When The Slowdown posted their announcement that they’ve teamed up with the Maha Festival folks for an outdoor concert series to be performed in the Slowdown parking lot, I tripped over the COVID stipulation that your $15 ticket gets you access to an outdoor “pod.”

WTF’s a pod?

“A pod is a 10-foot by 10-foot U-shaped space made with sections of 3-foot-tall fence (called ‘bike rack’ in the biz),” said Slowdown’s top banana Jason Kulbel. “These are spaced six feet apart. We’ll have about 40 of them in the lot.”

Ten people maximum per pod. So does that mean I could end up sharing a pod with very hip but total strangers? Could I get my own private pod for my $15 ticket?

“Maybe if you took one at the back,” Kulbel said. “We decided to do these GA instead of a ‘you need to spend $120 and buy the whole thing’ approach. We’ll have staff to help sort/seat (and note that if you like that seat, bring along a lawn chair).”

It sounds cozy. It sounds fun. Most of all, it sounds safe. And, of course, all the specifics about pods and other COVID-related regulations surrounding the live concerts are online right here on the Slowdown website.

The first in the concert series is tomorrow (Friday) at 6:30 p.m. with Clarence Tilton and Pony Creek. In addition to your lawn chair you may want to bring a cowboy hat.

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Yesterday the folks at National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), who have been lobbying you to send a plea to your Congress-person to get on board with the Save Our Stages Act, cc’d me on a letter sent to Congress with this dire message:

“We write to express our dire need for assistance, and to urge you to move quickly to pass additional COVID relief. Absent a deal by the end of September, our businesses will disappear, millions of Americans will permanently lose their jobs, and entire industries will take decades to recover, if they do at all.“

Some stats to back it up: According to Yelp, more than 163,000 businesses have already closed, 60% permanently. That number rises daily. More than 22 million jobs have been lost due to the pandemic and less than half have been recovered. The National Bureau of Economic Research estimates that 42% of recent layoffs will be permanent losses.

Along with NIVA, the letter, which was headed with this hashtag: #DoNotAbandonUs, was co-signed by organizations Arthouse Convergence, ExtendPUA.org, International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, League of Historic American Theaters Live Events Coalition, The Main Street Alliance, National Association of Theatre Owners and National Independent Talent Organization.

Things are getting scary. They already were scary for these guys, but now they’re getting very real and very permanent. If you want to do your part, go to the NIVA website and fill out the letter that will automatically be sent to your representative in Washington. Let your voice be heard before it’s too late.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily (if there’s news) at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.