Sky Blue Sky Festival

[kidsmoke]

2 hours ago, Boss_Tweedy said:

I'm not going to SBS, but I do have COVID (probably - I have an appointment for testing later this week) and signed the petition. Hope it works out for everyone. I'm pretty sure I have Omicron, and this stuff is spreading like wildfire!

 

Thanks for your empathy, Jon! I hope all your symptoms are mild. 

[kidsmoke]

On 1/2/2022 at 7:43 PM, Sandoz said:

And @kidsmoke have you made a final decision yet? You in or out? I am still undecided ---- I actually think that Omicron still has a very healthy chance of showing Cloud 9 who's boss here. Two weeks is a long ways away...just think it was only FIVE WEEKS AGO that this variant was first identified in South Africa....

 

Sorry for my slow response Judy...it's been so hard making this decision, but I'm almost certainly out. Things aren't trending in the right direction. Airlines aren't keeping up with covid staff shortages, testing facilities are also struggling with covid related staffing shortages... so many issues at once, not even counting Covid itself. Common sense says don't travel. 

 

Amazing that none of us had even heard the word "omicron" until maybe 6 weeks ago. 

[jff]

Now that two core members of Dead & Company will be absent from their Mexico resort festival next week, it’ll be interesting to see how things move forward for them, how fans react, how SBS deals with a similar development if one arises, etc.  
 

 

[tinnitus photography]

after dealing with endlessly shifting lineup changes/cancellations/additions etc of Psycho Las Vegas, nothing will faze me. 

 

[jff]

2 hours ago, tinnitus photography said:

after dealing with endlessly shifting lineup changes/cancellations/additions etc of Psycho Las Vegas, nothing will faze me. 

 

Jeez, that’s crazy,  was that because of Delta?
 

Rumor now is the Dead is about to cancel their fest.  Announcement at 4:00.

[kidsmoke]

2 hours ago, jff said:

Jeez, that’s crazy,  was that because of Delta?
 

Rumor now is the Dead is about to cancel their fest.  Announcement at 4:00.

 

Yep, they cancelled. Many festivalgoers had already arrived! What a mess.

[Madcap]

This does not seem to bode well for SBS, but I hope if they do cancel they at least do it before people with the pre-game nights (myself included) are flying down!

[calvino]

Dead & Co shows are officially off. I can't see the Wilco shows happening...

 

Dead & Company

 

@deadandcompany

·

16m

 

With much sadness and after great consideration of every possible scenario, the

@PlayTheSand

shows in Riviera Cancun on January 7-10 and January 13-16 have now been canceled by

@CID_Presents

due to the spiking COVID-19 cases...

[Sandoz]

My husband and I are not going to SBS, even if the show goes on despite this huge surge and the current PITS dumpster fire. 

 

I now have COVID, after a ski trip to Utah last week. Argh. I am certain I was infected during one of two 30 minute indoor lunches, when it was below-0 temperatures and my kids needed to warm up their fingers/toes. While I ate my lunch, I  literally looked around the packed ski lodge thinking, "OMG, I am getting COVID right now...." I did!

 

Even though I have a positive test and would be able to go to SBS without any testing at all, I cannot be a part of this craziness. And my husband is healthy and negative (so far). Once again, although we are all *SO DONE* with COVID, this virus proves that it is NOT done with us. Sigh.

[Boss_Tweedy]

I'm not trying to scare anyone because I'm particularly susceptible to respiratory illnesses. And when I get them they're usually more severe, as I have a lifetime of respiratory ailments since birth. With that said I'm pretty sure I have COVID, and I should know for certain tomorrow. Assuming I have Omicron, this stuff has been pretty awful over the past four days. Monday wasn't so bad because my only symptom was muscle aches. Tuesday through Today, however, have been rough. I'd been really good and avoided large crowds of people for nearly two years until last Saturday. I wanted to see my law school alma mater's quarterback play his final college game before heading off to the NFL. Having lived with COVID for four days, there's no freaking way I'd do it again. I've had fever, sore throat, nasal congestion and drainage, extreme fatigue, muscle and joint aches, upset stomach, and at times chills. It's like the flu on steroids. And I'm double-vaxxed and boosted. While I want to make it clear that most people won't have the same reaction I am to Omicron (there are several people with whom I sat at the game who have experienced only headache and scratchy throat), I do want to share my experience to educate anyone who might believe that Omicron is always mild or that humanity has gained control over the virus. We're not out of the woods yet. 

