While at the start of the pandemic some health experts predicted that concerts wouldn't return to capacity until fall 2021 the earliest, it seems Live Nation is working with the plan that concerts will resume in the summer of 2021.
Live Nation President Joe Berchtold appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Alley on Monday, December 6th, and said he remains optimistic that shows will resume next summer, citing the positive news of the vaccine development as the main reason.
Berchtold pointed to shows coming back in Asia and New Zealand, where the virus has been kept under control, as reasons to be excited. “We start to see with much greater clarity what the path to return to live is, and certainly a lot of confidence about that return to live.”
He added “In the key U.S./Western European markets, it continues to be our expectation that by next summer, we’re back with our major outdoor shows — our amphitheaters here in the U.S., festivals globally. We’ll be able to do those shows.”
Berchtold stressed that outdoor amphitheater shows would depend on vaccine distribution and local protocols. He avoided discussing the recent rumor that Ticketmaster would require proof of vaccination or testing but instead said that Live Nation couldn't predict "local market health official rules."
One major concert promoter predicted concerts wouldn't return until 2022, saying “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.”
Live Nation has long planned to ramp up in summer 2021.
Would you end up going to these shows if they start up again?
[via Spin]
