COVID-19
How Brad Paisley Put on a Full Production Arena Show and Kept Everyone Safe (Including Himself)
Last Friday, Brad Paisley and his band played a full production arena show, sponsored by Bud Light Seltzer. It was one of the first shows since the COVID-19 pandemic started earlier this year to feature all the bells and whistles of a regular concert. Beamed online from the Steel Mill, a production space in Nashville where Paisley rehearses his tours, the only thing missing was a live audience. As Paisley details below, it took tremendous work and extreme attention to every detail to ensure that all safety standards were met, even navigating with precision how he and his guitar tech would switch guitars. He tells Billboard how the show came together and the possibilities for more live entertainment on the horizon. Billboard: How did you feel on that stage with the full production and your ...
Minister advises on correct use of face masks
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has again advised Nigerians to use their face masks correctly, to protect themselves and others from contracting the dreaded coronavirus disease. The minister gave the advice at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 daily news conference on Tuesday in Abuja. He said that no policing should be needed to do the right thing, urging citizens to abide by the mandatory and correct use of face masks for the protection of others. Ehanire said that masks worn, must be washed daily, ironed and where possible, masks should cover mouth and nose and should not be left under the chin during close contact conversations or its purpose would be defeated. “New understanding is that droplet dispersal takes place even during normal speech and common use of face mas...
PTF: Nigeria unaware of €170,000 cost for Madagascar herbal mixture
Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 pandemic, Boss Mustapha, has said he was not aware of any cost paid for the Madagascar herbal mixture. Mustapha was responding to a question on reports that Nigeria had been asked to pay €170,000 for the Madagascar herbal mixture delivered to President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday by the visiting President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo. He said he had taken delivery of the solution sent to Nigeria as well as other African countries by Madagascar without request without any invoice. “In terms of the question of whether it comes with a cost. It was handed to me without an invoice so I assume it doesn’t come with a cost. “That’s my assumption. For that, I think the Madagasc...
Deftones Postpone Summer Tour with Gojira and Poppy Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Fans holding out hope that Deftones might still tour North America in 2020 will have to wait until next year to see the alt-metal veterans. The band has officially postponed its summer tour with Gojira and Poppy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but plans to announce rescheduled dates for 2021. The news of the postponement comes as no surprise, as singer Chino Moreno recently told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that “it’s not looking like we’re going to be able to get out there this summer.” In that same interview, Moreno revealed that Deftones had originally planned to deliver a new album to their fans this summer, but now the release date is “something that we’re going to have to figure out.” The tour was slated to run from July 27th in Portland, Oregon, through September 5th in Denver, Colorado. T...
Live Music Events Will Return to Italy Next Month
Following the onset of COVID-19, Italy emerged as one of the world’s hardest hit countries. The virus had a devastating impact, shuttering the country and forcing its residents into lockdown in a matter of weeks. As of May 19th 2020, Italy has reported over 226,000 cases of the virus, but that number is assumed to be much higher due to those who are asymptomatic as well as those who opted to quarantine and recover from home. As other countries begin to ease restrictions on COVID-19-related ordinances, the government of Italy has followed suit by revealing its plans to reopen the country, which has been dormant in lockdown since early March. The reopening of Italy is an optimistic development in the global COVID-19 saga, but it of course comes with a myriad of safety-related cave...
Adamawa cuts 2020 budget by 24 per cent
The Adamawa State Executive Council has approved a downward review of the 2020 budget by 24 per cent, affecting only the capital expenditure and overhead costs. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Umar Pella, disclosed this shortly after an Extraordinary meeting of the council presided over by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri in Yola on Tuesday. The decision was reached after the council considered and approved a review of the 2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper in line with the extant laws of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission 2018. Newsmen report that the state House of Assembly in December 2019, approved the 2020 proposed budget estimate of N183.3 billion presented by the governor. Pella explained that the measure was taken by the council after a holisti...
