Sorry Charlie: Under Dressed at Your Unplugged
I felt like a feral animal at my first post-COVID concert.
It was May 8, 2021. My partner, Brian, and I ran away to Tybee Island/Savannah, Georgia, for a post-vaccination vacation. As we frolicked around downtown Savannah in the Southern heat, we kept seeing a show flyer for a band, Basically Nancy, performing at a venue called Service. A concert in a dark, cool bar sounded nice and the perfect way to escape the humidity.
Thus, when we returned to our hotel room that evening we decided to buy tickets to the show. Our first post-COVID show! While getting ready we wondered if we should change our clothes or not. I was wearing a Riverbend (a summer music festival in my native Chattanooga) 1990 Tracy Chapman shirt, it was tied in the front to be a sort of, but not really, crop top. I wore it along with some holey jeans. Both items were kind of dirty from the dirt from my wheelchair wheels. Brian was wearing cargo shorts and a shirt from the 2019 Tom Morello concert at The Signal (a Chattanooga venue) that read: Nazi Lives Don't Matter.
After listening to a few Basically Nancy songs, we figured they were a rock band, and the venue would be a poorly lit hole in the wall. That's no slight to Basically Nancy. We have seen many amazing bands in "poorly lit holes in the wall." So we assumed our super casual tourist wear would be acceptable. Tracy Chapman and Tom Morello would work for us just fine.
Besides, people all day had been complimenting Brian's shirt every 5 minutes. A bus driver even leaned out of her bus to yell that she liked the shirt. We also heard a lot of, "Yeah! Nazi lives don't matter!" Plus, who doesn't love Tracy Chapman?! Songs from her self-titled debut album, such as "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" and "Fast Car," are sadly still topical. So much so that I cried while listening to them recently when I thought about how these songs were released in 1988, but are about struggles that we are still experiencing today.
ANYWAYS. We walked over to the venue, Service, and as soon as we get in, we realize that it's decent and well-lit, and not the dark, cavernous, hole in the wall of our imagination. Service is a veteran-owned and operated craft brewery in downtown Savannah. They obviously hate Nazis too. Not exactly a dive bar, and under normal circumstances, what we were wearing would have been appropriate, but tonight it felt out of place. (It was also a good thing we bought our ticket ahead of time because the show was definitely selling out quick by the time we got there.)
It definitely was not what we were expecting. As we sat there taking it all in, this first post-COVID show, I was thinking...
The show has assigned seating. (A COVID protocol?)
Everyone is dressed particularly nicely. (Maybe they're excited as we are about their own first post-pandemic show? Or maybe Gen Z takes going out really seriously?)
Wait. Everyone is dressed really nice, like really nice. (This is awkward.)
When are they going to turn the lights down? (Do we still turn the lights down for shows? I know it’s been a while, but…)
Who's the opener? (That’s still a think right?!)
Oh no. There's a videographer?! (What have we gotten ourselves into?)
Brian and I had stumbled onto what was clearly a significant night. Basically Nancy was performing acoustic versions of their songs in the style of MTV's Unplugged. I was going to say that Unplugged has been off-the-air since before these musicians were born, but apparently, it's still on. This acoustic set was being professionally filmed, and every audience member, with the exception of your two dusty tourists, was looking fresh, clean, and camera-ready.
All tourist awkwardness aside, Basically Nancy was fantastic! Being introduced to a band in this type of setting was also a great experience because the audience was so quiet and respectful that we were able to really take in their music and lyrics, and appreciate it all the more. (Can someone book them for a show in Chattanooga so that I can see them in their usual form, please? Thanks.)
So we learned some valuable lessons that day:
Nazis need to stay out of the South because they're sure as fuck not welcome here either.
Show flyers still work!
When you assume…you make an ass out of you and me. (Some things never change.)
Always pack a nice outfit.
Y'all need to listen to some Tracy Chapman.
We hope that you all are fully vaxxed and concert hopping again. When you travel, see some bands local to the area, make it worth traveling. And always be prepared to dress nice!