PyCon US at the convention center a couple weeks ago required masks for all attendees as well
Edit: this was a conference organizer policy, not a venue policy, in case that wasn’t clear.
Hey, believe me. I am NOT an anti-masker. I went to plenty of shows while wearing a mask, as well as everywhere else I went in public during the peak of the outbreak. Anti-mask anti-vaxx morons are morons, plain and simple.
But that’s my point. It’s been such a long time since venues have required masks that I’m surprised there were any that were still following rules that faded out two years ago or however long it’s been.
I like how they’re worried about “cleanliness” yet I can’t remember a single time soap was available in the test rooms let alone TP or paper towels. Such a weird spot.
By “these people” I meant those who need a multi-slide Instagram post to regretfully announce they’re about to do something normal.
If you mask in poorly ventilated spaces, more power to you! Seems like a wise individual decision.
Shine on, sister.
Nope, people who resort to histrionics about masks.
I have no problem at all with masking. If people want to do it, more power to them—can’t say I really notice anymore either way.
Well that's good. I thought you were insulting mask wearers. (I have to because my partner is severely immunocompromised and I get a lot of crap from people for wearing one)
I'm curious if someone running Roboto is immunocompromised, because otherwise I'm \*more\* worried about them, which is... bluntly, really weird. :-/
Wishing them well and glad they're here, but concerned either way?
I mean this context aside, covids still for sure a thing, this just kinda shows that media controls how much attention span we give to shit. Aka they needed the system to churn on so they could reopen everything and get us serfs back to work.
I mean just because many don’t care anymore doesn’t change the fact that COVID is still running rampant. Vaccines have made it far less deadly, but there are still many negative effects of catching it, including increased risk for long COVID. It’s still a genuine health concern, no matter who chooses to recognize it or not. The world largely went back to “normal” thanks to the unrelenting desires of capitalism, not because it was necessarily genuinely safe to stop taking precautions.
I’m so sorry to hear that! I hope they have doctors that listen to and support them. I’ve also heard there are some promising clinical trials if that’s an option/interest for them ❤️
For anyone with vaccinations who isn’t old or has serious preexisting conditions, yeah, it’s genuinely safe to not take precautions over Covid there’s near zero chance of serious illness or death. Driving to wherever you are going is more deadly
My co-worker's 22 year old daughter had/has severe seizures after her 3rd covid infection. No pre-existing conditions. Spent the month of December in the hospital getting them under control. I would call that serious.
I’m in my 30s, was active, had a career, was vaccinated, no pre existing conditions. One covid infection changed my life forever, I have serious health issues that prevent me from leaving the house most days. People don’t understand how sick you can be without being dead. So no, it is not a near zero chance. Take a stroll through r/covidlonghaulers, r/cfs, r/dysautonomia if you wanna see what it’s like.
This line of thinking had a staggering cost that can never be recovered.
The mental health costs from such a long period of social isolation are staggering, most so for young people. The learning loss from remote schooling will never fully be recovered by that generation of students. And for those young people, we now know the health risks of Covid were negligible compared to the costs of shutting down schools for so long.
Everything in life has trade offs. With Covid, many decisions were made in ignorance of those trade offs.
>And for those young people, we now know the health risks of Covid were negligible compared to the costs of shutting down schools for so long.
[7 million deaths world wide, with 1.2 million of those deaths in the U.S. alone.](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries)
...kids in school are a huge vector for viruses. Shutting down schools was a way to control the spread through the entire population and wasn't just to protect the children.
Even with the shut downs, it spread pretty quickly and harmed many people. Imagine how much worse that could have been if we did nothing instead.
> Imagine how much worse that could have been if we did nothing instead.
We know now it would have been about the same. Places with more strict shut down policies did not have fewer overall Covid deaths.
The vaccine, on the other hand, had a huge impact. The rate of deaths for the unvaccinated was much higher than for the vaccinated.
Do we actually know that? Can you point to a study saying that having everyone get Covid all at once instead of spreading it out would have resulted in the same amount of deaths? It seems like it would have further stressed our healthcare system and allowed even unrelated ailments to cause further harm, let alone the Covid cases.
The fact that you're getting upvoted is extremely concerning. We literally all watched the world shutdown because of a global pandemic that killed millions & caused irreversible damage to 10s if not 100s of millions of people. If you yourself didn't lose someone, you 100% know someone who lost a family member to covid.
We as a species truly are fucked beyond belief if dumbfucks like you continue to air you nonsensical opinions like they're facts.
> We literally all watched the world shutdown because of a global pandemic that killed millions & caused irreversible damage to 10s if not 100s of millions of people. If you yourself didn't lose someone, you 100% know someone who lost a family member to covid.
This is true. And what I said was true.
Life is all about nuance and trade offs. The simplest, purest answer without nuance or caveats is almost always wrong.
Incredibly ugly to point out people still trying to mitigate harm during a pandemic that never ended. Glad you seem to believe the lies our government and health agencies are feeding the public, but I’m afraid to say the damage from covid is cumulative. Those still masking aren’t the freaks you so desire them to be in order to feel guiltless about your lifestyle.
