COVID-19 Era to Change Landscape of Future Concerts

Large gatherings have not been allowed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to stop the spread. Live concerts were hugely disrupted which resulted in cancellations and postponements. Live Nation previously suggested drive-in concerts and 'crowdless' shows. Ticketmaster, owned by Live Nation has worked on with the upcoming controversial Travis McCready acoustic concert in Arkansas on May 15 and posted the guidelines on its website.

The non-profit membership organization Event Safety Alliance shared the regulations to be imposed based on a new health and safety guide released this week once the pandemic crisis is under control. Once live events resume, changes will be implemented such as a temporary ban on moshing or slam-dancing and crowd surfing.

Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation reported early this month that large scale live events are anticipated to return mid to late 2021. Smaller events though are expected to start autumn of this year with experimentations.

Events and Safety Alliance headed by Steven Adelman and Jacob Worek had discussions with over 400 promoters, caterers, Ticketmaster employees and others and had laid out restrictions and guidelines to be followed for future live concerts and events. Included in the 29-page titled "The Event Safety Guide" for the live event industry is sanitizing practices before, during, and after the event and how to handle staff and guest sickness. Ticket holders will need to follow strict regulations, especially for general admission events. Rules on staggered entry times in venues and contactless merchandise orderings are also included.

Future of concerts from Attila's lead vocalist Fronz

Chris Fronzak, the Attila lead vocalist and founding member shared on Twitter what he learned from "higher-ups within the music industry." Since moshing, crowd surfing and stage diving will not be allowed, Fronzak said that isolated standing while enjoying the concert will be the way to go.

Venue capacity will have to be limited to a minimum due to social distancing that will mean lesser ticket sales. Metalcore Gatsby on his Twitter handle sees that tours will not be financially viable for music acts. The frontman suggested that ticket prices should be a lot higher for bands to still earn while on the road. He further said he has few ideas on how higher ticket cost will be worth the price for the fans who will watch the events.

A follower asked Fronzilla if the new stricter rules will be in place once vaccines against COVID-19 are available. Fronz, who is also the founder of Stay Sick Recordings and Stay Sick Threads, in his reply foresees only those administered with vaccinations will be permitted to attend live events with an ID that can be scanned as proof for entry. The guidelines will definitely adapt to different states' and countries' regulations. From his tweets, the changes are happening day by day, thereby decisions can vary depending on the actual situations.

He went on to say that he is not out to create fear among the concert-goers or "conspiracist type dude" but simply sharing what the information he has gathered for the past two months.