[Sandoz]

5 minutes ago, Boss_Tweedy said:

I'm not trying to scare anyone because I'm particularly susceptible to respiratory illnesses. And when I get them they're usually more severe, as I have a lifetime of respiratory ailments since birth. With that said I'm pretty sure I have COVID, and I should know for certain tomorrow. Assuming I have Omicron, this stuff has been pretty awful over the past four days. Monday wasn't so bad because my only symptom was muscle aches. Tuesday through Today, however, have been rough. I'd been really good and avoided large crowds of people for nearly two years until last Saturday. I wanted to see my law school alma mater's quarterback play his final college game before heading off to the NFL. Having lived with COVID for four days, there's no freaking way I'd do it again. I've had fever, sore throat, nasal congestion and drainage, extreme fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and at times chills. It's like the flu on steroids. And I'm double-vaxxed and boosted. While I want to make it clear that most people won't have the same reaction I am to Omicron (there are several people with whom I sat at the game who have experienced only headache and scratchy throat), I do want to share my experience to educate anyone who might believe that Omicron is always mild or that humanity has gained control over the virus. We're not out of the woods yet. 

Ugh, I am sorry you feel so lousy. I am fully vaccinated and boosted too. Interestingly, the worst symptom I've had this week is terrible low back pain. The back pain has been described by many people with Omicron variant in South Africa.  So strange.

 

I hope you turn the corner soon @Boss_Tweedy , without any longstanding effects. And I agree there is no freaking way I'd do it again  -- now I have to monitor my teenage daughter like a hawk She's fully vaccinated, but she has a history of an auto-immune disease. I don't want this virus to challenger her immune system!

[kidsmoke]

Sandoz & Boss_Tweedy, ugh, I'm so sorry you're both going through this! Boss_Tweedy, the tendency to respiratory complications sounds just like me. I think I might have an equally hard time with it. I hope your symptoms fade quickly.

Sandoz, this variant is so damned catchy that I don't think people get it. With previous variants a little caution and masking and distancing were enough. It isn't that simple with Omicron. Even brief interactions are said to be enough.

I'm so sorry. I hope your daughter doesn't catch it. 💖

[Sandoz]

You want to hear a crazy stat?  Based on the current US 7-day average: Every second, 7 people in the US are testing positive for COVID!  WTF! 

[kidsmoke]

3 hours ago, Sandoz said:

You want to hear a crazy stat?  Based on the current US 7-day average: Every second, 7 people in the US are testing positive for COVID!  WTF! 

That's sobering. I'm going to get my hair done tomorrow and just dug out one of my few and precious N95 masks. Then realized the 2 over-the-back-of-the-head straps wouldn't work for getting my hair done. So I practiced a bit with the elastic straps and discovered you can wrap one around each ear and the mask still fits well & snug. So, I may look ridiculous but hopefully I'll get my hair done without getting covid. It's raging in this area.

My DIL works processing test samples so I've been very aware, through her, of the climbing positivity rates in the past weeks. Now it's flu also...sometimes in combination with covid. A dangerous winter.

[Bart]

Did you guys see the Tweedy Show last night (stupid question!).  Jeff seemed as confused and upset/helpless as all the folks with tickets.  He also made it clear that Wilco is contracted performer just like they would be if they played any other show in Boston or Phoenix or any other place.

 

Maybe they can do what Phish* did?  They had to cancel their NYE live show, so the band played a full show to an empty arena and aired it live on YouTube for free.  They got to play a show, the fans got to see a show and it seemed to be as close to a happy medium as was possible.

 

* I'm not a fan, but I was impressed with them for doing this.  Especially the free part.  I'm sure it earned them a lot of good will.  Then again, I WOULD pay for a Wilco live stream, but not Phish!!

[tinnitus photography]

17 hours ago, jff said:

Jeez, that’s crazy,  was that because of Delta?
 

Rumor now is the Dead is about to cancel their fest.  Announcement at 4:00.

yeah, Delta was a true disrupter. A good chunk was caused by overseas bands not being able to get visas into the country (in the end, only a UK band a Cz Republic band made it), and there were cancellations up until pretty much the last day or two before the event because of bands and/or crews getting sick. 

