GB Co.’s music festival gives crowd live bands amid social distancing controls – Goshen News

GOSHEN — Music rang out and echoed across the millrace as live bands played to a sold-out crowd at Goshen Brewing Co. over Labor Day weekend.

The brewery hosted the Spaced Jam Music Festival, an outdoors event in its parking lot at 315 W. Washington St. Sunday — the first local music festival of this size this year. Four bands were slated to take the stage through the evening, while concertgoers watched and hung out from assigned sections of the lot.

Organizers sought to create a balance with a fun, end-of-summer event, while also implementing controls and procedures to maintain social distancing among the crowd of approximately 200 attendees in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s pretty exciting. It’s, of course, different, but I think we feel good about the safety of the way this is going on, being outdoors — plenty of fresh air and space,” said Jesse Sensenig, co-founder of GB Co. “We’re pretty stoked to have this going on.”

Sections of the lot were partitioned by spray-painted borders, ranging in sizes to fit groups of about two to six people with amenities like chairs, coolers or mini-tables. Ticket-holders, wearing masks, were escorted to their assigned sections of the lot by event staff after they checked in at a gate.

Attendees were expected to remain in their sections as much as possible throughout the shows. They could bring in their own food, while GB Co. supplied the beverages.

“We have servers coming out to all these spots, so they don’t have to leave except for going to the bathroom, which we’ve got them spread out and you can keep your distances. And really, those are the only things for moving around, or if you need to go outside to smoke a cigarette,” Sensenig said. “They’re supposed to stay in those areas. They can dance in that area if they want to, but you can’t move out of that area.”

CROWD LIMITED

The event was open to people who purchased tickets after they went on sale Aug. 21. Walk-ins weren’t allowed, Sensenig said. The crowd was limited to about 250 people to keep with Indiana’s current social distancing guidelines.

Fans and musicians alike were excited for the event, which started in the late afternoon amid temperatures in the mid-70s under a partly sunny sky.

“I’m going to do as many high-kicks as I can,” said Jake Miller, who fronts local band Cazz Vi.

Excited as he was to get back on stage, Miller also expressed mixed worry about being in such a space with a large group of people amid the ongoing pandemic. But he said he felt secure about the precautions taken at the brewery.

“It feels really good. Feels very cathartic. At the same time, getting together in large groups is kind of unnerving. But, the brewing company has done a really good job up to this point running their business, and I think they’ve taken everything into account. It looks like everything’s pretty safe here,” Miller said.

The Goshen native also said he felt good about sharing the stage with three other bands. He said steps were taken to address that situation, such as encouraging groups to bring their own microphones, for example. That goes along with a few of the changes he’s had to make as a musician to continue practicing his craft.

“Preparing and stuff, and making sure that we’re all safe rehearsing together and things like that — finding space to do that safely — has been a bit of a challenge. Other than that, it’s relatively normal,” Miller said.

Miller noted Spaced Jam would be about the fourth of fifth time he’s performed this year. But the event was the first time the band has been together since January. Miller described Cazz Vi’s sound as a mixture of psychedelic pop/rock, river rock and other styles.

NICE TO GET OUT

Several fans were also satisfied with the safety arrangements for the music festival. Many were also happy for an opportunity to go out for an event.

“I think they’ve handled it perfectly. Everything I’ve seen, like, everyone’s staying apart. Everyone’s masked up. They did a great job organizing this,” said Cody Higgins of Goshen.

Higgins sat with his friend Joey Salee of White Pigeon, Michigan with cold cans of GB Co.’s Mexican lager in hand. The two men also work in breweries — Higgins in Middlebury, and Salee in Mishawaka — which factored into their decision to hit the concert.

“It’s Labor Day weekend. We both have the day off. Want to come out and support other breweries,” Higgins said.

Ryan Britsch of Goshen, meanwhile, sat with a group of five close friends near the stage. They went out after spending the past several months working from home and basically only interacting with each other or family.

“It’s the first event we’ve been to since March, so we’re having a blast,” Britsch said.

GB Co. has hosted outdoor music acts at the brewery this year, Sensenig said, saying they were before small groups with limited lawn seating. Spaced Jam is the first such event to be held at this scale locally all year, he said.

To get the show on the road, Sensenig said he received approval from the Goshen Board of Public Works and Safety and the state to serve beer outside. He also worked with the Elkhart County Health Department to ensure social distancing guidelines were being met, he said.

In addition to Cazz Vi, the festival featured local bands The Tumbleweed Jumpers, Shiny Shiny Black and Lalo Cura. Sensenig described the variety of styles as including folk rock, Latin rock and a type of indie rock. A group called the Vinyl Wagon crew also spun records before the show and in between sets to keep the music going.