Low Cut Connie’s Adam Weiner was at it again Saturday, pounding his piano, singing and dancing around the spare bedroom of his Philadelphia apartment while tens of thousands looked on from around the globe.
They were watching “Tough Cookies,†Weiner’s twice-weekly livestreamed concert on Facebook — nearly the only avenue for live music since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March.
“This is not the future,†Weiner said of livestreaming. “This is the now. We’re here. Does anybody think we’re going to be back to 20,000-person arena concerts this year?â€
Tom Lorenz certainly doesn’t. In fact, the general manager of Pinnacle Bank Arena knows there won’t be concerts that draw 10,000 or more in Lincoln for months.
“I think there’s some possibility for some shows, but I don’t think there will be any major concerts this year,†Lorenz said. “Most of them are looking at the second quarter of 2021 and beyond.â€
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Exactly when we reach "beyond" will likely be determined by research and development of COVID-19 testing and a vaccine.
That’s the view of Steven Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Little Steven leads his own group, the Disciples of Soul, which toured extensively in the last two years, making a couple stops in Omaha.
The E Street Band was expected to tour in 2020. But those plans have been put on hold.
“I don’t think we’re going to see anything until we have at least a fast, reliable test,†Van Zandt said. “There’s going to be three stages. This is the first stage, the quarantine. Then you’ll have sporting events, concert events with no audience, with people watching at home, because you can’t take the chance.
“The third stage, that could be up to a year, a year and a half, is when they have a vaccine and we can get back to something like normal. We all hope it’s quicker, but it could be 2022.â€
In the last few weeks, NASCAR and the PGA Tour have returned, with a few thousand fans allowed for races in Miami last weekend. The NBA plans to come back July 30, with 22 teams sequestered in a “bubble†in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
Some artists are doing shows at drive-in theaters, a few in-person but most remotely, as in the case with Garth Brooks, who has put together a nationwide network of venues, including the Lancaster Event Center, for the “World’s Largest Drive-in Concert†on Saturday.
But those shows can accommodate only a few hundred people apiece — one of the reasons that Weiner says artists and audiences should, for the time being, embrace livestreaming.
“I’m doing what I consider a soul music variety show,†Weiner said. “I can talk, I can dance, I can sing songs I’ve never sung before. I can highlight things with images and video. It’s a whole new way of doing shows.
“And people can see them from anywhere. I’ve got people tuning in from all over the world, who’d never see me otherwise. Even when we can go back to touring, am I going to Croatia?â€
Some groups, however, are eager to get back out, and with the loosening of directed health measures in Nebraska, there’s a chance that a few small concerts could take place at Pinewood Bowl later this summer, Lorenz said.
Those shows are contingent on approval by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, which will review plans for the layout of the bowl to meet social distancing requirements. The shows, if they happen, would take place in August and early September and would aim for audiences of about 2,000 people, Lorenz said.
When large concerts return, they could be staged under an altered business model that cuts monetary guarantees for artists and divides the risks of cancellation and low ticket sales between artist and promoter.
That, based on a memo that was leaked last week, is the intention of Live Nation. The giant concert promotion company wants to cut artists’ guarantees by 20%, even for 2020 shows that have been postponed to next year.
If a concert is canceled because of poor ticket sales, the memo says, Live Nation will give artists 25% of the guarantee, as opposed to the 100% that promoters now pay. If an artist cancels a performance, under the Live Nation plan, the artist will pay the promoter two times the artist’s fee.
Live music returned to Lincoln clubs Friday when Charlie Burton & Or What? played the Zoo Bar, the club’s first show since March.
Kansas City’s Heather Newman is slated to play the Zoo Bar on Wednesday under looser restrictions that will allow far more people into the bar than could attend Burton’s show.
Those local and regional bands are likely to be the fare at the Zoo and other Lincoln clubs for weeks if not months to come.
“I’m hearing a little bit from (national artists),†Zoo Bar owner Pete Watters said. “But it’s very difficult for them to put a tour together because states’ restrictions are so different from each other.â€
That difficulty is exacerbated by the devastating impact of the coronavirus shutdown on live music venues across the country.
According to a new survey conducted by the National Independent Venue Association, 90% of independent venue owners, promoters and bookers say they will have to permanently close if they do not receive an infusion of targeted coronavirus aid.
The recently formed group surveyed nearly 2,000 music industry professionals as part of its lobbying effort to obtain government assistance.
Because of those fiscal woes, it's difficult for clubs and promoters to take financial risks. That makes its nearly impossible, in the near term, for a band to put together a 20-, 30- or 40-date tour.
That is also the case for arena and theater-level artists, who Lorenz said need tours of at least 20 shows to be profitable.
For the Zoo Bar, that means a coronavirus-created change in operations.
“Our days of doing 10-12 shows a week are over for a while. That’s part of the reason why I’m trying to take it as slow as possible,†Watters said.
"We’re going to do locals and some regional acts that can come in for a weekend. If that doesn’t feel right, if people don’t come, we’re going to end it and bring music back in a few months.â€