Welp, this sucks…
We already heard Eric Church say that summer/fall of 2021 is when he thinks he’ll be able to return to touring and now, a major festival co-founder is saying it might be even longer than that before things return to normal.
Marc Geiger, the co-founder of Lollapalooza right here in Chicago, said on a recent episode of the Bob Lefsetz Podcast that he doesn’t expect major festivals and concerts to return until 2022.
“My guess is late ’21, more likely ’22… In my humble opinion, it’s going to be 2022. It’s going to take that long before, what I call, the germaphobic economy is slowly killed off and replaced by the claustrophobia economy — that’s when people want to get out and go out to dinner and have their lives, go to festivals and shows. It’s my instinct, that’s going to take a while because super-spreader events — sports, shows, festivals, etc. — aren’t going to do too well when the virus is this present. “
He went on to add that there “probably 20” obstacles that are still standing in the way of concert and festivals returning to regular operation.
“The virus and illness being one, spacing and density, with COVID, there’s infinite liability… the next six months may be more painful than the last six months, and maybe the next six months after that are even more so.”
Between logistics, insurance and the fact that most people still don’t want to attend an event with a large crowd, it’s looking like it could be quite a while before the concerts and festivals we all know and love are in full swing again.
“The whole thing’s a shit show.”
When asked about drive-in concerts and other alternatives, Geiger said they were “gimmick” and a “temporary stopgap solution.”
Bummer.
I sure miss night like these…
