Live Nation will begin testing a variety of new concert experiences in the coming months.
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CEO Michael Rapino explained that they will be experimenting with drive-in concerts, fan-less virtual concerts and more during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
“So over the next six months, we’ll be starting slow and small, focusing on the basics and testing regionally,” he said. “But whether it’s in Arkansas or [another] state that is safe, secure, and politically fine to proceed in, we’re going to dabble in fan-less concerts with broadcasts and reduced-capacity shows, because we can make the math work. There are a lot of great artists that can sell out an arena, but they’ll do higher-end theaters or clubs.
“So you’re gonna see us [gradually reopening] in different countries, whether it’s Finland, Asia, Hong Kong — certain markets are farther ahead [in the recovery process],” he continued. “Over the summer there will be testing happening, whether it’s fan-less concerts, which offer great broadcast opportunities and are really important for our sponsorship business; drive-in concerts, which we’re going to test and roll out and we’re having some success with; or reduced-capacity festival concerts, which could be outdoors in a theater on a large stadium floor, where there’s enough room to be safe.
“We think in the fall, if there are no second hotspots, you’ll see markets around the world [reopening] — Europe, specifically, has talked about opening up 5000-plus [gatherings] in September,” Rapino concluded. “And on the venue side, we’re dealing with federal, the White House, every government body you can imagine, and we’ve got a great task force around what we have to do with the venue to make you safe. So I think in the fall you’ll see more experimenting and more shows happening in a theater setting, into some arenas. And then our goal is really to be on sale in the third and fourth quarters for 2021 at full scale.”
Live Nation has also begun reopening concerts, but only allowing 20% capacity and other catches.
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Live Concerts Returning Sooner Than Expected, But There’s A Catch
Live Nation is implementing new social distancing measures, including cutting venue capacity by 80%, in order to bring back the live concert experience.
Live Nation is planning to bring back in-the-flesh concert experiences, but they’ve implemented tons of social distancing measures in order to keep attendees, artists, and everyone in between safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was reported by Yahoo Finance on Wednesday (May 6th) that Live Nation plans to cut venue capacity by 80% for future concert events. Additionally, audience members will be placed at least 2-12 seats apart in order to remain six feet apart minimum at all times. It will also be required for everyone to wear a mask at all times, and have their temperature checked at each entry point. Venues will be completely sanitized using fog sprayers, bathrooms will be limited to ten people at a time, and soap and paper towel dispensers will be contactless.
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The event promoter is testing out this new approach with its first official socially distanced concert. Travis McCready, the frontman of country-rock band Bishop Gunn, is set to play a show in Fort Smith, Arkansas, next Friday (May 15th), with all the aforementioned safety measures in place. As indicated, the venue capacity will be cut by 80%, from 1100 to 229 permitted attendees. Depending on how successful this particular event proves to be in terms of reducing coronavirus exposure and providing a worthwhile concert experience, more artists may be able to start performing live once again.
Billie Eilish Tour Canceled Over Growing Coronavirus Concern
As more festivals and concerts push back concerts, Billie Eilish announces the “WHERE DO WE GO” North American tour dates have been pushed back.
Billie Eilish tour dates have officially been postponed. In wake of the Coronavirus epidemic, the Grammy-award winning singer is among the many artists that have been forced to push back their tour dates. Eleven dates have been affected including tomorrow night’s show that was supposed to take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. Other dates affected include her show at Madison Square Garden in New York City as well as her Brooklyn date at Barclays Center.
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“I’m so sad to do this but we need to postpone these dates to keep everyone safe,” she wrote. “We’ll let you know when they can be rescheduled. Please keep yourselves healthy. I love you.”
No word on when these dates would be rescheduled but this appears to be part of Live Nation’s plan to cancel all events after WHO called Coronavirus a pandemic. Post Malone is also among the artists affected by the decision. Billboard reports that Live Nation will reevaluate the situation in April as they anticipate having these tour dates resume in a few months.
