Cell Block 69 are back after a year since Omicron COVID chaos

It was about week before Christmas in 2021 when Canberra was getting hyped for the band's performance at The Basement in Belconnen.

However, in the background, the looming threat of the latest COVID variant, Omicron, was building to what later became one of the ACT's largest waves.

The iconic band, where each member's name is a variation of Corey, performed for their 21^st year in December 2021, however the venue which hosted the event was declared as an exposure site for COVID-19.

Band leader Pip Branson, otherwise known as Duanne Le Corey Michaels, said the feeling this year is "more positive" compared to the chaos of 2021.

"Just watching the figures that were going up towards the show and going 'oh please don't let it be one of us'," he said.

"It wasn't like we were the Ruby Princess or anything but it wasn't so fun to go to all that work and go 'oh my goodness, we've just had a bit of an event where people have got COVID'."

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Cell Block 69 has been an annual Canberra pre-Christmas tradition and the band is preparing for their 22^nd year, performing at The Basement on Thursday and Friday night.

"The big difference for us is we can actually get together and not feel like as though we're going to break any rules by rehearsing," he said.

"We had two members who were in Queensland at the time and so they really couldn't get here until the very, very final days of the performance."

While the band first started in 2000, Mr Branson described this year's group as new phase for the band.

"For us it's a bit of a new band as well, there's a bit of a changing of the guard, it's one of the new iterations of Cell Block," he said.

"Some old members, some new members and some great guest members, so it's going to be a massive celebration for us and just a sense of relief."

Bec Taylor, otherwise known as Corey Anne-Kennerly, is expected to make her debut in Cell Block this year and said she has always wanted to perform with the group.

"It's just such a high standard of musicianship that I've been loving and I've played in a lot of bands but I'm really enjoying the musical challenge of playing in such a fantastic band like Cell Block," she said.

Lindsay McDougal, also known as Corey Sambori, is another fresh member, performing for his second year and is excited to have a less restricted heavy performance.

"It's very hard to look cool and 80s wearing masks, like there's not too many sort of neon masks available," he said.

"We also don't want people to get sick, so we're doing lots, we're rehearsing but trying to keep ourselves away from each other."

Founding member since the beginning, Glenn Elliott, otherwise known as Corey RoKK-SiXXXxxXXX, said over the years the show has become a "much greater spectacle" which he is eager to share for the 22^nd year.

"I see photos on various Facebook groups and sometimes in street press and the one thing that I always notice of the audience members is that everyone has a big cheesy grin on their face," he said.

"That to me is the essence of pretty much what we're trying to achieve.

"There's less of a worry this year, I think everyone still has to be careful but I think it was more of a worry the year before when everything was being cancelled at the last moment, things are a lot more secure this time around."

Professor Peter Collignon from the Australian National University said, since the Omicron wave, things were better despite the recent case numbers.

"The reason is that probably about 80 per cent of people have been infected and so there's a lot more what we call hybrid immunity around," he said.

"Yes people can get it two or three times but the effects when you get it a second or third time are markedly less than the first time you get infected."

Canberra's high vaccination rate was another factor Professor Collignon said made it easier to manage the virus a year on from the Omicron wave, however deaths and infections are still continuing.

"I think we still need to take this seriously in my view because it is still something that can make you very sick and kill people even if they're vaccinated, it just does it much less so," he said.

"The reason that COVID is causing more deaths than influenza is because instead of only having one wave a year, we've had four or five waves of COVID in the last 12 months. Now that will decrease over time."

One of those facing longer-term effects of COVID is former bar manager of The Basement, Mike Stanker, who caught it after Cell Block 69's performance last year.

"It was a very traumatic at the time because we found out that a bunch of people got COVID then we got it and then we closed until New Year's Eve," he said.

"For me personally, I still don't have any taste and I've only got probably about 10 per cent smell."

While Mr Stanker still struggles with long COVID, he expressed eagerness for Cell Block 69's upcoming performance for Thursday and Friday.

"Things are definitely getting back to normal, I still go to The Basement and go to shows," he said.

Cell Block 69 are expected to perform at The Basement on Thursday and Friday night at 7pm.

Friday is fully booked while tickets to Thursday's performance can be purchased here.

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