Will There Be Music When This Is All Over?
By Paul Huddleston
General Manager of 89.5 KCFV-FM "The Wave"
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| Theory of a Deadman at Delmar Hall 2018 photo credit: Paul Huddleston |
I am sure when we all began the year, we had hopes, dreams, and plans that have long fallen by the wayside. Nobody expected 2020 to be the year everything fell apart, yet here we are. Schools are a mix of virtual and in-person, many people decline to go to a store, instead opting for delivery services or internet purchases, and entertainment is largely limited to what you can get at home. Movie theaters are starting to open, but who knows if that will last. Live performance and music venues were among the first to close and will likely be among the last to open again. This means a loss of entertainment options for most of us but it also means a loss of income for many, and some venues are worried that they may not be able to come back from the shutdown due to COVID-19. Large gatherings, like you would find at places as diverse as our own Terry M. Fischer theatre to The Muny, the Pageant, Blueberry Hill, and many more throughout the region are strongly discouraged, and many venue operators are trying to figure out ways to survive.
Additionally, musicians have been unable to play live in front of an audience since mid-March, and this is harming their ability to earn a living too. Some have taken to doing live streaming sets, either for donations or selling tickets for virtual admission to these private streams. Some larger artists have taken to streaming live shows in empty venues to raise money for charities. These large acts are certainly helping in the short term, but what will happen to the small, mom-and-pop venues that can’t host acts like this and local musicians who rely on playing gigs to get by? What happens to the technical crew, the sound and lighting techs, the stagehands, the door staff, bartenders and servers who rely on a steady stream of shows and special attractions to make a living. According to many in the industry, the future looks bleak. Venues must still pay rent for spaces that cannot hold shows or make any revenue for the owners. They cannot afford to pay their employees for not working, and while the occasional internet streamed show may help, these are few and far between, especially for bands considered national touring acts: big enough to attract a crowd nearly everywhere, but too small to sell out stadiums.
What can we do about it? We all enjoy music and theatre, and there is no substitute for seeing it in person, surrounded by other just as excited as you. The energy in the room is tangible, and an internet stream or zoom theatre will do for now but are poor substitutes for being “in the room where it happened” to pull a phrase from one of the biggest musicals recently, Hamilton. How can we help to make sure these venues don’t close forever? How can we make sure that when it is safe enough and all this madness is behind us, we can go see a play or listen to a live band at the local dive bar or music hall? I’d suggest visiting www.saveourstages.com as a good starting place. The website is run by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and has venue members in every state. They are pushing for congress to give them a helping hand to weather this storm, as they are collectively responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars for our economy. Support them and help keep live music and theatre alive. Hopefully once this is over, we will run into each other at a show somewhere and be able to feel the collective energy of live performance again.
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