One of the city’s most well-known bands has found an innovative way of getting back to gigging in the age of Covid-19 - cramming nearly a year’s worth of shows into just 10 days.

In a bizarre, but brilliant idea, The Neutrinos will perform 200 shows between now and the end of the year in Norwich, performing 10-minute shows to one person at a time.

The highly-acclaimed band has transformed a home on Upper St Giles in Norwich into a venue called The Dark Room, which will see fans invited to listen into the band perform 10 minute sets as an audience of one.

The band, which formed in 1999, will be playing three sets every hour, with time slots rigorously designed to allow people to be fully coronavirus compliant, arriving for precise time slots down to the minute and leaving via a sanitation station.

The schedule has also been specifically designed so fans can arrive without crossing paths with one another and so there is sufficient time in between sets for an easy transition.

Having kicked off the run of shows on Monday, the band already has 20 gigs under its belt, with 190 slots still available to book.

Eastern Daily Press: Karen Reilly of The NeutrinosKaren Reilly of The Neutrinos (Image: © Lisa Stirling)

Karen Reilly, the band’s lead singer, said: “We’ve been talking about doing this since August so it has been quite some time in the planning. It’s a lot more than just a gig, it’s a whole sound experience and it has been just lovely to perform again.

“We were first introduced to the idea of doing one person shows by Neil Butler and have always liked the idea and coronavirus gave us the reason and motivation to do it.

“We’ve had such lovely feedback already - one person asked if they could come back 10 more times if we don’t book up all the slots.”
It is not the first time the band has made use of time during the pandemic, earlier this year using the newfound spare time to record and release new tracks.

The concerts, which are free of charge, will continue every day until the end of the year, with the exception of Christmas Day. Today’s shows are completely sold out, but there are slots available from December 23 through until January 1.

Full details can be found on the band’s website.