Peep the dates affected below.
03/13 – Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA
03/15 – Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
03/16 – Prudential Center – Newark, NJ
03/18 – Capital One Center – Washington, DC
03/19 – TD Garden – Boston, MA
03/20 – Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY
03/23 – Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
03/24 – United Center – Chicago, IL
03/25 – Bankers Life Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN
03/27 – Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
03/28 – Enterprise Center – St. Louis, MO
Live Nation Cancels All Tours Temporarily Due To Coronavirus
Live Nation has announced it will be putting all foreign and domestic tours on hold for the time being, due to the rapid spread of coronavirus worldwide.
Live Nation is halting all domestic and international tours as a temporary measure, due to the growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak around the world. Per Billboard, the event promoter has instructed all of its touring shows to pack their bags and head home for the time being. Following suite of other events around the world that attract large gatherings of people, current touring arena shows under Live Nation will be cancelled through the end of the month in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Select shows on Thursday and Friday this week will, however, proceed as scheduled. The company plans to re-evaluate the situation come April, with hopes of resuming touring by May or June. Among the tours affected are Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band, Cher, Kiss, Tool, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Chris Stapleton.
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Live Nation has also ordered all of its employees not to come into the office, and instead work remotely from home. For the most part, their Beverly Hills headquarters will be closed until the end of March. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, the company is not planning to lay off any employees, as staff have been informed that the company is “well-positioned to weather the closure.”
Post Malone Bootleg Merch Vendors Get Slapped With Lawsuit
Live Nation wants a restraining order against the fraudulent vendors cutting into their profits.
Vendors selling bootleg merch outside major concert events is a fairly common occurrence, but Live Nation has had enough of the ones setting up shop outside Post Malone‘s “Runaway Tour”. The hitmaker is now on the second leg of this tour with Swae Lee, so the entertainment company has probably been putting up with these pesky vendors for some time now. Live Nation, which handles the sales of Post Malone’s merchandise, is seeking to eradicate this threat to their profits by filing a lawsuit.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Live Nation is requesting the court to grant them a temporary restraining order against any person selling knockoff merch at the Posty’s shows. They wish for the R.O. to be approved by his New Jersey stop on February 18th and remain effective for the duration of the tour. If granted, Live Nation will have the right to seize the fake products from the vendors and destroy them. The documents state that the bootleggers have been a great nuisance on the “Runaway Tour”, at times confusing fans into thinking the low-quality merch is official. For this reason, Live Nation is demanding an injunction against those selling any product that “bears the federally registered trademarks, services marks, likenesses, logos, and/or other indicia of the popular musical performer known as ‘POST MALONE’.”
Meek Mill Takes Major Win In Wrongful Death Lawsuit: Report
The family of the victim dropped the case against Meek.
Meek Mill‘s had to face several lawsuits in the past, recently being sued by a former Philadelphia cop over Amazon’s Free Meek documentary. More recently, he’s secured a major win in a lawsuit that’s been haunting him over the past few years, including when he was incarcerated. According to The Blast, Meek’s name, along with other defendants, has been cleared in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a 2016 shooting outside of a Meek Mill concert.
Jaquan Graves’ estate went to court to dismiss the claims against Meek Mill and the others listed in the lawsuit. Meek had previously denied that he had any sort of involvement, knowledge, or prediction that a shooting could’ve taken place. He refuted any sort of wrongdoing in the case, even claiming that police found gun powder residue on the victim meaning that there’s a chance Graves’ could’ve discharged a weapon as well.
This marks the second out of three lawsuits filed against Meek that have been tossed out. Meek was sued alongside Live Nation and the Oakdale Musical Theatre Company, claiming that they were negligent in hiring security for the concert. Meek was also accused of inciting violence at his concerts, even detailing the history of shootings at Meek Mill concerts.
With two lawsuits against the rapper tossed, he still has one more to go.
