ROOM WITH A VIEW: Rock band O.Torvald play a rooftop concert in Kyiv where the audience watches from the balconies of a nearby hotel. pic.twitter.com/0SdzdFI3zy
It looks there will barely be any concerts for the rest of this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Fans all over the world want to see and hear live music in person, and coming up with ways to do it is taking a lot of imagination.
Garth Brooks recorded a concert that played in drive-ins around the country. While Brad Paisley and friends played lived shows at a few drive-ins where concert goers each got three parking spaces. Then there are serial killers Great White who played a non-masking wearing concert with no social distancing in one of the Dakotas.
Well, Ukraine topped them all. Ukrainian band O.Torvald played a concert in Kyiv near a hotel, and their fans (four per room) watched them play from the balconies. Not only that, but the fans also got to choose which songs they played. A fun night for all because they also stayed in the rooms all night.
I can see this happening in several cities in the US like Miami, Virginia Beach, and New Bern, North Carolina, where the band can play the beach, and the audience can watch from hotel rooms. They can also do this in Atlantic City or Niagra Falls. The list could go on and on if I didn’t only visit cities along the East Coast.
Would you go to a concert this way? I totally would!
Ever since March live, in-person concerts have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Live Nation found a safe way around the risk by making them a drive-in experience, with each car having three-9′ parking spaces to their own.
I thought that would be the wave of the future until it was safe to go to concerts again. I was wrong. Vanilla Ice announced yesterday that he will be playing a live gig in Austin, Texas, on July 3rd. Standing room only tickets are going for $25 and $40.
Standing room only during a deadly virus? WTF? Texas has seen a huge rise of people infected with COVID-19 in the last week. It is so bad that the governor told people to stay home. Not only that, in Houston, they are running out of beds in the ICU, so they are going to send adult patients to a children’s hospital. So I have to ask why is Rob Van Winkle risking his fans’ lives?
Yes, it would be nice to have live music again, but not at the risk of dying. Several people went to a comedy show in Nashville, Tennessee, over the weekend, and barely anyone wore masks. Then all of a sudden, D.L. Hughley collapsed on the stage and turns out he tested positive for coronavirus the next day. What if he accidentally infected some of his fans?
We want to go back to normal, but at what risk? Do you want to be responsible for unknowingly giving it to someone who dies from it? Wear a mask and be responsible. I spent a chunk of my life as an AIDS activist and telling people to wear condoms. Now, I am telling you to wear masks and be smart. Ask yourself, is going to a live concert worth your life, a loved one’s life, or a stranger’s life? I don’t think so. If you do, then I hope you meet someone who is more caring than you are when you need them. Maybe then you can learn from them before it is too late.
Rob, I haven’t spoken to you since I lived in Miami. I am begging you, please, cancel this show. It is not the right time, and I am hoping you don’t want to risk your fan’s lives. Be better than Sammy Hagar.
Rolling Stone spoke with 14 legendary artists like Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Earth, Wind and Fire’s Phillip Bailey, and The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, and the magazine asked them if they are willing to go on the road again before there is a vaccine for COCVID-19.
The road is a place that is more like their first home than their second one. David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash says his house is in jeopardy because he is not making any money. However, he wants you to know, “I’m not whining about it, though — it’s what we have to do, or we can’t beat the coronavirus.”
While he is willing to put other people’s lives ahead of his own, Sammy Hagar is not:
I’ll be comfortable playing a show before there’s a vaccine, if it’s declining and seems to be going away. I’m going to make a radical statement here. This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I’d rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes. We have to save the world and this country from this economic thing that’s going to kill more people in the long run. I would rather see everyone go back to work. If some of us have to sacrifice on that, OK. I will die for my children and my grandchildren to have a life anywhere close to the life that I had in this wonderful country. That’s just the way that I feel about it. I’m not going to go around spreading the disease. But there may be a time where we have to sacrifice. I mean, how many people die on the Earth every day? I have no idea. I’m sorry to say it, but we all gotta die, man.
Thankfully, not all artists feel the same way as Hagar. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty said, “And I don’t want to be the guy who contributes to that. You go do a concert with 10,000 people, and then find out afterwards that some of them died?” Then he added, “Maybe some other guy thinks it’s a good idea, but I’m not dying for Donald Trump. I’m not dying for the economy.”
We all miss concerts, but none of them are worth dying over. Especially, Sammy Hagar. I saw him with Van Halen and he sucked. He was so awful that he forgot the words to Right Now. How do you forget the lyrics to the biggest song you produced with the band months just after you released it? He is no David Lee Roth.
On June 27th, Garth Brooks is beaming one of his concerts to over 300 drive-in theaters all over the US.
While that is cool, wouldn’t it be even cooler if it was a live and in-person show? Well, that is what Live Nation is doing next month with nine shows between July 10th-12th. Brad Paisley will be playing all three cities, Nashville, Tennessee, Maryland Heights, Missouri, and Noblesville, Indiana. While the other nights in those cities will be shared by Nelly and El Monstero in St. Louis, Jon Pardi and Darius Rucker in Nashville, and Jon Pardi and Yacht Rock Revue in Indianopollis.
How are they going to do that during the coronavirus pandemic? Your seats are your car. For as low as $125 per automobile, you can bring three people with you to enjoy the show. Each vehicle is given three spaces that are 9′ wide. The first for the car, the second for tailgating, and a third to keep a distance from the next concert-goer. While you are not required to wear a mask when you are in your designated area, you will have to wear one when you go to the bathroom. Each restroom will have hand sanitizer, a sink, and someone cleaning areas that see high traffic.
You are able to bring your own food and alcohol. However, they will be selling hot food and non-alcoholic drinks just in case.
Paisley told the AP, “The idea that we’re outdoors is a great thing,” adding, “I just think it’s a fun way to watch a concert anyway. It’d be fun if there wasn’t a virus.”
Hopefully, it is success because I would totally go to a concert like this. Plus, it is cheaper than most shows. Would you go to a gig like this?
If you would, then you can get tickets this Friday on Live Nation.
After almost 40 years together, The Go-Go’s are planning to say bye bye this summer. The all girl group will play 18 cities in The US this August, and then they will go on a permanent Vacation.
The band released this statement about their farewell tour, “We feel so lucky and so grateful to have had the incredible support of our fans for so long. We can’t wait to get out on the road and give the people what they want: some loud, fast music and a great party!”
While I am not head over heels about this news, I will be a cool jerk and wish them the best. I just want to know if I can turn to you for a hug.