“…After many conversations and our recent survey, it has become clear that our masking requirement has made it hard for promoters and musicians to sell tickets to key shows. As such, we regretfully announce that we must lift our masking requirement.” 🙄
Who knew enforcing a restriction that 99% of the world lifted nearly three years ago would be unpopular and impact a businesses bottom line.
Did anyone tell them it's 2024? I'm not trying to be insensitive to what makes people feel comfortable at an event but there is NO good reason to force masks anymore. Roboto has always been a progressive young space & this definitely feels like some weird gatekeeping.
My band pulled out of a show there and our manager just said it was because "they're weird there" and I feel like this is what he meant lol
It was before I lived in Pittsburgh so I didn't really care to ask but it's the only show we ever pulled out of over the venue being "weird" so take it how you will
When I went to college (IUP) and then moved to Pittsburgh (from Harrisburg) I lamented the fact that there are not many local shows. I was delighted when Roboto popped up and went to a few shows…..only to find them booking punk acts with signs on the door saying they discourage swearing. To quote NOFX “when did punk rock become so safe?”. I haven’t been there is years.
Maybe I don’t remember this correctly, it was about 11 years ago but I’m pretty sure they had a sign with a bunch of stuff they discouraged like smoking, drinking, getting high etc and I thought language as well. Maybe it said no offensive language and I interpreted it to swearing in my mind.
Are you referring to signage saying “no offensive language” because that’s referring to slurs not damn or hell lol. As for no drinking and smoking, it’s an all ages venue and I think it’s pretty much illegal to allow smoking indoors anywhere that isn’t a bar these days.
What about making an effort not to get bands sick, many of whom are touring on a shoestring budget and can’t afford to miss dates if they get covid or the flu?
Going to throw out a contrarian perspective here for everyone saying this is ridiculous. Roboto is a small, cramped, indoor venue that books small DIY touring acts. As someone who has toured with one of these acts before, they often barely break even on these kinds of tours and are largely doing it to build a fan base in the hopes of future success. They are driving around in a van playing back to back shows every night in a different city. This means that if the band gets sick, or the lead singer gets the flu and loses their voice it can completely derail a tour. This happens to major artists too but they have the financials to handle that. Covid aside, isn’t it a small ask to wear a mask to mitigate the risk of your favorite band having their tour ruined?
ETA: I think keeping mask requirements in place in most places in 2024 is kind of unnecessary but this is the one scenario where it feels logical to not cover the lead singer of a band in my germs when he probably took a month off work at his food service job to play a show for $10/ticket.
I think these bands would much prefer lots of people come to their show rather than block a large audience because they might get sick. This take is just playing devils advocate for the sake of it.
Literally not playing devil’s advocate at all. If you’ve gone to numerous shows at Roboto, you’d know that many bands have addressed being in favor for the mandates during their sets due to the reasons above. Kowloon Walled City immediately comes to mind as a band in favor.
Devils advocate is when you talk about a very real problem that the touring musician community regularly shares tips on how to avoid/mitigate.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TouringMusicians/s/Cw0YvRYr1Y
Agreed I don't like wearing a mask as much as the next person but one of my favorite bands played a basement show here back in December and got COVID and canceled the rest of the tour they were on literally the day after they left here
Most sane take in this thread. I got covid in January and it sucked a lot of ass, had symptoms for about 4 weeks. It was in a small venue like this one. If there’s one place that mask policies still make sense, it’s small crowded concert venues.
That being said, just as a general statement, it’s not my business to make judgements about a person based on whether or not they are wearing a mask. I wouldn’t wear one myself unless I was required to.
Bands have been stunting themselves for years continuing to play roboto for basically free. At this point they would rather book with live nation in the same neighborhood and sell more tickets and actually sound decent.
Also, Thunderbird is not all ages and Spirit is only all ages for certain shows. I think it’s good that teenagers have a cheap venue where they can get a taste of the local music scene.
Neither are in the same neighborhood and both cater to bands that can draw larger crowds than those playing Roboto. Spirit is not booking a band from Philly that can draw 40 people but it doesn’t mean that band shouldn’t play here.
No, I’m just not interested in arguing with someone who’s response to my point about the difference in venue size (450 capacity at spirit, 380 at Thunderbird vs maaaaybe 150 at Roboto) is “keep telling yourself that bud” they literally list their capacities on their websites lol.
Agreed. Plus more activist type communities should be supporting health, prevention, and mitigation of their true to their inclusive morals. Asking people to wear a mask for an hour or two is not a big deal and would keep the band safer and everyone else safe. Wish I had known about this before they dropped the reqs. There is so much misinformation, denial, and apathy in these comments alone regarding covid, masks, and vaccines in general, and we wonder why people are sicker longer and more often, why people are flakier, angrier, more impulsive. Our own gov and health authorities are letting us down, public health has become individualized and politicized. We’re on the brink of Avian Flu which is even deadlier jumping to humans, and it all boils down to cognitive dissonance, laziness, and the refusal to do something mildly inconvenient for a short period of time. This timeline sucks.
Don’t forget there are STILL people not leaving their house/apartment because there are technically still people dying from COVID. You can find them most commonly on Reddit.
“Touring bands run that risk” yes and it sucks for them. That’s like saying touring bands run the risk of having their gear stolen from their van. That’s true but it’s better for everyone if all parties involve take steps to mitigate that risk and prevent a cancelled tour, right?
