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Lights, cameras, action back for Johnny's shows - with no crowds

Johnny’s Social Club has remained empty for most of the last year, but for a series of ultra-limited and online-only engagements, shows are coming back to the stage.

Johnny’s Social Club has remained empty for most of the last year, but for a series of ultra-limited and online-only engagements, shows are coming back to the stage.

The club will play host to a series of shows streamed online for viewers to enjoy at home, made possible through the Blueberry Jam Music Gathering group. At the club itself, four cameras have been set up to document performances and high-tech audio equipment is used to make the performers sound as good as possible. Much of the equipment used is the same that is used for a standard Johnny’s show, crowd and all.

“There’s no difference, other than the people not sitting here,” said Trevor Sytnick, the organizer of the shows and technical lead. Every pixel and waveform that goes online during the livestreams runs through Sytnick’s on-site mixing board, cameras and equipment.

“We really worked on getting lots of different intimate angles and shots of the stage. If you’ve seen any of the Johnny’s videos on Youtube that we post after shows, it’s going to be very similar to that.”

The series, similar in theme and content to the existing Loaded Mic concert series - which Sytnick has spearheaded - began with an online-only show streamed Feb. 19, featuring a rotating cast of local musicians, artists and talent. Other shows are planned over the winter and other community groups are planning on dipping their toes in the livestreaming waters.

With so much effort going towards preventing crowds or intermingling due to COVID-19 transmission risk, Flin Flon’s arts community has taken to streaming shows in place of live, in-person content. Shows have been shown online since at least last summer, but even holding concerts remotely was impractical until recently due to public health orders.

The first show, along with future performances, was a mix of live content and pre-recorded sets. While the venue can open in a limited capacity under provincial health orders, Sytnick said performers will be taking things more cautiously than the mandated minimum.

“We’re allowed 25 per cent of capacity at Johnny’s, which would be 20 people. We’ve put a cap of five on it for the night - we’ll have some people leave and there should be a sort of natural break and we’ll get a couple more people in. It’s going to be whoever’s performing, we’ve got one entrance and one exit and people are just going to funnel through so nobody crosses paths,” he said, mentioning that extra care has been taken to ensure performers stay within their own bubbles.

“We didn’t do anything with a group. Everybody has to be able to play themselves and accompany themselves. Husband and wife and household is the only exception because they’re in the same bubble, but there’s nobody from a different bubble by each other.”

While Flin Flon and surrounding areas in Manitoba no longer have any active reported cases of COVID-19 as of Feb. 22, people and performers - including Sytnick - aren’t willing to tempt fate. Chairs and tables have been moved from the front of the stage and Sytnick, set up in his production nerve centre near Johnny’s famous U-shaped back tables and stools, is well over 10 feet away from the stage, masked up at all times.

“We’re being a little more strict than we should, because a lot of people are still getting used to being around people. That’s why we prerecorded some things - if somebody can’t make it or they’re not comfortable or somebody gets a cold, things happen. If something happened, we didn’t want to shut the whole thing down,” he said.

“There’s really different comfort levels, even between people that we work with and people that we play with. We’re just trying to find the most cautious person and accommodate to them.”

After months of dormancy, Sytnick said it feels good to be back at the board, producing music in-person again - even if there isn’t a present crowd to join him. Like putting on a familiar record, it didn’t take long for Sytnick to find the groove.

“It honestly feels like it was two days ago that we had our last show. It all came back instantly, like I’m right back in it. The process of setting up a show is just instinctive,” he said.

“Seeing the people, hearing them play when they come in and practice, that was really cool. That was the best part of it. These are my friends and we’re making music again.”

Further shows will be announced online throughout the spring.

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