Culture

[VACCINES]

Written by DANIEL HILL

As the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the state, more and more St. Louis-area music venues are requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative test in order to attend their shows.

The Factory, the newly opened 3,000-capacity venue in Chesterfield, is just the latest to announce the policy. According to a press release Monday afternoon, the venue will require either proof of vaccination in the form of a physical copy of the vaccine card or a photo on a mobile phone, or a negative COVID-19 PCR test from within 48 hours of showtime. “Live music is back,” reads a portion of the statement. “Let’s keep it that way.”

That puts the Factory on a growing list of local music venues who will enforce similar rules. The Pageant, Delmar Hall, Off Broadway, the Sinkhole, Red Flag, Blue Strawberry, Joe’s Cafe and Heavy Anchor have all announced similar policies in recent days.

According to Robert McClimans, talent buyer for the Pageant, Delmar Hall and Off Broadway, the decision to require vaccinations for the venues under his purview came about as a direct result of demand from the artists and bands themselves.

“We were starting to get overwhelmed by artists asking us to come up with a policy of some sort,” he explains. “And then once we hit a point where we’re like, ‘Well, we’re already going to go down this path for X number of shows — we should just go all in.’ And once we got to that point, it was just figuring out what the best path forward was.”

When asked which artists were asking about such a policy, McClimans says simply, “Almost everybody.”

That tracks with recent developments regarding several nationally touring acts. Limp Bizkit canceled its August tour just last week, and Stevie Nicks canceled all of the rest of her shows for the year, both acts citing COVID concerns. Counting Crows recently postponed a string of shows when one of the members of its touring party contracted the virus, and Lynyrd Skynyrd canceled its tour outright after guitarist Rickey Medlocke tested positive. Jason Isbell recently nixed a Houston date, stating that the venue where the show was scheduled “was not willing to comply with the band’s updated health and safety standards.”

During an appearance on MSNBC, Isbell laid the blame at the feet of politicians pandering to their bases.

“The problem is they’re just getting so much pushback from some of the governors of certain states who want to kowtow to their political base, and try to make people think their freedom is being encroached upon,” Isbell says of the venues. “I’m all for freedom but I think if you’re dead, you don’t have any freedoms at all. So it’s probably important to stay alive before you start questioning your liberty.”

Asked if he’s been seeing many cancellations on his end, McClimans says it hasn’t really been an issue so far — perhaps thanks directly to the mandate the venue has put in place.

“No we haven’t. We haven’t really gotten that yet,” he says. “And hopefully we don’t.”

Considering the hyper-politicized nature of the pandemic in this country, many businesses who’ve announced similar measures have experienced considerable fallout online from anti-vaxers decrying the alleged “tyranny” of it all. But for McClimans’ venues, the solution to that problem was simple: They simply disabled commenting for the post announcing the policy.

“Nobody’s going to convince each other, and we don’t need people just calling everybody every terrible name in the world just because we want people to take the most basic precautions,” McClimans says.

And for the most part, he says, fans and artists alike have greeted the development with gratitude.

“By and large, the vast, vast majority have been like, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’” he says. “And, you know, if us doing this gets anybody to get shots, then we’ve done our part.” n

[WATER]

Written by JENNA JONES

Someone get the Little Mermaid on the shell phone, St. Louis Union Station is headed under the sea.

This Thursday, August 19, Union Station is hosting another edition of its Under The Deep Brew Sea after-hours event at the St. Louis Aquarium (201 South 18th Street). From 6 to 9 p.m., attendees over the age of 21 can enjoy different Anheuser-Busch beverages. Eight different beers ranging from Shock Top Zest to the classic Bud Light are available to sample.

The touch pools will be open in order to offer attendees a hands-on experience. Along with the touch pools, other fish will be available to gaze at with wonder. Shark Canyon will also be available for viewing, just in case Shark Week wasn’t enough to tide you over last month.

Tickets are $35 with discounts offered for aquarium passholders. Guests can add a spin on the St. Louis Wheel for an extra $10. A hotel package beginning at $105 is also up for grabs, which includes two tickets to the event and a one night stay at St. Louis Union Station Hotel.

Masks will be required when not drinking and social distancing is also in practice. The event is operating at reduced capacity. General admission tickets can be purchased at stlouisaquarium.com. n