‘It’s so great to see everybody without a mask on’: Music fans celebrate at Billy Bob’s Texas
Outspoken artist Aaron Lewis cheered the end of Texas’ mask mandate at the honky-tonk’s first weekend concert since the change took effect.
In an indoor honky-tonk, a popular and politically outspoken musician entertained a predominantly unmasked throng of rowdy revelers. No, this wasn’t a scene from a year or two ago, but from Friday night at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, where Aaron Lewis performed an acoustic set.
Busy sidewalks, packed parking lots and a palpable “big night out” energy made the evening feel like one from the before times. The folks heading out for Stockyards fun were doing so two days after statewide COVID-19 mandates lifted.
Soon after Gov. Greg Abbott announced the changes on March 2, Billy Bob’s said that masks would no longer be required for entry but that it would continue to check guests’ temperatures at the door and take other health precautions such as offering hand sanitizer stations.
Inside the neon palace, which is nearing its 40th anniversary, most of the bartenders were without masks, though some security staffers, cocktail waitresses and other club personnel sported them.
Billy Bob’s holds about 6,000 people maximum. Venue spokeswoman Terran Flusche said the venue is now operating at half of that capacity, adding that with more than 120,000 square feet, “there is plenty of room for social distancing, and guests have the ability to do so at their own comfort levels.”
Walking onto the stage at 10:15 p.m., Lewis — a vocal conservative who spoke out often during Donald Trump’s presidency — wore a black T-shirt with an image of an assault rifle and the message “Hey Beto Come and Take It.” (Beto O’Rourke, the former El Paso congressman and presidential candidate who has advocated for stricter gun control measures, would be a topic of Lewis’ stage banter later in the set, when he introduced his 2019 song “God and Guns.”)
The Massachusetts native, who fronts the band Staind when he’s not flying solo, dragged from a cigarette after one of his first songs. “It’s so great to see everybody without a mask on,” he said, as the crowd shouted its approval. Taking aim at the science behind masks, he said he had yet to “see a study” that proves they are effective at reducing the spread of the coronavirus.
Authentic Aaron Lewis face masks were for sale at the merchandise table set up in the venue. Public health officials say masks and other measures remain critical to controlling the pandemic.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott delivers a speech at a Lubbock restaurant, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Coming up on the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, Abbott announced reopening the State of Texas to all businesses. He also wants to end the statewide mask mandate. (video via KXAS Dallas)
Although each of the tables on the reserved floor section in front of the stage was equipped with a large bottle of sanitizer, there was no extra distance between the seated patrons. Billy Bob’s has long offered a cramped seating arrangement with large banquet tables and folding chairs placed within inches of one another. Aside from an empty table or two, the reserved area appeared to be as full as it was for just about any Billy Bob’s show before the pandemic.
“As the governor said, Texas doesn’t need wranglers … we don’t need to be handled,” Billy Bob’s general manager Marty Travis told WFAA-TV (Channel 8) days ago. That was the prevailing spirit Friday. And with more big names booked for coming shows, it’s poised to endure.
