German thrash-metal veterans Destruction played two shows at a club in Switzerland on Friday (July 3rd) and Saturday (July 4th), limiting tickets each night to 300 at the 1,600-capacity venue Z7 Konzertfabrik. The gigs were among the first notable indoor metal concerts to be played since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The first night drew 250 fans, while the second night “sold out” all 300 tickets, and now video from the events has emerged to show what those gigs looked like.
For the most part, a live video posted on Destruction’s Facebook shows a typical metal show at an indoor club, with the audience spread out across the floor. While it’s hard to tell from the camera angle at the back of the audience, it seems like the fans kept some sort of social distance throughout the club.
Following the two shows, Destruction issued the following statement on their Facebook page:
“WOW!!! What a weekend in Switzerland @Konzertfabrik Z7 – Pratteln – danke, merci, thanks, grazie, teşekkürler for the fantastic fans that came from all over Europe to see the gigs. Respect for the discipline that the Metal community showed at these social distancing concerts, this is the way this should be done.
A big CHEERS to the Z7 team for the invitation, the love and the perfect administration. We are all hoping and working on more shows, as soon as our governments will give us guidelines and options! We have filmed part of the concert and have collected background infos. So there will be an after-show movie coming soon – stay tuned!”
A few weeks prior to the shows, Destruction frontman Schmier told Audio Ink Radio, “So, I think it’s going to feel weird to play a show again, because this is the first time in 20 years that we didn’t play a show in three months. It’s the longest time ever. It’s very exciting, of course. We look forward to playing again, but it’s going to feel weird, for sure.”
He added, “I think, of course, there’s going to be a little awareness, so people have to keep a sort of distance. Of course, at the show, I don’t know how that’s going to be possible, but we shouldn’t hug each other like we used to do at concerts. It’s going to take a little time to get back to full normal, I think. I think the first shows have to be a little more stiff and people should be a little more careful. You have to go step-by-step. What we’re experiencing now is the first trial of concerts, and Switzerland, also, is far ahead, so the whole world will watch the country and see the developments.”
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Switzerland has done a commendable job of combating the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic. The country has been reporting a low number of new cases since early May, and has had single-digit or zero daily deaths over the past few weeks.
See video footage from Destruction’s shows at the Z7 Konzertfabrik club in Switzerland below.