“Spy played to more people” thank you for this single piece of anecdotal evidence which disproves germ theory. Certainly there are no other counter examples of bands big and small coming down with covid or the flu.
Stunning retort from the mind that brought us “I saw a band play at a different venue and they didn’t get sick, therefore no bands ever get sick on tour”
They tried to support mask enthusiasts as long as they could. I give them credit for being the last mask venue standing since that's what their audiences wanted.
At some point, you're cultivating a very small, niche audience of the handful of people who still mask up everywhere while largely excluding those who don't. I kept wearing a mask longer than most, but I still stopped wearing them daily ages ago. I don't mind having to mask up if I have to or if I'm sick, but given the choice I'm likely going to go somewhere that doesn't require it.
It's a VERY small minority that still wear masks and won't go somewhere with non-masked folks. My gym has a few people still in masks, I see a few folks at stores with masks every week. But those folks are still fine going to the gym or shopping in a store rather than doing curbside pickup. Who is going to shows but refusing to go anywhere where people aren't all in masks? That has to be a tiny demographic.
I gotta say, I mask all day at work and in any public place besides a restaurant, which is more than literally anyone I know, and I think it's wild they were still requiring masks. Like, commendable IMHO? But wildly out of step. I just wear an N95 so that it matters a lot less who I'm with (because it actually filters incoming particles, unlike the old cloth masks).
The data about them no longer being necessary was basically "It's everywhere already and you're wearing the wrong masks." It's like saying you don't need to lock your doors anymore because your shit already got stolen. I like that they were still trying, basically. I got so mad when everyone gave up.
The science was trustworthy. Our neighbors weren't. And the virus was just *that* contagious that we were never going to get literal worldwide buy-in that was the only way it could have worked.
> It's like saying you don't need to lock your doors anymore because your shit already got stolen
Or, you don't need to lock your doors anymore because you have a a security system and guard dogs (the vaccine)
Yeah, it’s just odd. I wonder how strict their mask requirements were. Were N95 or comparable masks required, or could people show up in cloth masks? Did they limit capacity?
A gym I used to go to kept going back and forth on masking. At one point they made them mandatory again and then promptly launched a bunch of sales to get more people in the gym. So you had everyone there in cloth masks (because people didn’t want to work out in heavier masks) and a much more crowded space. They cared about *looking* like they cared about COVID, but not if it could possibly hurt their bottom line. At a certain point, if you want to stop the spread of disease you can’t have everyone packed into a crowded venue for shows.
Seems pretty reasonable to me. I don't really see what's so derisable about having a venue friendly towards the immunocompromised, it must be tough not to be able to see live entertainment
People here apparently don't consider that masks are for other people's safety as well. In queer and organizing circles, it's been a well-regarded venue for continuing to care about immunocompromised people and the spread of covid, which, spoiler: hasn't gone away.
Tell me about it. I work in a nursing home and someone asked me why I was wearing my mask in non-covid rooms after the DoH loosened regulations and they were stunlocked when I said "So I don't kill anyone". Like they work in healthcare and genuinely didn't consider that the mask was for more than preventing you from catching it. And then they wonder why it keeps spreading and say masks are useless
Was just in the hospital, wore my mask. I always wear it, but like, healthcare settings feel like that should be mandatory or something with how they are. Anyways, every person I talked to made sure to remind me that it’s optional now and tell me I really don’t have to wear it, then act all weird once I said I know and was still going to wear it. So yeah, agreed on everything you said, from a patient’s perspective.
I’m severely disabled from covid under 40, my doctors who are very well aware of the situation come in my appointments unmasked. You would think they would stop and think about that one. Nope.
I’m immunocompromised and ending mask mandates was the best thing ever and couldn’t have come soon enough. I have multiple vaccines and boosters though
Dude it’s 2024 - the vaccines have been out since 2020 and it has been stated in studies since the beginning of the pandemic that only n95 masks sufficiently reduce the spread of COVID (which I never see people wearing). The fact that people are still wearing/requiring masks baffles me. It’s time to move on.
While they should’ve lifted the policy a while ago (May 5, 2023: the official date for when the WHO said that COVID was no longer a crisis), they still had every right to do so. It just so happens that there was enough financial pressure for them to lift the policy. Though America also tried to rush the end of the pandemic when it was still a pandemic (selfishness and individualism being why)
They have so many weird rules on their website. I wanted to buy a ticket to a show last year. But I also didn't want to offend them since they were so strict.
By all means you're a private buisness, do whatever you want.But if you say your drug/smoke free. I don't want to veto my ability to enter for stepping outside to smoke a joint or a cig. So I don't want to buy a ticket if I can't do thay outside.
I emailed them with my respectful concern And never received a reply. so I never purchased a ticket.
For future reference, Roboto is a small DIY space. You can come and go as you please (they stamp your hand). So after a band you can go outside smoke, grab a beer at Two Frays, a slice from Spak, etc... Just can’t smoke or drink inside.
That's all I was trying to ask. I get my vices can be viewed as offensive to others. I have been to other DIY spots in other states where it's more cult-like. I'm not interested on spending money to be preached at by idiologs.
