I'm still trying to put together all the facts, but here is what is known so far. There was a hardcore show at a Long Island club called Shaker's Pub. They undersold it, and while having a mask was required for entry, there was no enforcement of any sort of social distancing or wearing of masks. And most importantly, you needed to buy a chili cheese dog to get in.
Most people are keeping mum, but Twitter user @niketotebag posted some footage of the event and it definitely looked can't miss:
Not the ECW Jean shorts ??… pic.twitter.com/Qa7MXD2Ybi
— team sleep by team sleep (kas) (@niketotebag) August 3, 2020
In a since-deleted tweet, another user retweeted identifying the club, and doing a quick Google search shows that the venue in this footage very much looks like Shaker's Pub on Long Island. He also alerted New York governor, Andrew Cuomo.
Currently, New York City has a ban on any sort of indoor gathering of more than 10 people. Restaurants are not allowed to serve patrons at a table indoors. Additionally, there have been restrictions put on bars noting that you cannot just serve alcohol to outside tables, there must also be food served. Some parts of Long Island, including Suffolk County, where this venue is located, have looser restrictions and the reason for the chili cheese dog is likely to skirt the rules, treating the venue like a restaurant, to allow a certain amount of people in a space.
While we have not been able to find concrete info on this event, the club has had shows all month long including a "HipHop Immunity show." The pub is promoting a "Summer's End Blowout Bash" with bands for the end of August.
Perhaps the best part of this story comes from Twitter user diablita, who noted that in order to stay inside the venue, fans had to buy a chili cheese dog. The user also revealed three of the bands on the five band bill were having their debut show. One of the bands is believed to be NYC Shootout.
It should also be mentioned that you had to buy a chili cheese dog to be able to stay inside the venue and three out of the 5 bands on the bill were playing their very first show. A whole covid debut. It simply goes from bad to worse
— diablita (@diabliitax) August 3, 2020
I wonder how soon after that sick cartwheel did the mandatory chili cheese dog you had to purchase to stay in the venue come right back up for that dude up in the front https://t.co/wEvW9aCpzy
— diablita (@diabliitax) August 3, 2020
Cases in the New York region have remained steadily low, with about 500 – 700 cases a day, but events like this not only make rock and metal world, but it will just lead to clubs like this getting shut down and things taking longer to reopen.
Would you have attended this show?
Update: Shortly after publishing this article, Rock Island Management reached out to say they were not involved with the event, however they are promoting events at this same venue and this was their message about how strictly they would enforce mask measures:
There has been some concerns that I’d like to address. Before our show on Friday, I was in contact with the county to find out if we could hold our event and what precautions were required. We were told 50% capacity, masks required for entry, and all employees are required to wear masks. We do not have any authority to make guests wear masks, we just need to require that they have them, but wearing them is a personal choice. I think it’s stupid not to wear one and had mine on the whole time, but others didn’t and that’s on them. We are providing a legally approved service. If you are concerned for your safety, please don’t come! No one will judge you or think any less of you, and you will have plenty of other opportunities to see our artists in the future. If you do decide it’s time to start returning to normal again, we do require a mask for entry and do ask that you wear it, but again people have free will and that’s their choice. Please do what’s best for you. We’re here if you want to get out and see a show, we’ll be here in the future if you feel you’re not ready yet. Thank you for your support! ?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCBnCr0nDOi/
