The Future of Concerts

I wonder what the concert business will do if the pandemic doesn't get under control?

I plan on attending the Metallica show this weekend at the Getty 4 Drive-in located in Muskegon, Michigan. I'm going for two reasons, one...it's Metallica, and two I'm curious to see if it will be as exciting as actually being in front of the band.

This technically is not my first concert on the big screen. Years back, I went to the theater to see the big four with Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. I really enjoyed the show because in the theater it was a unique experience with other fans and the only way I was going to be able to see the show.

I also saw Roger Waters movie/concert called the Wall. It was a very unique experience because there was a story line movie that was woven into a concert. Waters talked about the backstories of the songs and visited the locations then at the end the actually song would play. I highly recommend watching this, it was one of my all time favorite move theater experiences.

When I saw these two concert films, there will still concerts to go to so I went with an open mind and had no expectations.

Well we have not had concerts for six months and it looks like those maybe a year or more away from happening again so going to see Metallica this time it feels different. I think because its new and possibly the way we will see shows for a while.

One good thing is, Metallica has the money and desire to make it a unique experience so it should be ground breaking for sure. I just wonder if when I drive away, I will have that same feeling from when they played at Van Andel Arena a couple of years ago.

In places like Denmark and the U.K. they have been having shows where the artists is actually performing at the drive in which I think is closer to the concert experience that we are used to, but for the artists, you can't get as many people there and with vehicles everyone is so far a part.

I saw in the U.K. an outdoor venue was built where there were little platforms that you and your friends hang in to watch the show that are socially distanced between each other. That seems even closer to the artist/fan experience but I haven't see or heard of any of those type events happening in the states yet.

Many shows that were postponed from this year have been rescheduled for next year. Most starting in the early summer and moving forward. Its still up in the air if states like Michigan and others will be able to have that many people gather in an area and it be safe.

We keep hearing about super spreader events which is usually anytime a 100 or more get together, there seems to be a spike in cases related to the event just like what we saw in Sturgis, South Dakota, recently.

Yes there has been the virtual concerts online and those are okay but it has to be tough for the artists while performing those. Even though they know people are watching, part of what makes the live concert experience so special is the artist feeding off the energy of the crowd.

I know this is a factor because I am a musician and some of my most memorable moments on stage have been because of the audience and not what I was doing. The audience is really what makes some shows better than others.

I have seen tours from artists where I catch them in a couple different states on the run and because of the audience, one show would be way better than the other two. Its not the bands fault, its just how it works out some time.

The audience interaction will be hard to duplicate on the big screen or computer screen. If you love watching musicians perform, well its all we have for the time being.