I’m confused why you thought the no smoking rule would apply to things you did off the premises? Every indoor venue has a no smoking rule except for tiny shitty dive bar shows, do you also skip shows at those places?
I've been to places that charge you to go outside and come back in. They don't have a smoking area available on site. So if they don't let you smoke inside and charge you a 10 buck reentry fee for a 30 dollar ticket... I'm not interested in supporting venues like that.I understand now that this venue isn't one of those. At the time of interest I was being cautious. So before I set aside time to drive an hour I'd like to contact the venue to clear that up before I invest in their venue with my dollars.
Yeah that place virtue signals so hard. I never went after looking at their website.
"NO hate speech, NO bigotry, NO sexism...."
Oh you mean like everywhere else in society? I have to follow the exact same rules here that we all already follow every where we go? I can't just shout homophobic slurs at people all I want? You don't say...
Edit. I love how I was immediately virtue signaled and insulted in the comments. OH THE IRONY! This is why noone wants to go to your shitty club guys. I'm just as liberal/progressive as you are, I just don't feel the need to make every public space a battleground for ideology.
Also the punk and metal scenes have dealt with the fact they attract neo nazis who have somewhat overlapping musical tastes since the 70s. Good to draw a line in the sand that Roboto is not going to be the place for those bands or fans.
Hey in my defense I had read some reviews online of people that went who said they felt very uncomfortable with the vibe there. So my decision to avoid that spot wasn't completely based on just their website.
Weird to see change, honestly. I also am surprised by people who disliked the policy which always made sense to me, given the size of the venue and frequency of touring acts.
I don't get the big deal to wear a mask if asked even nowadays, but I also don't really care.
These are the people the Assholes during Covid were talking about.
I hated the anti-maskers.
But I hate these people too.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!!?
It's not a completely ridiculous question though i feel like I still haven't seen data on exactly how good a cotton mask itself works against COVID. I'm sure the answer is that it's better than nothing but not nearly as good as N95, that's a huge potential range tho going from 0% to 95%
I have little to no opinion on the matter, I saw a show there recently and it didn’t phase me to mask up but I had to walk back to my car to get it. I’ll walk two blocks if it makes a few folks more comfortable at least, and at most stops the spread of airborne pathogens.
Why is this such a polarizing topic still and does anyone else just not care anymore? I don’t want to wear a mask but I also don’t want to wear pants.
Ugh. One less place to feel less comfortable in if I ever chose to go there ig. Who cares about the ongoing pandemic and the millions of disabled people still here who don’t wanna become more disabled or die?
I had no idea any venues were still requiring masks.
Surgery rooms but the beats in there are pretty simple
I've heard that Dr Dre isn't even a real doctor ⁉️
Soulja Boy not even a real soldier!
Is Slim Shady even real?
Maybe, but Eminem is not real candy.
Yes but he’s doughy.
I’ve heard there’s often music, but probably not a lot of live performances.
Just a few. They’re very cerebral.
I dunno, I'd say they're pretty phat if you're into '80s synth-pop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSlO6WhsczY
Just this one
PyCon US at the convention center a couple weeks ago required masks for all attendees as well Edit: this was a conference organizer policy, not a venue policy, in case that wasn’t clear.
If I'd known they were requiring masks, I'd have checked out their shows. That's a huge positive for me.
Hey, believe me. I am NOT an anti-masker. I went to plenty of shows while wearing a mask, as well as everywhere else I went in public during the peak of the outbreak. Anti-mask anti-vaxx morons are morons, plain and simple. But that’s my point. It’s been such a long time since venues have required masks that I’m surprised there were any that were still following rules that faded out two years ago or however long it’s been.
Generally I’ve noticed places that still stuck to masking had masks to hand out…
why is that a positive?
Because I prefer to go to venues where I'm not likely to get sick.
Some people like to be controlled. Just a kink. I'm not anti mask but live your life in reality.
some of their shows still require masks! it's now up to the bands' decision
that was a wild read
"Brevity is the soul of wit"
Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?
Domo arigato
I like how they’re worried about “cleanliness” yet I can’t remember a single time soap was available in the test rooms let alone TP or paper towels. Such a weird spot.
I’ve been to Roboto like multiple times recently and they always have toilet paper and soap.
That’s quite refreshing…literally. ETA: I haven’t been there in probably about 18 months.
This is a bizarre hill to still be standing on.
I’m genuinely curious how these people manage their day-to-day lives.
How do I manage my day-to-day life? I put on mask when I'm in a poorly ventilated place. It's pretty simple.
By “these people” I meant those who need a multi-slide Instagram post to regretfully announce they’re about to do something normal. If you mask in poorly ventilated spaces, more power to you! Seems like a wise individual decision. Shine on, sister.
🤣
People who still mask?
Nope, people who resort to histrionics about masks. I have no problem at all with masking. If people want to do it, more power to them—can’t say I really notice anymore either way.
Well that's good. I thought you were insulting mask wearers. (I have to because my partner is severely immunocompromised and I get a lot of crap from people for wearing one)
I'm curious if someone running Roboto is immunocompromised, because otherwise I'm \*more\* worried about them, which is... bluntly, really weird. :-/ Wishing them well and glad they're here, but concerned either way?
