As the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic continues to rock the music industry, GRAMMY.com reached out to a few musicians to see how they were spending their days indoors. Today, Netherlands-based Sudanese R&B singer/songwriter GAIDAA shares her Quarantine Diary. Below, GAIDAA chronicles her first post-lockdown live shows at Rotterdam's LantarenVenster venue (all in accordance with local COVID-19 guidelines). Her critically acclaimed debut EP Overture is out now.
Friday, August 14, 2020 | Rotterdam, The Netherlands
[9:20 a.m.] Just woke up. Gonna chill in bed for a bit. Got show day today, two sold-out shows in Rotterdam, so it should be lit. My friend is picking me up in a couple hours, trynna catch my zen and gonna start my day 🙂

[12:50 p.m.] New laptop just arrived like 5 minutes before I was supposed to leave and my dad got really excited, so I did a mini-unboxing.

[1:30 p.m.] My close friend arrived to pick me up and we are officially on our way to Rotterdam. Car sickness always kicks in at some point, but the excitement is already highkey kicking in. Rotterdam is a really dope city actually, I don’t come enough.

[4:30 p.m.] Arrived at the venue and saw my band and friends again since the last show in Amsterdam a week ago. We haven’t rehearsed since the show a week before, so we’ll see how soundcheck goes. Felt kinda crazy and weird that I was doing two shows the same night.
[5:00 p.m.] Soundcheck tings. Soundcheck is always hectic, and this is the very beginning stages of us performing together so I’m still figuring out what I want onstage. Personally I always get really overwhelmed during soundcheck and never really know how to get fully comfortable. Last show I showed up to soundcheck and ended up crying (haha), so this time was already an improvement. The sound guy has been super chill.

[7:00 p.m.] Did the first show and was lowkey super nervous. There was a whole drama with my brothers not being able to make it because of public transport, so I was super happy when they did make it to be able to see the second show. This gives me a lot of energy, especially because it’s the youngest’s first time seeing me perform!
[8:30 p.m.] Ended up doing the second show in the original comfy pajamas I pulled up in, haha. I wanted to be as comfortable as I could be so I wouldn’t stay stuck in my head. I had a great time and feel super blessed to have been able to perform during these times. Me and my family and my friends had a great time. Now back to my regular life, haha.
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