As most of our subscribers and followers know, I'm a concert photographer. Obviously over the last six months or so, I haven't had the opportunity to shoot photos of anything, until today. My camera gear hadn't left its case since January. I had the chance to dust off the ole girl today in a different way with shooting some architectural things, and it felt great, but when will things be "normal" again?
Lets start here. What is "Normal?" The year 2020 certainly has proved that there is no such thing, or if indeed there is such a thing, not many people know what its like anymore, or what the future holds for the music industry. Put into perspective, in 2018, I was able to shoot photos of over 300 artists, at just about 85 concerts, and in 2019 after becoming a father and wanting to spend more time with my family, I only attended 30 or so concerts. How many have I done in 2020? Two. Both were in January.
I'm not writing this as some sob story for myself, I rarely make money shooting photos at concerts, I do it as a passion, not for an income. I want to bring to light however, the hundreds of thousands of industry workers that have been affected by the disappearance of pretty much ALL Live entertainment.
When the world stopped rotating in March, I had literally flown on a plane from the "hottest spot in the United States" when Covid-19 became an issue here. No one knew what it was, how to deal with it, how to protect themselves, nor their loved ones. Months later, it still seems as if health professionals are scratching their heads at times as to how to deal with it. This is all beside the point however. No one knows what will happen once the pandemic decides to be contained or at least not at deadly levels.
What we do know, is that the entertainment industry has been rocked. With little to no help from the government for touring artists, their staff, venues, or even concession workers, these people have been left with no income, and no timeline as to when they can return to work.
Here in Connecticut, we've only just begun holding concerts again. How? You Say. Well, Take a farm in rural Connecticut, build a stage on it, Get some spray paint and make circles in the pasture, call it a "section", then make more of those every ten feet apart, and only sell two tickets to the same person in said section. In reality, is actually a great idea. You wear your face covering when you arrive, take it off in your section when you're with your loved one. However, how many venues or artists can afford to make this change, adapt to the rollercoaster of income from venue to venue, and logistically still be able to stay afloat and tour? Small indoor venues can't do this, bars and clubs can't do this, pavilions won't 1/4 of the seats, sports don't have fans. What can be the happy medium?
Will this type of concert catch on here and will venues be able to make it work? Things change day to day right now, so what do we face in 2021? Will there be a "normal" again?
South Farms, Morris, CT (The site of the new concert style here in CT)
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