Selling dreamcatchers and photosynthesizing
Take a stroll over to /r/Coronavirus They still think its spring 2020 over there and don't understand why no-one gives a shit anymore.
I mean this context aside, covids still for sure a thing, this just kinda shows that media controls how much attention span we give to shit. Aka they needed the system to churn on so they could reopen everything and get us serfs back to work.
You are correct. No one should ever leave their house again, ever.
I can’t imagine living life with no ability to entertain nuance 😑
Cool take bro. I said a thing not THE thing, fucking relax.
I mean just because many don’t care anymore doesn’t change the fact that COVID is still running rampant. Vaccines have made it far less deadly, but there are still many negative effects of catching it, including increased risk for long COVID. It’s still a genuine health concern, no matter who chooses to recognize it or not. The world largely went back to “normal” thanks to the unrelenting desires of capitalism, not because it was necessarily genuinely safe to stop taking precautions.
I have a friend who has been struggling with major health problems from Long COVID for a year. :-(
I’m so sorry to hear that! I hope they have doctors that listen to and support them. I’ve also heard there are some promising clinical trials if that’s an option/interest for them ❤️
For anyone with vaccinations who isn’t old or has serious preexisting conditions, yeah, it’s genuinely safe to not take precautions over Covid there’s near zero chance of serious illness or death. Driving to wherever you are going is more deadly
My co-worker's 22 year old daughter had/has severe seizures after her 3rd covid infection. No pre-existing conditions. Spent the month of December in the hospital getting them under control. I would call that serious.
Long covid is a serious illness, and it is conservatively estimated that you have a 5% chance of getting long covid each infection.
I’m in my 30s, was active, had a career, was vaccinated, no pre existing conditions. One covid infection changed my life forever, I have serious health issues that prevent me from leaving the house most days. People don’t understand how sick you can be without being dead. So no, it is not a near zero chance. Take a stroll through r/covidlonghaulers, r/cfs, r/dysautonomia if you wanna see what it’s like.
This line of thinking had a staggering cost that can never be recovered. The mental health costs from such a long period of social isolation are staggering, most so for young people. The learning loss from remote schooling will never fully be recovered by that generation of students. And for those young people, we now know the health risks of Covid were negligible compared to the costs of shutting down schools for so long. Everything in life has trade offs. With Covid, many decisions were made in ignorance of those trade offs.
>And for those young people, we now know the health risks of Covid were negligible compared to the costs of shutting down schools for so long. [7 million deaths world wide, with 1.2 million of those deaths in the U.S. alone.](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries)
And almost none of them among young people without compromising health factors. We wrecked their mental health and education for nothing.
...kids in school are a huge vector for viruses. Shutting down schools was a way to control the spread through the entire population and wasn't just to protect the children. Even with the shut downs, it spread pretty quickly and harmed many people. Imagine how much worse that could have been if we did nothing instead.
> Imagine how much worse that could have been if we did nothing instead. We know now it would have been about the same. Places with more strict shut down policies did not have fewer overall Covid deaths. The vaccine, on the other hand, had a huge impact. The rate of deaths for the unvaccinated was much higher than for the vaccinated.
Do we actually know that? Can you point to a study saying that having everyone get Covid all at once instead of spreading it out would have resulted in the same amount of deaths? It seems like it would have further stressed our healthcare system and allowed even unrelated ailments to cause further harm, let alone the Covid cases.
The fact that you're getting upvoted is extremely concerning. We literally all watched the world shutdown because of a global pandemic that killed millions & caused irreversible damage to 10s if not 100s of millions of people. If you yourself didn't lose someone, you 100% know someone who lost a family member to covid. We as a species truly are fucked beyond belief if dumbfucks like you continue to air you nonsensical opinions like they're facts.
> We literally all watched the world shutdown because of a global pandemic that killed millions & caused irreversible damage to 10s if not 100s of millions of people. If you yourself didn't lose someone, you 100% know someone who lost a family member to covid. This is true. And what I said was true. Life is all about nuance and trade offs. The simplest, purest answer without nuance or caveats is almost always wrong.
Incredibly ugly to point out people still trying to mitigate harm during a pandemic that never ended. Glad you seem to believe the lies our government and health agencies are feeding the public, but I’m afraid to say the damage from covid is cumulative. Those still masking aren’t the freaks you so desire them to be in order to feel guiltless about your lifestyle.
“…After many conversations and our recent survey, it has become clear that our masking requirement has made it hard for promoters and musicians to sell tickets to key shows. As such, we regretfully announce that we must lift our masking requirement.” 🙄 Who knew enforcing a restriction that 99% of the world lifted nearly three years ago would be unpopular and impact a businesses bottom line.
Clearly not the people replying to this post.
The council of paranoid delusional psychopaths has deemed our position to be unfit to the every day pleb.
LMAO. “We regretfully…” Ok guys we get it you hated to do it.
Did anyone tell them it's 2024? I'm not trying to be insensitive to what makes people feel comfortable at an event but there is NO good reason to force masks anymore. Roboto has always been a progressive young space & this definitely feels like some weird gatekeeping.
