Photo Credit: Paulette Wooten
Nashville venues band together to enforce COVID entry requirements to stave off shutdowns.
Several of the city’s independent music venues are standing united on the requirement that guests be vaccinated before attending shows. Venues coming together under the #Keep615Live campaign include City Winery Nashville, The 5 Spot, the Exit/In, 3rd & Lindsley, The Basement, The Basement East, the End, the East Room, and the Cannery Complex – including the Cannery Ballroom, Mercy Lounge, and the High Watt.
Several more venues around Nashville are encouraged to join the effort. It requires all guests to require proof of a COVID vaccine or a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours before the show. Masks are also strongly recommended for indoor performances. These venues promise to continually assess the information and recommendations provided by the CDC.
“We love music. We believe in science, Please get vaccinated. Yes, it’s a personal choice, just like holding the door for someone behind you, saying thank you, picking up after your dog, tipping your bartender, and being a decent person who cares about others,” writes the Exit/In on their website.
Nashville Venues Band Together – Requirements
Pictures or a scan on your cellphone, a photocopy, or the original copy of a CDC-issued vaccination card. Some of the venues are also requiring masks for all of their staff.
Many Nashville-based musicians seem to agree with the decision. “Requiring proof of vaccine is the only ethical and moral way forward,” drummer Jerry Roe told Rolling Stone. Roe frequently haunts the Nashville clubs scene with his band, Friendship Commanders. “I definitely don’t feel comfortable asking anyone to come see my band play without being able to guarantee their safety and comfort.”
Each Nashville venue has a different date for when the new policy will go forward. Most of them are being put into effect by August 20 at the latest. Bonnaroo, the Manchester, Tennessee music festival is also requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test.
Tennessee currently has one of the lowest rates of fully vaccinated people in the US. Only 39.6% of Tennesseans are vaccinated against COVID, according to the Mayo Clinic. Requiring vaccinations or negative COVID tests and masking up is helping keep the public safe. That’s especially true for children who cannot receive the vaccine yet – but may still contract COVID from vaccinated adults.
