Steve Albini Talks Precarious Pandemic Touring: "It's Incredible That Shows Are Happening at All"

"Count your blessings that people are willing to risk literal ruin to even try"

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Apr 19, 2022

Even with the encouraging flood of tour announcements, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, with the virus continuing to impact artists' best-laid plans. Now, Steve Albini is calling on enthusiastic concertgoers to think about protecting themselves and the artists they support, despite the rollback of public health measures, in hopes of avoiding "ruinously expensive" situations.

On Twitter today, Albini called his followers' attention to how a number of tours currently underway "are being aborted when someone tests positive," whether it be a band or crew member. He writes that apart from health risks, these cancellations or postponements result in "remote isolation, lost gig income, additional carrying, medical and travel expense [amounting] to more than the tour was worth, or worse."

"Decisions about when to tour are always made far in advance, and given the relentlessness of the pandemic, when the time comes to do it, the band has to decide by a deadline whether to go or not, with imperfect information. These are not capricious decisions," Albini shared, pointing to an outfit of his own. "Shellac has shows we've postponed several times looming, with a lot of money on the line, and we want very much not to postpone them again, so we're going for it."

Albini then addressed the "cavalier attitude" people are taking in the face of public health measures being rolled back, specifically citing footage of people cheering a judge's decision to throw out a mask mandate on public transportation. 

He explained, "I want you, potential gig goers, to appreciate how definitely *not* over it we are, and how we will not get to over it without commitment from everybody to a few basic things, done as a matter of human decency out of consideration of other people."

In addition to urging concertgoers to wear masks during indoor performances, Albini shared that the more social components of touring — "having people in the dressing room, hanging out after the show, going to an after-party" — were not happening, as "the consequences of exposure on tour are magnified a thousandfold over a normal night at home."

"Frankly, it's incredible that shows are happening at all," he concluded. "Nothing about touring at the moment even approximates normal, so count your blessings that people are willing to risk literal ruin to even try. Don't linger on what isn't ideal about things."

"We're all adapting to this, like losing a limb. Bands have to behave differently now. As [an] audience, the people we're doing it for, all we ask is that you care about each other when you come see us. We're all at the same gig and we all want it to be awesome. Some of that is on you."

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