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Coronavirus falls to Bowie Fever
Another Saturday night and I ain’t got nobody
I got some money ’cause I just got paid
Now, how I wish I had someone to talk to
I’m in an awful way
Another Saturday Night — Sam Cooke
I’m lucky. One of the best small music clubs in the country is ten minutes from my house. The Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach has good drinks, a great sound system and a reputation so pristine that in the past two years its hosted everyone from the Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga and The Rolling Stones for private events to Lukas Nelson, Buddy Guy and tonight’s feature “A Bowie Celebration: Bowie Alumni play Diamond Dogs and Ziggy Stardust.”
Originally I bought eight tickets for this show, planning to use four and sell the others. That was months ago, and plans change. My friends who planned to go were in Hawaii. My significant other had her children tonight. As often happens, I was cooking. So, all the tickets were up for sale, but only six sold.
The show was called for 9 pm. Dinner and fireside post dinner drinks were done by 10 pm. As I drove the 3 miles to my house it occurred to me that in only five more minutes I could be at the Belly Up and catch the last bit of the Bowie show. Surely they’d play the good stuff at the end.
I was inside the door by 10:20. Security at the door was not expecting anyone else. The show had been running for more than an hour. They quickly rallied and found a scanner. My ticket scanned in without issue. The guy who walked in directly behind me was a different story. He had no ticket, and the event was sold out. I told him I had an extra, all I wanted was a beer. That was the best case conversion of an otherwise wasted ticket tonight. He got to see the last hour of the show and I was not thirsty.
If you’re following my writing, you know that I’ve recently published a story analyzing what, if anything, the effect of the Coronavirus will be on Coachella, and by extension the entire spring live music season. Here’s that story:
