Delta Force: Standards Solidify As Industry Leaders Update COVID Policies

Let There Be Rock:
Gabe Ginsberg / Getty Images – Let There Be Rock:
Masks may soon be more common at concerts, such as at this Atmosphere and Cypress Hill gig Aug. 17 at Craig Ranch Amphitheater in North Las Vegas, Nev., Aug. 17, as major cities and counties reinstate mask orders to prevent COVID. Meanwhile, Live Nation, AEG and other major venue operators are updating policies, largely requiring vaccination or negative tests before attending concerts.

As the United States grapples with continuing COVID cases amid varying and sometimes wildly contrasting local policies across the country, so too does the concert industry, which in June appeared to be well on its way to reopening without a hitch and with policies regarding masks, vaccines and negative tests hopefully a thing of the past. Then the Delta variant hit. 

While many artists have set COVID policies and guidelines for recent tours, largely the onus has been on the individual large-scale tours, festivals or venues to set guidelines, with local restrictions and sentiment varying depending on the market, population density and other factors. Meanwhile, state and local governments continue to introduce new policies, including California requiring masks at outdoor events and vaccination or negative tests at indoor events, New York City going vaccine-only for indoor activities of all kinds, and myriad more across the country. 
Momentum had been growing among the industry, with major venue operators and promoters such as I.M.P., Oak View Group (Pollstar’s parent company), Another Planet Entertainment and others announcing policies requiring all attendees (and employees in most cases) to supply proof of vaccination or negative COVID test before entry. 
In maybe the biggest public test so far, C3 Presents’ Lollapalooza in Chicago implemented a similar policy and, despite media reports and photos of a largely un-masked crowd, the local health department linked about 200 COVID cased to the event, far from a super-spreader event at the four-day event attracting up to 100,000 attendees per day.
That momentum has now snowballed to new wide-ranging policies effective in early October from the two major event producers and venue operators – Live Nation and AEG Presents, which have announced extensive policies for their venues and festivals. 
“Obviously, AEG and Live Nation coming on board means if you want to go to a show you have to be not only caring about the safety of you but the person next to you,” says Evan Winiker of RANGE Media Partners, who manages the Disco Biscuits, Walk Off The Earth and others.  Winiker says the solidifying policies from the industry’s leading event producers are huge. “I think it’s incredibly important and necessary. We owe it to the fans that are buying tickets to the shows and coming to the shows to essentially create a safe space for them.”
Beacon Theatre
Noam Galai / Getty Images – Beacon Theatre
A Blue State Of Mind: New York City has adopted the most stringent public policies regarding indoor events, with Major Bill de Blasio making it clear that not being vaccinated means missing out on restaurants, bars, theaters, arenas and other indoor concert venues. Meanwhile, some states are pushing to make it illegal to adopt similar measures.

The policies between the two majors differ in two notable ways. Firstly AEG Presents requires vaccine proof while negative tests are not an option, but applies only to its clubs, theaters and festivals such as Coachella, Stagecoach, Day N Vegas and others while not applying to arenas and stadiums under the ASM Global banner. Meanwhile, Live Nation’s policy notes it applies only at its venues and festivals fully owned and operated, which means a lot of amphitheatres, theaters and even clubs. It’s understood that tours produced by Live Nation and AEG, the bulk of national and world tours of all kinds, can request specific COVID-related policies for each show and largely will get what they want. 

