In March 2020, Gianna Botticelli’s music career pulsed with momentum. Her project Ghost GRL had just released a new EP named Rewired, with a tour in the books to promote it up and down the East Coast. The first show of the batch gathered friends and fans in Somerville, who cheered on her new chapter in the cozy ambiance of a house show.
That performance was 22 months ago. Botticelli hasn’t played another “real life” show since.
“I remember everyone being close, laughing, sitting on couches and sharing drinks, the kind of thing that would would probably feel really uncomfortable or unnatural for a lot of people now,” she tells Vanyaland, reflecting on her last non-streaming performance.
Botticelli is one of many musicians who still hasn’t stepped on a stage since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite many venues reopening in accordance with city and state health regulations. For every musician who immediately jumped at the chance to perform again, there’s another who chose to stay behind the scenes and direct their energy elsewhere. Some artists sunk deeper into their own musical projects; others tried their hands at completely different skillsets and art forms.
For Botticelli, high vaccination rates and reopened venues didn’t change the fact that 2021’s live music environenment just isn’t normal.
“I chose not to perform in 2021 because honestly it felt like it took away a lot of what I love from music and the entire experience just seemed foreign and different,” she reflects. “One of my favorite things about performing is connection and in a way I felt that once people started performing again it felt almost like a shell of what live music was. Talking with people afterwards, crowded rooms, and the feeling of being able to relax or share space with others are all things we think hard about now. That relaxing connectedness felt like it had diminished a bit and I found that to be difficult.”
It’s a decision that Botticelli says she doubts “constantly,” but she quickly found a new major life event to occupy her time. In lieu of working as a full-time musician (for now), Botticelli enrolled at her local community college to study business, something she previously never thought possible because music consumed so much of her time. She transfers to UMass Amherst next fall.
“The break in performing forced me to focus on other areas of my life that I think I had let slide a bit,” she notes. “It taught me that educating myself or expanding my options doesn’t make me less of a musician, and that I didn’t have to chose to be ‘this person’ or ‘that person’ because I could be both… It’s been nice to sort of rediscover parts of myself beyond music. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely will always love music, but I’ve remembered a lot of other things I love too. I think right now, I’m exactly where I need to be.”
Boston singer Destiny Claymore used her lull in live performances to focus instead on her career as an actress, which she says has soothed her time away from the stage. She filmed her role in the action-comedy flick Free Guy in 2019, but the film didn’t hit theaters until this past August, giving her a project outside of music to promote. But even the thrill of the movie theater got tiresome after a while.
“I think as creatives we work off momentum, and when the hype of the movie died down in my own life I started to feel a void, or feel like I wasn’t doing as much as I could as an artist, “ Claymore says. “I learned I need to perform live, it’s been a part of me for most of my life and without it I feel mundane — unspecial. Life can get very depressing and monotonous without live music.”
Claymore still hasn’t performed a true “show” since late 2019, but she’s tried to keep her spirits high by singing at charities and community events in Somerville and Brockton, hoping to inspire children with similar artistic ambitions. “I think doing that filled a void for all of us,” she says.
For other artists, the obvious solution during COVID-19 was to pivot from stages to studios and hone their craft, be it music or other art forms. Lowell synth shredders Western Education, for example, poured their extra time and energy into completing their next full-length record. The group wasn’t sure if shows would be well-attended in 2021, since musicians aren’t the only folks with health and safety concerns. Audiences also have to gauge their comfort level with every venue’s specific COVID-19 policies, and Western Education worried that a slew of shows in the current live music climate might be a waste.
“Do people even want to go [to shows]?“ frontman Greg Alexandropoulos muses. “I would personally hate to put so much effort into our album and then not be able to tour it, or not have some packed album shows.”
It’s been over two years since the band performed their last show at UnchARTed Gallery in Lowell, but Alexandropoulos says they’re happily biding their time by bettering their skills at home.
“We’re stuck inside, but we’re getting better,” he notes. “We’re improving on all aspects: As writers, arrangers, engineers, as producers. We haven’t sat around doing nothing, waiting for COVID to end. We’re working virtually. Honing not only our art, but the technical craft of music.”
Somerville’s dream-punk outfit Leopard Print Taser had the same approach. Once live music halted last spring, the obvious priority was to hole up in the studio and complete their forthcoming LP. However, that also meant they haven’t had much time to properly practice.
“We were rusty!” bassist Shannon Donahue (pictured above) says, explaining why the band hasn’t performed since 2020. Adds guitarist Nicholas Wolf: “It simply didn’t make sense. We hadn’t been rehearsing regularly until about July. Three of us work at The Sinclair and that was occupying a lot of time, facilitating others’ opportunity to play live.”
While completing the album and sharing shifts at the Cambridge venue, the band also spent the pandemic branching out as individuals. Donahue started making jewelry, lead singer Leila Bower returned to school and began working at a woman’s shelter, and Wolfe and drummer Reid Calkin formed a new group called Severed Boy. The first EP, released in July via Caligari Records, has even sold out in two physical formats.
“I have had more musical output in the last 18 months than ever,” Wolf says.
Adds Donahue: “This year also gave me a significant amount of time to be a better musician by practicing like crazy and learning songs that were previously beyond my skill level.”
It’s a good thing they’re feeling well-prepared again — dare we say “normal?” — since Leopard Print Taser’s return to the stage is imminent. On December 30, the group will perform live at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston as part of Rebuilder’s annual New Years Eve shows, alongside Future Teens and Carissa Johnson. It’s their first “real life” gig since they opened for The Paranoyds in February 2020 — back when ONCE Ballroom was still a brick-and-mortar space on Somerville’s Highland Avenue.
A lot has changed since that spring. As a unit, Leopard Print Taser is sharper. Smarter, even. They made a band within a band via Severed Boy. And for the time being, ONCE no longer has a permanent physical home.
But the show will go on. Just like it will for Botticelli, Claymore, Western Education, and plenty others — when they’re ready.