that we all get home healthy and on time.
It is Jamaica, so Relax, no worries, no problems mon. Let’s enjoy. Talk soon!!!
PS- Jamaica was a blast, albeit a bit different. Perfect weather, respectful fans and the people of Jamaica are taking this very seriously in order to maintain their tourist industry. We only had handful of positives out of 500+ people and nobody had anything more than minor symptoms, so I guess that can be called a success. Onward and Upward!!