Desperate for concerts? This crazy protective spacesuit might be for you.


Although people across the country are determined to return to pre-COVID normalcy — packing beaches and parks in recent days, despite the obvious risks — it seems that concerts will remain off-limits for many months (unless you're sitting in your car).
In an effort to hasten the process, Production Club, a Los Angeles design firm, has created a protective suit that would allow concertgoers to once again crowd venues. The only difference, of course, would be arenas full of fans wearing an "offshoot of a hazmat suit," according to the firm's website, that "contains two lithium-ion cell battery systems" to power, among other things, a built-in air-filtration system, LED lights, a camera, and speakers. The contraption, called Micrashell, also includes snap-on canisters for vaping and drinking, presumably to help you forget the future hell you've found yourself trapped in.
The system is "a solution for bringing people together safely," Production Club's Mike 808 told NBC Los Angeles. "It takes your safety and your security in terms of being close to airborne particles or viruses to the next level." That doesn't seem to be in dispute. What's less clear is that people, no matter how concert-hungry, would want to look like refugees from The Andromeda Strain just to see live music. The firm is discussing the idea, which awaits a patent, with a number of venues, with concert-night rentals of the suits a possibility. Another possibility: waiting for a vaccine, and then putting on old jeans and a faded Bowie tee before going to your next show.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jacob Lambert is the art director of TheWeek.com. He was previously an editor at MAD magazine, and has written and illustrated for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, and The Millions.
-
Confessions of a Brain Surgeon: an 'exceptional' documentary
The Week Recommends Retired neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reflects on his pioneering work with exquisitely 'raw honesty'
-
A new subtype of diabetes was found and it may require different treatment
Under the radar It is prevalent in Black Africans and Americans
-
Sudoku medium: August 20, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Colorado
speed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's study
Speed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-off
Speed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet undersea
Speed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study