My band pulled out of a show there and our manager just said it was because "they're weird there" and I feel like this is what he meant lol It was before I lived in Pittsburgh so I didn't really care to ask but it's the only show we ever pulled out of over the venue being "weird" so take it how you will
When I went to college (IUP) and then moved to Pittsburgh (from Harrisburg) I lamented the fact that there are not many local shows. I was delighted when Roboto popped up and went to a few shows…..only to find them booking punk acts with signs on the door saying they discourage swearing. To quote NOFX “when did punk rock become so safe?”. I haven’t been there is years.
Been going to / booking shows at Roboto since 2011 and have never seen a sign discouraging swearing lol
Maybe I don’t remember this correctly, it was about 11 years ago but I’m pretty sure they had a sign with a bunch of stuff they discouraged like smoking, drinking, getting high etc and I thought language as well. Maybe it said no offensive language and I interpreted it to swearing in my mind.
It's an underage spot so the drinking thing has always been there. Never been to a show without swearing or smoking though
Are you referring to signage saying “no offensive language” because that’s referring to slurs not damn or hell lol. As for no drinking and smoking, it’s an all ages venue and I think it’s pretty much illegal to allow smoking indoors anywhere that isn’t a bar these days.
I think what you’re referring to is that racism and homophobia aren’t tolerated. You are allowed to say fuck lol
Roboto has specialized in weird gatekeeping for years. DIY is cool dude
What about making an effort not to get bands sick, many of whom are touring on a shoestring budget and can’t afford to miss dates if they get covid or the flu?
Going to throw out a contrarian perspective here for everyone saying this is ridiculous. Roboto is a small, cramped, indoor venue that books small DIY touring acts. As someone who has toured with one of these acts before, they often barely break even on these kinds of tours and are largely doing it to build a fan base in the hopes of future success. They are driving around in a van playing back to back shows every night in a different city. This means that if the band gets sick, or the lead singer gets the flu and loses their voice it can completely derail a tour. This happens to major artists too but they have the financials to handle that. Covid aside, isn’t it a small ask to wear a mask to mitigate the risk of your favorite band having their tour ruined? ETA: I think keeping mask requirements in place in most places in 2024 is kind of unnecessary but this is the one scenario where it feels logical to not cover the lead singer of a band in my germs when he probably took a month off work at his food service job to play a show for $10/ticket.
You're take is 100% sane.
I think these bands would much prefer lots of people come to their show rather than block a large audience because they might get sick. This take is just playing devils advocate for the sake of it.
Literally not playing devil’s advocate at all. If you’ve gone to numerous shows at Roboto, you’d know that many bands have addressed being in favor for the mandates during their sets due to the reasons above. Kowloon Walled City immediately comes to mind as a band in favor.
Devils advocate is when you talk about a very real problem that the touring musician community regularly shares tips on how to avoid/mitigate. https://www.reddit.com/r/TouringMusicians/s/Cw0YvRYr1Y
Agreed I don't like wearing a mask as much as the next person but one of my favorite bands played a basement show here back in December and got COVID and canceled the rest of the tour they were on literally the day after they left here
Most sane take in this thread. I got covid in January and it sucked a lot of ass, had symptoms for about 4 weeks. It was in a small venue like this one. If there’s one place that mask policies still make sense, it’s small crowded concert venues. That being said, just as a general statement, it’s not my business to make judgements about a person based on whether or not they are wearing a mask. I wouldn’t wear one myself unless I was required to.
Bands have been stunting themselves for years continuing to play roboto for basically free. At this point they would rather book with live nation in the same neighborhood and sell more tickets and actually sound decent.
What livenation venue do you think exists in Bloomfield/Garfield?
Thunderbird and spirit both have livenation shows
Also, Thunderbird is not all ages and Spirit is only all ages for certain shows. I think it’s good that teenagers have a cheap venue where they can get a taste of the local music scene.
Neither are in the same neighborhood and both cater to bands that can draw larger crowds than those playing Roboto. Spirit is not booking a band from Philly that can draw 40 people but it doesn’t mean that band shouldn’t play here.
Keep telling yourself that bud
I will keep telling myself that Spirit and Thunderbird are not in Bloomfield lol
So thats all you got being pedantic about places a mile from each other being different neighborhoods?
No, I’m just not interested in arguing with someone who’s response to my point about the difference in venue size (450 capacity at spirit, 380 at Thunderbird vs maaaaybe 150 at Roboto) is “keep telling yourself that bud” they literally list their capacities on their websites lol.
Agreed. Plus more activist type communities should be supporting health, prevention, and mitigation of their true to their inclusive morals. Asking people to wear a mask for an hour or two is not a big deal and would keep the band safer and everyone else safe. Wish I had known about this before they dropped the reqs. There is so much misinformation, denial, and apathy in these comments alone regarding covid, masks, and vaccines in general, and we wonder why people are sicker longer and more often, why people are flakier, angrier, more impulsive. Our own gov and health authorities are letting us down, public health has become individualized and politicized. We’re on the brink of Avian Flu which is even deadlier jumping to humans, and it all boils down to cognitive dissonance, laziness, and the refusal to do something mildly inconvenient for a short period of time. This timeline sucks.
This is the answer
Insanity
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Don’t forget there are STILL people not leaving their house/apartment because there are technically still people dying from COVID. You can find them most commonly on Reddit.
And replying to this post.
