EVERYONE ON EARTH IS FEELING LOVE OF LESBIAN

One of the biggest gatherings anywhere in Europe since the pandemic began—a concert by the indie rock band Love of Lesbian at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi Arena, with 5k fans in attendance—went down on 3/27 as an experiment.

No, not an experiment with lesbianism, though you can check out the band here and see if it brings out (or enhances) any Sapphic tendencies. This was an experiment, according to a BBC report, to see if requiring negative testing and masks would enable large crowds to assemble without social distancing.

Would-be attendees volunteered for same-day testing and were required to produce proof of a negative result prior to admission; again, masks were also mandatory, and temperatures and IDs were checked to bolster the safeguards.

If there isn’t a spike in COVID cases traceable to the event, this experiment could provide a way forward for live events on the continent and elsewhere while we wait to see how mass vaccination changes the landscape. Supplies and distribution of vaccines have, of course, varied wildly among countries.

A physician quoted in the BBC story says he anticipates that the event will be “completely safe,” noting that cases among audience members will be monitored closely over the next 14 days.

Band frontman Santi Balmes summed up the feelings of everyone in attendance and the hopes of millions more when he declared from the stage, “It's been 18 months since we've been onstage and one of us up here is in tears.”

In a definitely related story, the Las Vegas festival Electric Daisy Carnival has announced via the socials that it plans to move forward with its 5/21-23 dates, having submitted a "robust safety plan." Stay tuned.