バルセロナで５０００人のライブコンサート、コロナ対策探る実験

【バルセロナＡＦＰ＝時事】ミュージシャンがステージでスポットライトを浴び、アリーナを埋め尽くした5000人のファンが熱狂的に踊る。スペインのバルセロナに27日、ライブが帰ってきた。ただしこれは新型コロナウイルスの流行下で大規模イベントを安全に行う方法を見いだすための実験だ。（写真はスペイン・バルセロナのパラウ・サン・ジョルディで新型コロナウイルスの感染リスクを調べるために開催されたロックコンサートの観客ら）
　司会者は開演直前に「一夜限りなので楽しんでください」と言った。市内の屋内競技場「パラウ・サン・ジョルディ」で行われたライブには、スペイン屈指の人気を誇るインディーズロックバンド、「ラブ・オブ・レズビアン」が出演した。
　リードボーカルのサンティ・バルメスさんは、今の世情にぴったり合った「ノーバディ・イン・ザ・ストリート（通りには誰もいない）」というタイトルの曲を歌い終えると、「とても、とても、興奮している。前回のステージは１８か月前だった。メンバーの一人は泣いている！」と叫んだ。
　興奮した観客が踊ったり、ハグをしたり、大声で歌ったり、もしくはバーでビールを飲んでいたりする様子は、あたかも新型ウイルスのパンデミック（世界的な大流行）以前にタイムスリップしたようだった。
　今回のライブにはコンサートやイベントの興行者や地元の病院が関わった。病院は、特別な換気システムなどの感染予防措置を講じることで、ライブ会場は一般的な住居の中よりも安全になるとしている。
　午前中は、長らく閉鎖されているバルセロナのナイトクラブ３軒で、ダンスフロアが急ごしらえの病院に姿を変え、テントの中で看護師らが新型コロナウイルスの抗原検査を行った。結果は１０分で出る。
　検査結果が陰性の場合は、参加者がスマートフォンアプリにダウンロードした入場パスが有効になる。観客が検査の他に求められるのは、会場内で医療用マスク（ＦＦＰ２マスク）を着用することだけだ。
　２７日のライブチケットは、わずか数時間で完売した。
　バルセロナの北にある病院のジョゼップ・マリア・リブレ医師は、「完全に安全だと考えている。今後１４日間で聴衆のうち新型コロナウイルスの検査で陽性になった人数を確認して報告する」と説明した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/03/29-12:17）

Musicians on stage, spotlights flooding the arena and 5,000 fans dancing ecstatically: live music was back in Barcelona Saturday for a clinical trial seeking pandemic-safe ways to celebrate mass events.
This is for one night only, so enjoy it, said a presenter at Saint Jordi Arena just minutes before the start of the gig by one of Spain's most popular bands, indie rockers Love of Lesbian.
Ahead of the party, everyone underwent mass screening and antigen tests, donning FPP2 surgical masks to attend the gig which comes after an unprecedented year of confinement, social distancing and very little social interaction.
I'm so very, very excited. It's been 18 months since we've been on stage and one of us up here is in tears! shouted lead singer Santi Balmes after the first song which was appropriately called Nobody in the streets.
And his euphoria was shared by the audience.
It's incredible, so exciting. We'd forgotten what it was like to be around other people, it's as if it was my first-ever gig, said Jordi Sanz who like everyone was in the mosh pit in front of the stage as all stands were left empty.
We really wanted to do something different, to take a step towards normality, said Marina Crespo, 25, who in spite of the security measures was trying not get too close to people, to keep a bit of distance.
Even so, the atmosphere was like travelling back to a time before the pandemic with excited crowds dancing, hugging each other and belting out songs at the top of their voices, or just drinking beers at the bar.
- Nightclubs as testing centres -
Behind the event is a group of music and festival promoters as well as a local hospital who say the safety measures, which include a special ventilation system, make it a safer space than inside a private home.
During the morning, the dance floors at three long-closed Barcelona nightclubs were transformed into makeshift field hospitals with nurses in blue carrying out antigen tests inside white canvas enclosures -- and the results back in 10 minutes.
When a person tested negative, the entry pass downloaded on an app on their phone was validated. The only other requirement was that they wear an FPP2 mask while inside the venue.
We expect it to be completely safe. Over the next 14 days we will look at how many of the audience test positive for Covid and will report back, explained Josep Maria Llibre, a doctor at the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital just north of Barcelona.
- Light at the end of the tunnel -
The aim is to discover a way in which we can coexist with Covid and hold concerts which are completely safe, said Ventura Barba, executive director of Barcelona's Sonar festival which is one of the organisers.
We hope it will be a turning point, he told AFP.
This week, Sonar said its hugely popular electronic and dance music festival would be cancelled for the second year running because of the Covid crisis.
The pandemic has been a nightmare for everyone, but for the music industry in particular, he said.
According to a study published by Spain's Music Federation, the European music industry lost 76 percent of its earnings in 2020.
For Love of Lesbian's lead singer, Saturday's gig was aimed at showing those in the music industry there was a way forward.
It is creating a hole in the tunnel so the world of culture can see some light, or at least a possible way of doing things, Balmes told AFP.
Although the pandemic forced the band to delay the release of their latest album by eight months, they feel luckier than most, given that many musicians are having a really bad time and even taking food parcels because they've got no income.
The tickets for Saturday's concert sold out within just a few hours.
It was a real buzz but it's logical: we've been living in a time of restraint and everyone's had their handbrake on, he said.
We all need to let off a bit of steam and get back to our old lives.