Austin’s Covid surge has some New Year’s Eve party planners scrambling

Thomas Gohring’s booking team has been planning for New Year’s Eve at Kick Butt Coffee for months. “It’s a huge thing. We’ve been doing it like, four or five years now in a row. It’s always one of our best events of the year,” said Gohring, the owner. But now eight bands out of 15 have canceled, either out of Covid-19 precautions or because their band members have caught the virus. The store is planning a scaled-down show and Gohring expects about half as much revenue. It is one…