Reviving live music

by Sean McCarthy

Hurting but hopeful, the South Coast music community has not been exempt from the COVID-19 roller coaster

Striving to return to a world they once knew, local artists and venues are enduring the pandemic challenge economically as well as emotionally, beset but determined.

“Musicians were the first to get locked out and the last to be allowed back in,” says Sean FitzGerald, lead vocalist for the local ska rock act NB Rude Boys. “People turn to musicians for escapism and now we’re the ones who are in need of it the most.

“Going into this two years ago we were thinking that there would soon be some sense of relief but things are looking even more uncertain right now,” FitzGerald says. “There’s a malaise, a lot of people are dealing with depression, trying to make ends meet while being creative. It can be difficult just getting people together to practice. Some people went to college for performing and now there’s nothing for them. They’re in their 30s and 40s, scratching their heads about how to make money.”

But according to FitzGerald there has been an upside for some musicians in the COVID age. With more time on their hands, many musicians have been able to devote more time and effort to their creativity. At the beginning of the pandemic the NB Rude Boys were in the process of recording a four-song EP. But with the onset of COVID and the resulting down time, the nine-piece band made the decision to amp up the album to include nine original songs. They are targeting a spring release for “Welcome To Rude Bedford.”

“I’m optimistic about the amount of new music being produced in this area,” FitzGerald says. “Music has seen a significant explosion. With the advances of technology, the average person was able to pursue either a dream or a hobby and actually start recording with the convenience of apps and software right on their phone.”

And COVID has been the mother of creative ingenuity. The New Bedford-based band A Wilhelm Scream was working on their sixth full-length album as the pandemic ensued, but the project got delayed and numerous worldwide tour dates were scrapped. The band adapted to the circumstances by creating their breed of melodic hardcore by sharing digital files of their songs, rather than meeting in person to rehearse the new material. The band’s chief songwriter, Trevor Reilly, was sending digital demos of his song ideas to his band members, who wrote their parts in turn.

“For the first time I wrote most of my drum parts on my laptop,” says A Wilhelm Scream’s Nick Angelini. “I would listen to the songs while sitting at my drum kit, and after I played them on my drums I went to my computer and punched in the parts on my keyboard. The computer drums sound great.”

A Wilhelm Scream will release “Lose Your Delusion” this month. The 11-song album was recorded at Reilly’s downtown New Bedford recording studio, Anchor End. The band has multiple tours scheduled that will take them throughout the globe.

While being away from local stages, The J Kelley Band adapted to the COVID situation by releasing a string of singles to keep the interest of their fans. They can be listened to on all major streaming services.

As the drummer for the bands All Sinners, Drained, and The Nightcrawlers, Roger Chouinard says that there has been a lot of online creativity by local musicians.

“Bands are still putting out songs, but a lot of them have started streaming live performances from their rehearsal spaces,” he says. “If you play a local show you could get 30 people to attend, but by going online you can reach people around the world.”

For singer/guitarist Chris Guaraldi, booking and playing acoustic shows at the Pour Farm Tavern in downtown New Bedford has been precarious. Taking place on the second Saturday of each month, the shows have included only vaccinated performers using separate microphones so as not to spread any germs between each other. “You want to be safe but at some point you’ve got to live your life,” Guaraldi says. “I’ll get as many shots as I have to if it allows me to play music.”

The shows must go on

Area music venues have also experienced the pandemic pendulum.

In May of 2020, after a two-month hiatus, the Narrows Center for the Arts began doing live streaming performances from their stage, beginning with the Neal McCarthy Trio. They would not welcome live audiences for another year, returning with a performance by pianist George Winston. It made sense to book an instrumentalist because at that time the state had banned singing in live music venues. When that mandate was lifted the Narrows brought in folk star Tom Rush.

But the road would wind again.

“In August, September, and October of last year we were at full capacity, crowds were really coming back,” says Narrows Executive Director Patrick Norton. “But things dipped in November and December when the media started delivering a lot of bad news, it was horrendous. They were having football games with 80,000 people in indoor stadiums, but to have 200 people at a folk concert they wanted to shut us down.”

The Zeiterion Theatre in downtown New Bedford has made a successful comeback from a situation that was described as “wretched and devastating” by Executive Director Rosemary Gill. After canceling performances on March 12 of 2020, the Zeiterion would furlough or layoff a majority of its staff, losing almost 95 percent of their earned income for that period of time. They were able to reopen their doors on October 1st of 2021, and this January a concert by the Portuguese fado singer Mariza attracted more than 1,000 people. By spring of last year, the Zeiterion had returned all of its employees to their previous positions.

Last spring, the Zeiterion launched a series of outdoor drive-in shows as well as some virtual programming.

“Audiences were happy to experience the joy and fun of live performances again,” Gill says. “So many people came up to me, both audiences and artists, thanking us for bringing back our performances.”

The New Bedford Symphony Orchestra has also seen fluctuations. They started their season successfully in September and November of last year, followed by their Holiday Pops Concert in December. But eventually they had to postpone their January 8 concert at the Zeiterion, in addition to postponing January performances in their Chamber Music Concert Series. The NBSO is hopeful about their April and May concerts at the Zeiterion.

When Hewn opened its doors in downtown New Bedford in August of 2020, owner Myles Goulart had the intention of putting on performances by local artists in his boutique, but with the tumultuous COVID circumstances he wouldn’t put on his first show until a year later. He would have to cancel numerous Open Mics throughout the year, but he would eventually host shows by singer/songwriters Molly O’Leary and Hooly J Chan in December 2021 and January 2022. Goulart also performed at the shows on piano and electric guitar.

The Pour Farm Tavern has bounced back fairly well. In addition to Guaraldi’s acoustic shows, they are hosting Open Mics on Tuesday nights, as well as Thursday night shows with Neal McCarthy and Matt Antunes. DJ Anj is playing Hip-Hop on Friday nights, there are occasional Sunday performances by the Pearly Baker Band, and an assortment of local bands playing covers and original songs.

But ultimately, there is some optimism amidst the challenges.

“In 2019 and early 2020 live music was doing great everywhere, now we’re at less than half of our pre-COVID audiences,” Norton says. “Live music is something that Amazon can’t deliver, and there are people who live for live music. I’ve seen it come back once and I’m sure that it’ll come back again. It might take a couple of years to fully return to our 2019 levels but we’ll get there.”