5,000 attend rock concert in Barcelona
If one overlooked the white face masks dotting the tightly packed crowd of music lovers, it was almost like pre-pandemic times in Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi concert hall Saturday night.
Five thousand rock fans enjoyed a real-as-can-be concert after passing a same-day coronavirus screening, to test its effectiveness in preventing outbreaks of the virus at large cultural events.
The only rule inside the show was the strict use of the high-quality face masks provided by the concert organizers.
“We were able to evade reality for a while,” said 40-year-old Jose Parejo. “We were inside our small concert bubble. And we were even able to remember back in time when things like this one were normal. Things that nowadays aren’t that normal, sadly.”
The show by Spanish rock group Love of Lesbian had the special permission of Spanish health authorities. Though the rest of the country was limited to gatherings of no more than four people in closed spaces, the concertgoers were able to mix freely.
The musicians also were swept up in the moment.
“It’s been a year and half since we last set foot on a scenario as a band,” singer Santi Balmes told the crowd. “This is so . ... some of the musicians are crying over here.”
Ticket buyers chose among three venues in Barcelona where they could take a quick antigen test Saturday morning. Those with negative results got a code on their cellphones validating their tickets. People with heart disease, cancer or those who have been in contact with someone infected by COVID-19 in recent weeks were asked not to sign up.