The nightlife scene is a ghost town as we sit and wait for the coronavirus curve to flatten. Partying from home via social networks, ZOOM brunches and Google Hangout happy hours have become the new normal as an escape from the social distancing.
What does that mean for those who rely on clubs and concerts as their primary source of income?
“I woke up and it was like somebody pressed a big red button to stop everything,” said Vanessa Townsend. Through her Vanessa Townsend LLC, she manages logistics for events and concerts. She also works in management at Prime 55 restaurant. “Everybody I work with was in the planning stages for an action-packed spring. All of that came to a sudden halt. It was overwhelming at first that all my business stopped.”
Townsend, DJ James Biko and Ready Room security staff Ronald “B” Jones are all looking at the bright side – albeit with a dose of their new reality.
After more than four years as a member of the security staff of The Ready Room, Jones has been spending his weekends at home. He didn’t know the indie rock band The Wonder Years’ Friday, March 13 show would be the last in the foreseeable future for him and his “work family.”
He loves his job, the people he works with and the broad range of people he gets to interact with at The Ready Room – which hosts shows from hip-hop, rock to reggae.
Some of the best shows he’s ever seen have been while working there.
“The artists who play, the people who come to see them there and the people I work with are great,” Jones said. “It just made for a special kind of energy.”
Like so many on the nightlife scene, he’s waiting to see how things shake out.
“Everybody in our line of work is taking a big hit, from all sides,” Jones said.
He now relies on sales from his Sacred Symbols jewelry line as his sole source of income.
“I can’t complain though. I live a simple life,” Jones said.
He is using the downtime for creative expression and to go inward spiritually – and suggests that others do the same.
Townsend is on the same wavelength.
“If you are a person whose whole business is entertainment, it could make you go into panic mode,” she said. “Prayer has really got me through and being connected with optimistic people” has carried her through. “I haven’t been able to talk with people who are real negative and down about it.”
Although his livelihood has also taken a hit, Biko has had a bit of a different experience.
“Gatherings are what we count on, and we can’t gather,” Biko said. “It forces the artists in general to really get creative as far as what it is they want to put forth and keep people engaged.”
Like plenty of other DJs, Biko has been relying on social media to stay connected with his audience.
“It’s an outlet for artists to still present their stuff – singers, musicians MCs, poets, visual artists, DJs obviously – and curators,” Biko said.
The live stream scene was something he had done a few times, but these days, it’s how the audience who would normally catch a set from him at Blank Space or The Ready Room tunes in.
Boogie Down Productions DJ and famed hip-hop producer D-Nice went viral with a few epic Instagram Live sessions – including one virtually co-hosted by former First Lady Michelle Obama to encourage voting. Now the mix sessions are a regular part of the virtual escape social media has provided during Stay at Home Orders that have kept the world indoors to fight off COVID-19.
“It’s been interesting to see how it affects people and how the audience really appreciates us doing it,” Biko said. “It’s awesome to see that people are really looking forward to these live streams. It’s a good thing that we were able to utilize this type of way. It’s terrible that it had to happen because of such an awful thing.”
Biko hosts spin sessions via Facebook Live several times a week.
“Can you imagine doing this without having social media as an outlet? People would be going crazy,” Biko said. “I’m grateful to be in the time where this ability to connect is here so you don’t feel so isolated.”
He has also used the evening sessions to raise funds for black businesses by asking listeners to donate via Cash app. He got the idea to use Facebook Live to help businesses affected by social distancing from his wife, Halima Martin Gates. He has raised several hundred dollars by dedicating a spin session dedicated to fundraising for SweetArt Café, The Black Rep and The After Experience Spa.
This unprecedented time has been terrible, but the rainbow in the cloud of the COVID-19 storm for him has been the reaction of his and other DJ’s life’s work.
“People are really seeming to either discover or rediscover the power of DJs,” Biko said.
He said a lot of people who go to bars and clubs are not necessarily there for the DJs. They are there for the experience. But this time is waking up to the idea that wow this feeling is largely due to this person’s curated playlist.
“It reminded people that this art form matters,” Biko said. “And – even in a time like this – it has power to change people’s attitudes and provide these really great vibes.”
Townsend is expecting to be pulled in many directions once the COVID-19 cloud lifts, but she doesn’t expect it to be automatic.
“The flip side of that you also have consumers have to come out of this too,” Townsend said. “A lot of people that buy tickets for events and concerts right aren’t working right now. Are they going to jump up and spend their money on events? They have to restore themselves financially.”
Townsend is using whatever time she will have to sideline her business to rest, restore and strategize so that she can hit the ground running.
“I’m working on figuring out a way to build myself and my business so that when the green light is on again, I will be able to go and go and be okay.”