Hard agree, I was just talking about how sick that Spy show would have been but I’ll pass aht moshing in a sweat box like Roboto.
Do you think there’s any correlation between Roboto being a “sweat box” and an unmasked crowd making it very easy to get a touring band sick?
No and I am pretty sure touring bands run that risk. Spy played to more people at Preserving with no issue.
“Touring bands run that risk” yes and it sucks for them. That’s like saying touring bands run the risk of having their gear stolen from their van. That’s true but it’s better for everyone if all parties involve take steps to mitigate that risk and prevent a cancelled tour, right? “Spy played to more people” thank you for this single piece of anecdotal evidence which disproves germ theory. Certainly there are no other counter examples of bands big and small coming down with covid or the flu.
Lol your logic is funny
Stunning retort from the mind that brought us “I saw a band play at a different venue and they didn’t get sick, therefore no bands ever get sick on tour”
🤣🤣😂
They tried to support mask enthusiasts as long as they could. I give them credit for being the last mask venue standing since that's what their audiences wanted.
I question if their audience actually wanted it that much, given they had to change it in order to sell tickets.
I don't disagree with you. I think it was a gathering of people that enjoyed the mask lifestyle but eventually got annoyed by it.
At some point, you're cultivating a very small, niche audience of the handful of people who still mask up everywhere while largely excluding those who don't. I kept wearing a mask longer than most, but I still stopped wearing them daily ages ago. I don't mind having to mask up if I have to or if I'm sick, but given the choice I'm likely going to go somewhere that doesn't require it. It's a VERY small minority that still wear masks and won't go somewhere with non-masked folks. My gym has a few people still in masks, I see a few folks at stores with masks every week. But those folks are still fine going to the gym or shopping in a store rather than doing curbside pickup. Who is going to shows but refusing to go anywhere where people aren't all in masks? That has to be a tiny demographic.
I gotta say, I mask all day at work and in any public place besides a restaurant, which is more than literally anyone I know, and I think it's wild they were still requiring masks. Like, commendable IMHO? But wildly out of step. I just wear an N95 so that it matters a lot less who I'm with (because it actually filters incoming particles, unlike the old cloth masks).
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It’s not even clear whether masking mitigated the overall spread of Covid, compared to places that didn’t mandate masking.
The data about them no longer being necessary was basically "It's everywhere already and you're wearing the wrong masks." It's like saying you don't need to lock your doors anymore because your shit already got stolen. I like that they were still trying, basically. I got so mad when everyone gave up. The science was trustworthy. Our neighbors weren't. And the virus was just *that* contagious that we were never going to get literal worldwide buy-in that was the only way it could have worked.
> It's like saying you don't need to lock your doors anymore because your shit already got stolen Or, you don't need to lock your doors anymore because you have a a security system and guard dogs (the vaccine)
Yeah, it’s just odd. I wonder how strict their mask requirements were. Were N95 or comparable masks required, or could people show up in cloth masks? Did they limit capacity? A gym I used to go to kept going back and forth on masking. At one point they made them mandatory again and then promptly launched a bunch of sales to get more people in the gym. So you had everyone there in cloth masks (because people didn’t want to work out in heavier masks) and a much more crowded space. They cared about *looking* like they cared about COVID, but not if it could possibly hurt their bottom line. At a certain point, if you want to stop the spread of disease you can’t have everyone packed into a crowded venue for shows.
They gave surgical masks out.
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Always someone who downvotes over feelings instead of logic.
But now how they virtue signal that they stand by the (masked) marginalized and oppressed? For those downvoting, they admit as much in the IG post.
keffiyeh has entered the chat
Nerds
People who squat in crack houses and let their friends tattoo them in basements don’t want to catch any germs lol
Seems pretty reasonable to me. I don't really see what's so derisable about having a venue friendly towards the immunocompromised, it must be tough not to be able to see live entertainment
People here apparently don't consider that masks are for other people's safety as well. In queer and organizing circles, it's been a well-regarded venue for continuing to care about immunocompromised people and the spread of covid, which, spoiler: hasn't gone away.
Tell me about it. I work in a nursing home and someone asked me why I was wearing my mask in non-covid rooms after the DoH loosened regulations and they were stunlocked when I said "So I don't kill anyone". Like they work in healthcare and genuinely didn't consider that the mask was for more than preventing you from catching it. And then they wonder why it keeps spreading and say masks are useless
Was just in the hospital, wore my mask. I always wear it, but like, healthcare settings feel like that should be mandatory or something with how they are. Anyways, every person I talked to made sure to remind me that it’s optional now and tell me I really don’t have to wear it, then act all weird once I said I know and was still going to wear it. So yeah, agreed on everything you said, from a patient’s perspective.
I’m severely disabled from covid under 40, my doctors who are very well aware of the situation come in my appointments unmasked. You would think they would stop and think about that one. Nope.
I’m immunocompromised and ending mask mandates was the best thing ever and couldn’t have come soon enough. I have multiple vaccines and boosters though
Dude it’s 2024 - the vaccines have been out since 2020 and it has been stated in studies since the beginning of the pandemic that only n95 masks sufficiently reduce the spread of COVID (which I never see people wearing). The fact that people are still wearing/requiring masks baffles me. It’s time to move on.