However, each company notes its policy applies “where legally permitted,” which begs the question of states that are trying to prevent the mandate of masks or vaccines at schools, concerts and other events, most notably in Texas and Florida.
“We’ve got a lot of shows with a lot of artists, and some states won’t allow us to implement these policies,” Winiker adds. “All we can do in those situations is ask our fans to take care of each other and try to do as much as possible on our side to not put them at risk, which for us means outdoor shows only in those markets” and following all safety protocols they can control, including backstage policies which remain the same for each show. 
On the agent side, as usual, it’s client-to-client, but any uncertainty can be a barrier to booking and keeping shows.
“We follow the preferences of our artists and engage with them on an ongoing basis about what’s happening in each state as we plan and amend plans,” says Marshall Betts at the recently launched TBA agency that represents The War On Drugs, Courtney Barnett, Chvrches and many others. “There is definitely hesitation about certain states that are not taking a proactive approach right now.”
Meanwhile, independent venues may offer both a potential alternative to the current policies but likewise find themselves needing to adapt to the current industry standard. 
“All of us and I think everyone is just trying to accommodate as best we can for a successful, safe show,” says Patchwork Presents’ Dave Poe, whose company handles talent buying and promotion for venues in multiple states including The Criterion in Oklahoma City. 
“I don’t think every artist across the country is going to require the same things. That’s part of the beauty of our business, that there’s a lot of different promoters and artists and agents, and everyone is going to do what makes them feel comfortable. At the end of the day we’re all working together, so I think in each situation we’ll all figure out a way to accommodate.” 
As far as how the requirements affect his business right now, he says it’s just part of the job.
“A promoter’s job is to accommodate things as they come up,” says Poe, who notes that Kesha just had a successful show at the 4,000-capacity Criterion Aug. 17. “Having to check physical vaccinations is just another thing that promoters have to handle. Sometimes you have to order 10 more stagehands for tomorrow, or get catering figured out or whatever it may be. It doesn’t feel like any more work, and at the end of the day we’re putting on shows for fans. But it’s added costs, certainly, and we have to discuss that with the tour.”
While COVID positives among band or crew are now a matter of when rather than if – such as the recent news of Korn’s Jonathan Davis testing positive that led to the rescheduling of six shows and cancellation of two – resistance is being noted on the fan side, at least for some demographics.
“We’re starting to see some concerns and passive resistance from fans going to indoor events, among older, educated, vaccinated people,” says Adam Epstein of Innovation Events, who during the pandemic built out socially distanced and drive-in events such as the Yarmouth Drive-In at Cape Cod and regularly produces tours by popular spoken-word performers such as David Sedaris, Neil Degrasse Tyson and many others.  “The people going to those shows – they are ones most concerned in public at an event. We’ve gone from a celebration environment in April and May to one of caution now. That’s where it’s really disheartening. We should be celebrating the fact that this vaccine has successfully mitigated the morbidity of getting COVID.”
Epstein also produces concerts via a joint venture called Cola Concerts at the Columbia Speedway in South Carolina, where he says the latest COVID policies among the greater industry are leading to uncertainty as to what is legally permissible.
The answer may be coming more clear in real time, as Austin City Limits Festival on Aug. 19 updated its policy, clearly stating that negative tests would be required for entry to the massive event taking place at Zilker Park in October – but, vaccination proof counts.
“A printed copy of a negative COVID-19 test result will be required to attend ACL Festival 2021,” reads the policy on the C3-produced festival’s website and social channels. “The negative COVID-19 printed test result must be obtained within 72 hours (3 days) of attending ACL Festival. Patrons who are fully vaccinated may show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination instead of proof of negative test.” Industry sources unaffiliated with Live Nation or C3 have speculated that the legal language presented by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott may be vague enough to require negative COVID tests or proof of vaccination – which would mean discriminating against attendees who have COVID or COVID symptoms rather than against the unvaccinated.  
While there’s still much to figure out and any attempt to standardize across the country or industry is sure to leave some holes, what may be most important is moving in the right direction, whether that be predictability, safety or a combination of whatever it takes to get back to business and stay there.
“We want to ensure that we do everything in our power to never have to shut down like that again,” says I.M.P.’s Audrey Fix Schaefer, which operates or owns the 9:30 Club, the Anthem, and Merriweather Post Pavilion in the D.C. area.  The company just updated its own policy to only require vaccination, with negative tests not an option.
“Nothing about this new world is easy, but we all have to take inventory and see what we can do individually, as a community and as an industry and business, to help increase the chances of us getting past this.”