I do give the promoters a lot of credit to keep it moving forward and booking alternatives wherever possible on extremely short notice, and in the end it was a great event (mostly indoors) and i didn't get COVID!

[Chez]

After cycling back and forth every 10 minutes for the past three weeks - "to go or not to go,"  my wife convinced me last night that I'd be a moron (actually she said, "even a bigger moron than usual") if I go.  So I'm out.  At least for now. 

[Madcap]

This is all so depressing.  We've been so good and so careful and all of these unvaxxed morons are still screwing things up!  We're still planning on going if it happens (which I think is a coin flip at best), but there's basically no way that the music isn't going to be affected.  Somebody in some band is going to test positive and they'll either have to alter their lineup or drop out completely, which sucks because the lineup is really damn good!

[dagwave]

Appreciate Jeff’s comments and candor last night on TTS. 

 

 

[kidsmoke]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/cancun-concerts-wilco-dmb-omicron-1281187/amp/

 

Rolling Stone article on the debacle unfolding in Mexico with these festivals.

Cloud9 has really dug in their heels.

[jw harding]

A lot of understandable anxiety after the recent Dead & Co debacle. One would hope the promoters and bands would take extra steps to ensure that doesn't happen again with other festivals (band members and staff infections resulting in the fest being cancelled). Of course, impossible to control COVID. 

 

I will just speak as someone who returned from a resort vacation in Mexico one week ago. There really is very little concern about catching COVID there. Outside most of the time. When inside, all staff are masked, and guests are encouraged to mask. The resorts are very motivated to avoid COVID issues so seem to take good precautions. Yes there is a slim chance of catching it in Mexico and being stuck there. But just take this for what it is - even if you catch it, it is Mexico, and for a variety of reasons, you probably will not get a positive test and will be able to return to the US. 

 

Unless I absolutely could not be stuck in Mexico for a few extra days, I would go. As people return from the Dead and Co cancelled fest this coming week, wait and hear for any stories of people testing positive and being stuck there before you throw in the towel.  

[sonnyfeeling]

I wish 

2 hours ago, jw harding said:

There really is very little concern about catching COVID there. Outside most of the time. .  

I wish I could share that optimism. Unfortunately, it's not just about being at an outdoor concert. There's the trip to the airport, and time spent in the airport waiting for your flight, and the flight itself, and time spent at the destination airport waiting for your bags, and the (long) bus ride to the resort, and then a repeat of all those things in reverse on the trip home. That's a lot of exposure to a lot of people.

 

I personally know four people who had the same optimism, traveled over the holidays, and wound up catching COVID. Two got pretty sick (but not enough to be hospitalized) and had to miss a flight home. One is stuck in Colorado right now waiting for the infection to work itself out and to get a negative test so he can go home. Another was super careful but spent 30 minutes at an indoor restaurant at a ski resort and that's all it took.

 

We had opted not to go to SBS this year and made plans to go to Hawaii instead to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We were supposed to leave a few days ago, but we canceled a few days beforehand, forfeiting a prepaid condo rental. (Cost was pretty similar to a deluxe SBS package.) You absolutely could not pay me to travel this week or next, knowing the current case rates.

 

Given how fast this thing is spreading, I suspect the surge will be over in a month or so after everyone who's going to get infected gets infected. But I don't want to be on that list, thanks much.  

[dagwave]

Happy Belated Anniversary!🤓

[sinko25]

What a depressing situation. Hope all of the folks here with covid or covid symptoms are resting up and getting well.

 

I had the thought about whether or not to attend Solid Sound this year ... I'm planning on it, and my logic was "we'll probably be between spikes/variants at that point..." what a depressing thought.

[sinko25]

On 1/7/2022 at 8:04 AM, Bart said:

Did you guys see the Tweedy Show last night (stupid question!).  Jeff seemed as confused and upset/helpless as all the folks with tickets.  He also made it clear that Wilco is contracted performer just like they would be if they played any other show in Boston or Phoenix or any other place.

 

 

I didn't see this so maybe I'm missing some context. I respect the fact that they're not able to unilaterally issue refunds to folks, but presumably with their name on the festival they have some pull in that respect, right? I'm sure there's plenty going on behind the scenes, just curious about this point.