While the correct answer to “when would have a better time for the COVID-19 pandemic to hit North America” is obviously “never”, I would have accepted a week or two later than it did, in mid-March. Because if it had held out a little bit, Wire would have been able to continue their North American tour behind Mind Hive and play Toronto’s Great Hall as planned on March 16, 2020.

That would have been my first show in three months as well as my first outing since the arrival of my son in early February. Plus I’d been going deep into a Wire rabbit hole before then – am still there, by the way – so I was super-excited about it for a multitude of reasons. But, as we know, the pandemic didn’t wait, and guitarist Matthew Simms confirmed to me on March 13 via Twitter that the tour was cancelled and they were heading home while they could. And I’m at 21 months without live music and counting.

So I’m thankful for these couple sessions they recorded around their Washington DC show on March 9th and Brooklyn on March 11th and 12th of last year for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and Paste, respectively, as they’re as close as I would get to seeing them on that tour. Though I expect that at their proper shows they’re just a little bit louder. Just a little.