Mass Live Concert offers a glimpse of music in the post-pandemic era

Photographer: Angel Garcia / Bloomberg

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While the musicians play the first chords on their electric guitars, the singer takes the stage, picks up the microphone and shouts: “All the weirdos were there at the show, from the great mind reader from Dublin.

At your feet, 5,000 electrified fans sing, jump and dance to the sound of the indie pop hit. It could be any Saturday night show in 2019, if it weren’t for the masks, the smell of disinfectant and the tickets proving a negative Covid-19 test.

“Don’t take off your masks because the success of live music in Europe and in the world depends on this show tonight,” says singer Santi Balmes between the songs. Before the music started, giant screens showed videos of doctors encouraging people to follow the rules.

The audience, the team and the band – Love of Lesbian – are part of a mass experiment that the organizers say is the biggest socially detached show of the coronavirus era. Saturday’s event in Barcelona offers a glimpse of what mass meetings might look like long after the pandemic subsides.

“If we can prove that you can bring 5,000 people together using rapid tests, then we will be opening the door to do a lot more,” said Gemma Recoder, one of the organizers and director of the Canet Rock festival. “It is a fundamental step not only for live music, but for everything else, from conferences to sporting events.”

To enter, you couldn’t just show up at the Sant Jordi stadium a few minutes before the start and get a ticket at the door. Fans had to download an app, enter their contact details and reserve a time for a quick Covid test on the day of the show.

People with a negative test received a code to enter the building, while those with a positive result received a refund. Inside, the masks were mandatory and the public was divided into three environments with a capacity for about 1,600 people.

The event was organized by the organizers of some of Spain’s biggest music festivals, including Sonar, Primavera Sound and Cruilla Barcelona Festival, in partnership with regional health authorities, doctors and epidemiologists from Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol in the neighboring city of Badalona.

It follows a pilot concert in December in Barcelona that brought together 500 people. Preparations for the second phase took months, Recoder said, and included recommendations on health protocols and a renewal of the stadium’s ventilation equipment.

“The air you are breathing now has the same quality as the air outside,” said Jordi Herreruela, organizer and director of Festival Cruilla Barcelona. “Doctors tell us that it can be safer to be on the show than walking on the street, because we have created a health bubble in which we know that everyone is tested.”

Participant data has been cross-checked with data from public health officials, so if someone is positive during the two weeks after the show, the organizers will know.