Zamfara denies recording 10 new coronavirus cases
Zamfara Government on Tuesday said the figure of 10 new COVID-19 cases in the state announced on Monday by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) was wrong, as the state had only recorded two new cases. Alhaji Yahaya Kanoma, the state Commissioner of Health told newsmen in Gusau that the state government had alerted the NCDC of the error and demanded that it be rectified. “We were shocked and bewildered by this latest figure from the NCDC which said 10 new cases were confirmed when we know it was only two. “Our records have shown that when results from the center returned, we had a total of 76 cases made up of 45 discharged persons, 26 in isolation and five dead, so we didn’t know where NCDC got the additional eight. “We approached the center which could not give a convincing explan...
NYC Nightlife United Launches Emergency Fund for COVID-19 Relief
Relief efforts to support a distressed nightlife sector are underway in New York. NYC Nightlife United is an emergency relief source aiming to support venues and staff impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort is being led by the combined forces of AdHoc Presents, Brooklyn-based venue Friends and Lovers, arts nonprofit The Solo Foundation, and PR firm Grandstand Media. Small businesses will be part of the first phase of relief distribution. Starting June 5th, eligible New York-based businesses will be able to apply for up to $20,000 in aid. The start date for individual relief applications is expected to arrive one month later on July 5th. In a statement provided to Rolling Stone, Ric Leichtung of AdHoc Presents communicated the need for a targeted approac...
Speaker Gbajabiamila inaugurates coronavirus committee, to interface with government
The House of Representatives on Tuesday inaugurated the 18 man ad-hoc Committee on Coronavirus pandemic. The committee has the task of working in tandem with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and by extension, the entire relevant machinery of the federal government to find a solution to the challenges posed by the epidemic. Performing the ritual at the national assembly complex, the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila charged the members to give utmost attention to the welfare of frontline workers. He said: “The 18 man Committee we have come to inaugurate reflects the intention of the House of Representative to engage the executive arm of government in a partnership that serves the best interests of the Nigerian people as we join hands to confront and conquer the most severe chal...
Senator Lawan: Why privatisation of power sector must be reviewed now
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has called for the immediate review of the privatization exercise of the power sector by previous administrations. Lawan gave the charge in his concluding remarks on a motion considered on the floor during plenary on Tuesday. The motion titled: “Power Sector Recovery Plan and the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic” was sponsored by Senator Gabriel Suswam (PDP – Benue North East). The Senate President, who bemoaned what he described as the “inefficiency of Power Generating and Distribution companies” in the country, called for a review or eventual reversal of the terms of privatization. According to Lawan, parties involved in the shared purchase agreement with the federal government can only seek the intervention of the latter when sufficiently justified. “The...
Take a Look Inside This Eerie Socially Distanced Concert In Arkansas
Earlier this month, we reported on the nation’s first ostensible socially distanced concert to arise out of the COVID-19 pandemic, a show in Arkansas headlined by country-rock singer and Bishop Gunn frontman Travis McCready. The show, planned at Fort Smith venue TempleLive, immediately became a controversial topic in the music industry at large due to its potential safety-related repercussions. After the planned concert went viral, Arkansas’ government issued a cease-and-desist letter to TempleLive, who metaphorically ripped it to shreds and moved forward with the show anyway. Power to the people. TempleLive’s 1,100-person maximum capacity was diminished to accommodate 229 seats, which were sporadically filled with masked revelers. Those patrons were requir...
House of Reps queries health minister on whereabouts of Chinese doctors
Lawmakers at the House of Representatives have questioned the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, demanding activities and whereabouts of the Chinese doctors. The lawmakers at their plenary on Tuesday said they are not satisfied with the statement of the Minister that the Chinese doctors are not guests of the Federal Ministry of Health but that of a Chinese firm in Abuja. The resolution of the House stems from a motion of urgent public importance raised by Representative Dachung Bagos. The House, in a separate motion, also resolved to investigate the status of medical and pharmaceutical research in the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria. They expressed worry that Nigerian scientists and researchers have not been given the necessary support and funding for medical research. The Minister o...
