Seattle Now: Spilled beer and sweaty strangers

Live shows are back as the city's music scene reopens at full capacity. KUOW's Casey Martin went to last week's sold-out Chong the Nomad show at Barboza to hear how people are feeling.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Hey, good morning. It's Patricia Murphy. It's Wednesday. This is Seattle Now. After more than a year without live music, you could say people are ready to see shows again. Casey Martin Have you heard of the band before? You're just like...?

BAR PATRON: Nope! I don't even know what kind of music they do. I have no idea who they are. I'm just like Neumos, band drinking club done.

PATRICIA MURPHY: KUOW's Casey Martin has a report from Capitol Hill. But first, let's get you caught up.

Firefighters are battling blazes in North Central and Eastern Washington. The record breaking heat and looming drought are making for extremely dangerous conditions. Now Governor Inslee is taking action. Inslee declared a wildfire emergency and statewide burn ban yesterday. That means your campfires are probably not allowed. Gas stoves and recreational campfires on private property are okay. The burn ban goes through the end of September and could be extended.

Meanwhile, the weather might have cooled off but it is bone dry here. It's been more than three weeks with little to no rain in Seattle. National Weather Service says maybe a little drizzle today and a little cooler and cloudy for the next two days. After that, you can copy paste the same 80 degree sunny day and you'll get our forecast for the next week.

And here is your annual reminder that if you see an adorable seal pup on a beach around the city, leave that Bebe alone. It's pupping season and seal moms will sometimes leave their babies on the shore while they go about their business. Just don't get involved because you could scare off the moms. That means no selfies or TikToks. I know it's hard if your gut tells you something's wrong and a pup might need help. Call the seal sitters hotline and a volunteer will come check it out.

SLOW SHUTTER: Yo yo! What's up??So it shows her back. Let's give it up for show. I'm Slow Shutter.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Washington State is open for business and that means live music events are popping up all over the place. KUOW reporter Casey Martin went out on assignment for Seattle now, Casey, you attended a sold out show at Barboza on Capitol Hill last Thursday, one of the first clubs shows post reopening. This was a long time in the making man did people turn out

CASEY MARTIN: People did turn out it was so wild to see lines actual lines of people pressed together waiting outside waiting to get into the club. And this was one of the first shows that we could find that was full capacity, so wide open to folks. And people could be unmasked. So this was kind of, you know, as close to pre-pandemic as we could get, you know, for the first time in over a year.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Wow. Okay, what was the mood like because I could see wanting to go out, but I don't know how I would feel once I got there.

CASEY MARTIN: You know that -- that was kind of the mode people were very, very excited, a little nervous at first, because this was the first thing that people were really allowing themselves to go out and do. But you could feel this kind of energy in the air that it was almost like a holiday or people kind of dressed up and feeling excited. I talked to Izzie Maccubbin and Roya Salahshor, and this was their first show in over a year.

BAR PATRON: I'm feeling very excited, happy, a little bit nervous. Like I don't know what it's gonna be like, like, are people gonna walk in and wear masks still? Like, are people just gonna be like all next year or something? So it's all a lot of emotions. But yeah, I feel the same way like super excited, like, just get back to normal. That's what more I miss going out. I miss dancing, seeing live music. So really pumped for it. And I've been waiting for this all day.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Now, Casey, obviously, the music was the reason that people came out. But we are actually still in a pandemic here, and I am curious about how the COVID-etiquette went? How were people behaving?

CASEY MARTIN: Yeah, the COVID-etiquette was was eye opening. So you know, here in Seattle, people are still you know, wearing masks inside and you know, still outside, you still see some sort of social distancing. Not any of that at the show whatsoever. This was all brand new. So the first thing right outside that was new, for me at least, was you know, people are showing up to the club with their ID their license, right. And also proof of vaccination. So people are whipping out their cards, or you know, like pulling it up on their phone, and this was like, oh, this kind of looks like the future. This is what things are going to be like going forward; and it was no big deal. Everybody pulled out their card or like they pulled out their phone and then once they got in no masks anywhere. I thought people would have masks around there, you know, around their necks or you know hanging with them. Some of the staff were masked up. But this --this was all completely new, you know, grocery stores, you know, we're still wearing masks down in that basement nightclub, not a mask anywhere.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Wow. So people were comfortable?

CASEY MARTIN: People were comfortable and people were kind of, you know, craving that people were looking for, you know, being pressed up against each other being packed in, you know, like sardines. And that's what everybody told me, they said, you know, I'm vaccinated. Everybody I know is vaccinated, and man, I want this I want to be out here. I did see one person in the crowd and I had to beeline it through the crowd to go and talk to her. Lydia Sprague was the one person I found wearing a mask in the crowd.

MASKED BAR PATRON: I'm excited but apprehensive. The first time I've been in a room with so many people with no mask on. I kind of feel like a big dork, everybody else's without a mask.

PATRICIA MURPHY: I would have been next to her. I would have been next to her, Casey. Any moments in the club that made you think Ooh, because I know I had an experience recently at a waterpark where it was just a little too much a little too close. Did you have that moment?