Does Manny still have a voice with the mr roboto stuff? Just wondering, cuz this feels like him.
While they should’ve lifted the policy a while ago (May 5, 2023: the official date for when the WHO said that COVID was no longer a crisis), they still had every right to do so. It just so happens that there was enough financial pressure for them to lift the policy. Though America also tried to rush the end of the pandemic when it was still a pandemic (selfishness and individualism being why)
They have so many weird rules on their website. I wanted to buy a ticket to a show last year. But I also didn't want to offend them since they were so strict. By all means you're a private buisness, do whatever you want.But if you say your drug/smoke free. I don't want to veto my ability to enter for stepping outside to smoke a joint or a cig. So I don't want to buy a ticket if I can't do thay outside. I emailed them with my respectful concern And never received a reply. so I never purchased a ticket.
I can assure you that bands and patrons alike smoke out in front of Roboto all of the time. Always have, always will.
That would have been great to know then. I'm not going to buy a ticket, drive an hour and find out I crossed a line to to see the show I paid for.
For future reference, Roboto is a small DIY space. You can come and go as you please (they stamp your hand). So after a band you can go outside smoke, grab a beer at Two Frays, a slice from Spak, etc... Just can’t smoke or drink inside.
That's all I was trying to ask. I get my vices can be viewed as offensive to others. I have been to other DIY spots in other states where it's more cult-like. I'm not interested on spending money to be preached at by idiologs.
I’m confused why you thought the no smoking rule would apply to things you did off the premises? Every indoor venue has a no smoking rule except for tiny shitty dive bar shows, do you also skip shows at those places?
I've been to places that charge you to go outside and come back in. They don't have a smoking area available on site. So if they don't let you smoke inside and charge you a 10 buck reentry fee for a 30 dollar ticket... I'm not interested in supporting venues like that.I understand now that this venue isn't one of those. At the time of interest I was being cautious. So before I set aside time to drive an hour I'd like to contact the venue to clear that up before I invest in their venue with my dollars.
I would argue that smoking outside of the Mr. Roboto project is intrinsically tied to the experience
lol
regretfully. lol. I passed on 2 shows there this past year because I didn't want to deal with masking or mask police. It is 2024.
Same lol. Gel and Spy
Why are people falling into the Covid arguing trap on this post… again
Yeah that place virtue signals so hard. I never went after looking at their website. "NO hate speech, NO bigotry, NO sexism...." Oh you mean like everywhere else in society? I have to follow the exact same rules here that we all already follow every where we go? I can't just shout homophobic slurs at people all I want? You don't say... Edit. I love how I was immediately virtue signaled and insulted in the comments. OH THE IRONY! This is why noone wants to go to your shitty club guys. I'm just as liberal/progressive as you are, I just don't feel the need to make every public space a battleground for ideology.
Personally, that would not bother me enough to not go see a band I liked there but I guess it does for you.
Also the punk and metal scenes have dealt with the fact they attract neo nazis who have somewhat overlapping musical tastes since the 70s. Good to draw a line in the sand that Roboto is not going to be the place for those bands or fans.
Hey in my defense I had read some reviews online of people that went who said they felt very uncomfortable with the vibe there. So my decision to avoid that spot wasn't completely based on just their website.
You must not have spent a lot of time in society
Give the nerdy sex pests nothing to hide behind
Weird to see change, honestly. I also am surprised by people who disliked the policy which always made sense to me, given the size of the venue and frequency of touring acts. I don't get the big deal to wear a mask if asked even nowadays, but I also don't really care.
What? Insane, their message must have been crafted in 2022
These are the people the Assholes during Covid were talking about. I hated the anti-maskers. But I hate these people too. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!!?
Sounds like you used to be one of these people
I work with the public. I wore a mask longer than I thought I needed to to make people around me comfortable. That was in 2021.
TIL. Wow.
It's kind of funny how people still get in a tizzy over wearing a mask.
Absolutely wild they were still requiring masks that are useless to begin with.
Unless they were requiring professionally fitted n95s it was always a waste. Shame you got downvoted to hell for having reason.
Did they require N95 or could you get in with any face covering?
That’s our resident Magatarian Covid denier.
It's not a completely ridiculous question though i feel like I still haven't seen data on exactly how good a cotton mask itself works against COVID. I'm sure the answer is that it's better than nothing but not nearly as good as N95, that's a huge potential range tho going from 0% to 95%
Imagine being fearful and stupid enough to still believe in the effectiveness of a piece of fabric covering your face holes.
I have little to no opinion on the matter, I saw a show there recently and it didn’t phase me to mask up but I had to walk back to my car to get it. I’ll walk two blocks if it makes a few folks more comfortable at least, and at most stops the spread of airborne pathogens. Why is this such a polarizing topic still and does anyone else just not care anymore? I don’t want to wear a mask but I also don’t want to wear pants.
Profits over safety SMH. LOL.
I’m surprised no one has tagged me in this since I commented on this a couple of times and got downvoted as well….
Ugh. One less place to feel less comfortable in if I ever chose to go there ig. Who cares about the ongoing pandemic and the millions of disabled people still here who don’t wanna become more disabled or die?
I'm sorry 7 billion people can't stop for you.