Concerts in the Time of Coronavirus
Meon Rollerblades performing at a porch concert, image by Fraenceska
Walking up Buell Street in Burlington, you can hear the music from blocks away. Another college party violating CDC guidelines, you’d think, but instead, it’s an outdoor porch concert with every group of people 6 feet apart and not a soul in sight without a mask.
Jack Duda and Cam Davis are best friends and roommates who wanted to try out a new way of seeing and performing live music despite the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the summer of 2020, there were a few late nights where Jack and Cam would play guitar on their porch on Buell Street and drunk passersby would stop to hear them play.
“A lot of people loved it because during quarantine, you never see live music and they were passing by us in the street,” said Duda. “They got so excited to dance with their friends and listen to music safely.”
After a few more nights of late-night jamming, excited civilians, and having the time of their lives on their front porch, the two men realized how they could do this in a safe and controlled environment.
“I walked into Cam’s room one morning and he was half-asleep,” said Duda. “I said we should just put concerts on our front porch and then we did it immediately after that and it blew up and people were really into it.”
When the first concert happened, the event consisted of friends performing and relationships being formed over a shared love for live music.
“The first one was probably the very end of June, it was awesome, we had no idea what was going to happen and just played some guitar, it ended up being mainly our friends,” said Duda. “We had a few people come play with us and some people ended up walking over to us and asking to play in the next one or when another was happening.”
Once Jack and Cam realized this could really be something and that they had the opportunity to bring out real talent to the show, they started checking out DIY Burlington on Facebook and looking for bands there. The pair was also connected to other bands through friends and acquaintances in the Burlington music scene.
“Sometimes people would come up to me and they would be like ‘Hey, are you Jack who does the outdoor concerts?” said Duda, “We want to play.’”
After attending a few Slade Coffee House open mic shows, Duda realized he wanted to replicate the event and start inviting bands to perform and allowing others to show their talents.
“We book bands first and let people have their sets and show themselves off,” said Duda. “Then we have a few hours of open mic after that, that's really when the interesting people come out to play. We’ve seen some really talented musicians come up during open mic and it's awesome because you never know what to expect.”
Princess Nostalgia performing a porch set, image by Fraenceska
Despite all the preparation and commitment to the shows, do people want to come out and be around others during a global pandemic? And if so, how would that even be possible?
“Everyone wants to see live music and misses being around people,” said Davis, “so I think creating this helped bring people who wouldn't usually meet together through music and community as well as people who just want to be around other people safely.”
The concerts began as acoustic shows but have now developed into sets with full-fledged bands and performances with all different types of genres entering their horizons.
“We’ve even had a hip hop night, which was sick, but that was the only concert that got the cops called on us,” said Davis.
The pair follows proper CDC guidelines for their shows, with a cap on the amount of people attending, correct sanitation methods, good expectations for each one.
“Masks are mandatory,” said Duda “we sanitize mics and gear in between sets, groups and people are always 6 feet apart and social distance themselves.”
Cam and Jack both make music together, have solo projects that they’re working on, and are excited for what the future has to hold when it comes to their outdoor COVID friendly concerts.
“We’re in the process of mixing and mastering four or five songs and we’ve never released any music together. I have some stuff I plan to release soon which is just me,” said Davis.
Both men think it’s important to shed light on a movement they’re passionate about and believe they have a responsibility to mention that they’re taking donations that will go towards charitable causes they want to help support. On the night that we spoke, they donated 20% of all donations to the Portland Freedom Fund which bails out POC so they can navigate their cases from a position of freedom.
“With these concerts, we have a responsibility to not only be healthy and safe but also need to address everything going on in the world right now. We can’t just go up there and perform our art and say we have a message and not follow through and help.” said Davis, “If there's something people can take away from this, is everyone needs to be aware of what’s going on regarding the Black Lives Matter Movement and that it's worth fighting for.”
As we grapple with the new normal during a global pandemic, we learn there are other ways to enjoy live music and authentic performances while keeping ourselves and others safe and also remembering what is most important during this time.
Text by Kellyn Doerr
Images by Fraenceska, fraenceska.com