CASEY MARTIN: It was hot breath on my neck. Because, you know, that was new, and I was trying to keep in my space. You know, I'm kind of, you know, keeping a couple of feet around me and kind of keeping a little bubble, and that was a moment I was just hyper aware I could feel somebody was telling a story. And every time they were accenting their essence, there was a lot of lot of spittle on the back of my neck. That was something that, you know, pre pandemic is not great, but you know, post pandemic, I'm trying to just like it's fine, he's vaccinated, I'm vaccinated, it's fine. It's fine. But you know, it was overall I felt very, very safe. I was in a mask the whole time. So by and large, I feel fine about it.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Social distancing, any social distancing?

CASEY MARTIN: None, you know, I thought people would be like, in their little pods or little clusters. Yeah, none. No, I mean, I was there with my microphone. People are pressing up against me. You know, I got I got sweat on me. People are breathing on me. I got a little bit of beer being spilled on me,

PATRICIA MURPHY: Just like old times.

CASEY MARTIN: Yes.

PATRICIA MURPHY: I'm sure alcohol factored into this as well. People probably got really comfortable after a few drinks.

CASEY MARTIN: Absolutely. I talked to the bartenders, one of the bartenders Cassidy Gonzalez, who's worked there for over 10 years and has been out of work for this past year because of the shutdown and was thrilled, thrilled to be back. And, you know, I'd said, you know, people are feeling pretty good tonight. It's gonna be you know, a better crowd than most nights.

CASSIDY GONZALEZ: Nobody should be coming down here. jaded, or, you know, pissed about the fact that they paid X amount to get in, like, I'm sure nobody's ever excited to pay $20 for a cocktail. But if there's ever a night it might be tonight, right?

PATRICIA MURPHY: Now, music was the central focus. How was the show, Casey?

CASEY MARTIN: I mean, it was great. It was the first live show in over a year and you could feel that you could feel there was so much anticipation. I talked to Chong the Nomad, headlining the show. And this was a really big show for her as well.

CHONG THE NOMAD: This is the first time I've played a show that I've had mine that's sold out. And that's, that's so new to me. I've never had that happen to me before. And I just I really want to make it count. Strangely enough, I kind of feel calm. as calm as I could be right now. But there was a thing that happened to me pre-pandemic, where I'd be like, Oh, am I good enough? Am I? Is this music gonna be like, are people gonna connect with it? Is it --is it something that people are going to leave and remember it by? I don't have those worries tonight. If I play like, I don't know, a one hour loop of 2011 dubstep I'm pretty sure people will be happy just to be in a room dancing with other people.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Casey, you went to the show, did you stay to the end?

CASEY MARTIN: I did.

PATRICIA MURPHY: How was the mood afterwards?

CASEY MARTIN: Celebratory, you know, people they didn't want to leave, you know, everybody was just right outside of the club. Alright, where do we go next? What's open, you know, where can we go get some food. And every place in Capitol Hill was just packed a Capitol pizza right up the street had people you know, eating slices right onto the sidewalk. And so it was it felt like for Thursday night, it felt like a Capitol Hill and a full weekend swing.

CHONG THE NOMAD: I'm happy to see that return, especially to this area in Seattle, because it's it's the heartbeat, you know, it's seeing this place dead on a Saturday night, like, mid July. It was heartbreaking. You know, like, you know, that's, that's not what this area is about, like, I and I grew up. I grew up, but my formative adult years were on Capitol Hill. So being able to see it kind of come back to life is really really special.

PATRICIA MURPHY: You know, Casey, I wonder if it's gonna be like before ... if that's where we are in this thing as we're reopening that it's just going to be like it was before?

CASEY MARTIN: Yeah, I think that there are certain you know, different things that people are being comfortable with it if you want to mask those certain hygiene things that people are taking that, you know, if they pull out hand sanitizer, that's completely normal. We didn't really carry around Purell before as much.

PATRICIA MURPHY: I did, but...

CASEY MARTIN: Other people like you did smart people like you did. You know, I eat pizza out on the street. So I think that something's, you know, allowing people their own personal space. And you know, those kinds of things might stick around. But right now, at least in this moment, people are eager to get out for sure.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Yeah, it sounds like it was really infectious in that crowd. And, you know, so much of what we're doing right now feels different. Because we have all been through something. Did you get the sense talking to people that there was an appreciation for this that was different than perhaps pre-COVID?

CASEY MARTIN: You know, the one thing I asked everybody was does this tonight? Does it feel like the end of the pandemic or does it feel like something else? And everybody said, you know, it feels like we're turning a corner feels like something new, that, you know, the world is forever changed. And you know, we'll never gonna look back, but people felt really excited that things were opening back up and they were hugging and dancing and live music again.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Yeah, perspective is everything Casey and right now our perspective looks pretty good. Getting back out into the world. KUOW reporter Casey Martin, great to talk to you. Thanks a lot.

CASEY MARTIN: Absolutely. Thank you.

PATRICIA MURPHY: Thanks for listening to Seattle now you can find us on Instagram.

Give us a follow @SeattleNowPod. Jason Pagano produced today's show.

Our production team is Claire McGrane. Caroline Chamberlin Gomez and Diana Opong. Matt Jorgensen does our theme music.

I'm Patricia Murphy. See you tomorrow.

You can see photos from Capitol Hill and let us know what music you're going to see. Follow us on Instagram, we're @seattlenowpod.