SEPTEMBER | FEATURE
bumpy path back to normality, the
Austrian government has given the
green light for outdoor concerts with
audiences of up to 10,000 from 1
September, so long as social distancing
guidelines are followed. Indoor shows
with audiences of up to 5,000 will also
be allowed under the same constraints.
Ewald Tata, founder of the
55,000-capacoity Nova Rock Festival
and CEO of CTS Eventim-owned
promoter Nova Music, has cancelled
all his shows until the end of the year.
“These new regulations are all based
on seated situations and not standing,
which makes no sense for us,” he says.
Unlocked and unrestricted
Further afield the situation varies
even more greatly. In New Zealand
there have been no restrictions on
major events since 8 June. On 4 July
Auckland’s 12,000-capacity Spark
Arena staged a concert by reggae act
L.A.B, without social distancing, that
was attended by more than 6,000
people.
Mike Tucker, MD of the show’s
promoter Loop, said the concerts
“breathed air back into the lungs
of the live entertainment industry”
but with two weeks quarantine for
artists entering the country he doesn’t
expect there to be a flood of shows by
interactional acts any time soon.
Government guidelines vary greatly
across Asia, South Korea currently
limits indoor gatherings to 50 people
and outdoor gatherings to 100 people,
“These concerts are about sending a signal: a
sign of life by the live-music industry.”
while the Japanese government gave
the greenlight to indoor concerts and
sports events with capacities of up to
5,000 on July 10.
Nonetheless Covid-19 has seen
the back of Japan’s two biggest
music festivals, with Creativeman’s
60,000-capacity Summer Sonic and
the Smash Corp-promoted Fuji Rock
(43,000) cancelled this year. While
both festivals held streamed events
on YouTube, the entry restrictions
imposed on foreign travellers meant
physical editions were unviable.
The Covid-19 related lockdown
also wiped out the US festival season
almost entirely, with all its major
festivals, including Goldenvoice’s
125,000-capacity Coachella Valley
Music and Arts Festival, and C3
Present’s Lollapalooza Chicago
(100,000), among the many casualties.
Among the more uplifting
occurrences in the US was Live Nation’s
launch of the relief fund Crew Nation.
Created to provide financial assistance
to out-of-work crew, the initiative has
already raised more than $15 million
(£11.27m), with $10m (£7.52m) coming
from the global promoting giant alone.
In July the Canadian government
announced a CA$20m (£11.36m)
Covid-19 support fund for its live
music industry. Canada has also seen
its fair share of guideline-following
ingenuity among its events industry,
with Calgary’s Showpass and Livestar
Entertainment among them.
In early summer the two companies
partnered to launch Covid-safe concert
series Hotels Live. The initiative
involved hotels across the country
being used to host concerts, with
performances taking place around
hotel pools and in courtyards, with
the audience watching on from hotel
balconies.
It has been a torrid time for the live
events industry internationally, and
while some regions are way ahead of
others when it comes to re-opening
their events industries, they are limited
to staging local talent. World tours
remain a long way off.
Despite the hardship, near
unbearable uncertainty and stifling
social-distancing guidelines that
leave very little margin for profit, the
international live event community
has demonstrated its irrepressible
inventiveness and ability to entertain
audiences against all odds.
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