Pollstar Special Section: One Year Later…

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– One Year Later …

For most of us, it’s been brutal. Exactly one year ago this week, the industry we pour our hearts, souls and minds into shuttered. Pollstar is marking this by documenting the week live music died with a package examining the events that transpired as our industry completely shut down—so many tours, festivals and venues large and small along with artists and our entire industry just stopped on a dime.


Our One Year Later… package, below, includes a timeline book-ended by March 6, when SXSW and Ultra Music Festival canceled, and March 12, when AEG and Live Nation pulled the plug on all tours on the very same day that Rev. Moose of Marauder was convening a meeting with independent venues that would form the foundation of the National Independent Venue Association.

Nothing may better tell this story that was the gut punch of March than this week’s Box Office Insider, which illustrates how our industry went from grossing $153 million from 2.47 million tickets sold in the month’s first week to zero in the last. Our industry survey polls a wide swath of sectors including management, agencies, promoters, insurance, festivals, production and livestreamers on their experiences.  And our One Year Later.. section includes interviews with the Head of SXSW Music James Minor, Tacoma Dome’s Kim Bedier and NIVA’s Rev. Moose, as well as a look at the final major American festival before the shutdown, Florida’s Okeechobee, and the immediate impact COVID had on artists in cycle including D-Nice, Dropkick Murphys, Code Orange and Tame Impala.   


We’ve come an exceedingly long way since the unsettling early days of March 2020, when we had no idea what laid ahead. While no one wants to dwell on our industry’s darkest days, there are many lessons to be learned on how to avoid, or at least mitigate, the effects from something like this in the future. Today, with increased vaccinations and rapid testing, established best practices, clear signs of economic recovery, certification processes and especially more tours announced with each passing day, our industry’s return is thankfully more imminent than ever. That’s a testament to our resilience, perseverance and grit – qualities this industry has in abundance.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Rev. Moose, Marauder

Code Orange