The silence was deafening, the chinking glasses, clashing cutlery, slamming cash registers, pumping music and the laughter all gone from our towns and cities on the first weekend of lockdown.
But while the tumbleweed may have been, figuratively, blowing through the streets, nothing could stop a nation of fun-lovers from partying indoors.
Friends and family gathered online, using video conference calls, and our new best friends, the Zoom and House Party apps, which beam people into other homes to socialise.
And Saturday night was definitely all right for a band of celebrities determined to mark wine o’clock in their best party gear.