The Maintenance Shop welcomed a four-band bill for the first time Thursday since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The historic music venue, located in the Memorial Union, had to adjust during the pandemic with limited tickets and social distancing; staff said that because of these limitations, a more cautious approach to booking shows was needed.

“We were more conscientious about people sharing microphones, people sharing the green room, that kind of stuff,” said Hassein Rife, a former head technician at the M-Shop.

Today, all restrictions have been lifted at the 50-year-old venue, which is open at full capacity.

Thursday’s four-band show did provide some new technical challenges that staff had not seen since 2020.

Before the show started, a handful of guitar cases were scatted across the floor of the M-Shop. Sound technicians had to load equipment for 15 musicians and quickly soundcheck each band before their set.

“These are four bands doing 30-minute sets, so you get like almost four different shows in one,” said Samuel Petri, a sound technician at the M-Shop and senior in marketing.

Staff solved these problems by having bands share equipment and by using a technique called backlining, a method where all musicians place their amplifiers on the stage before the show in order for an easier changeover.

These methods seemed to work as the night went off without a major hitch, with all four bands, Mr. Softheart, Virga, Blanky and Poly Mall Cops, performing full sets.

Co-director Ary Bermeo said that Thursday’s show was partly inspired by a conversation that she had with Rife, who is also a former M-Shop director. Staff said tonight was a step closer to how the M-Shop was running before the pandemic.  

“I feel like we’re like at 90%,” Bermeo said.

The next M-Shop show will be at 8 p.m. Friday with Tony22, a hip-hop artist from Austin, Texas.