I’m not a Trumper or anti-vaxxer, but this is all very suspect to me. I’m not taking their shot and especially not just to go to a concert. They can keep their shots and their concerts if this will be the new requirement, and I’m sure many others feel the same way. The industry will never be the same.

Jonathan Lee

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It’s really over now, with these vaccine passports. 911 was nothing compared to what’s ahead.

Agostino Scafidi

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You preach about freedom and then you vote for Biden. Unreal value system you have there Bob

Thomas Ryan

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all of these people crying about, “this is what happens when you want big gov to take over!” no. this is what happens when all of you couldn’t gather the emotional integrity to properly quarantine and wear a mask. Also our government basically saying, “fend for yourselves” through all this doesn’t help.

We could be like new zealand / Australia and have proper contact tracing and minor shut downs when cases are detected but nooooooooooo. We don’t like the government to tell us what to do.

America’s sense of individualism will be its downfall.

ok, tyler

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Do some of these morons realize that the vaccine passport is for private businesses only and that the government wont force people to do anything? These republicans who love business and private property rights but get upset when said businesses exercise their right because someone is an asshole and doesn’t care about infecting others. Boggles my mind. It’s the “free speech” issue. You can say whatever you want. The government can’t infringe (yes yes you can’t yell fire or threaten) but people and businesses can decide you’re an asshole and not have to interact with you. Certain White men are starting to be judged by their character and not their privilege and it’s freaking them out so much they stormed the capitol.

Jon Smith

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For someone as analytical as you are, I’m surprised at your take on all of this.  You have a state issued driver’s license and your related info is readily accessible by any law enforcement officer who might pull you over for whatever reason.  So, on one hand you’re pro vaccine, but on the other hand, you and others are freaking out about a digital vaccine passport?  What difference does it make to you given that, in any case, a citizen’s Covid-vaccine info is already on file with the state?  You have to show your regular Passport or state issued Real ID to a TSA agent to fly domestic, and suddenly a vaccine passport is a more severe imposition that makes no sense to you?  Please.

— Greg DeBonne

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I’ve heard about the concert passport.
Its their insurance companies driving this. More will follow.
I have no problem excluding the anti-vaxxers from everything.

Charles McGarry

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Honestly, I dont understand that bs panic.

In Europe we already have vaccine passports for centuries (for example Pollio vaccine is must have, thats why we dont have Pollio cases anymore) and I would say that we enjoy more personal freedom than the US could even think of. Deciding which gun I use to kill someone is not freedom, because your freedom ends where my freedom starts. Thats our way.

A vaccine passport is nothing else than your regular passport. One makes sure you are not a living bomb of virus and attack other people and the other makes sure you are who you say you are.

Of course there are always criminals and there will be. Thats why you need to get the vaccine to the kids too, so they are vaccined BEFORE they decide a criminal path and can not hurt others – at least with that virus.

I totally support a no travel policy for non-vaccined persons and they should be not allowed to join any major events. They WILLINGLY accept that they may be a spreader of death for others, why the fuck should we concern about those shitholes? The earlier they are gone the better for the rest of us.

Good Friday

Alexandra, Munich, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

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Wow! Thanks for that core dump of paranoia and misinformation. As a former computer guy let me break the news: every thing you’ve ever done that involves an IP address is tracked. Every move you make, every step you take. We sold our souls and our privacy for a pair of socks from Amazon a long time ago.

Let me nutshell this for you: We’re doomed! That’s the zeitgeist tapped into by of all people William Shatner: “We’re on the verge of extinction. We are poisoning ourselves out of life and Mother Earth, Gaia, will survive and this little cancer called mankind that’s growing all around her will die off the way a body gets a temperature and kills the germs off.”

Beam me up, Scotty. I’m ready to go.

George Laugelli

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I agree with you on everything… except this.

I don’t want to get sick because some Trump asshole is clutching his gun and toting about freedom. The same guy who didn’t wear a mask, didn’t get tested and coughed on security guards who didn’t let them into Walmart. It’s bullshit. Just like if a kid doesn’t get a measles shot, they should be banned from school. It’s not just their own lives. Someone else will die because of them. It’s all about the greater good.

Additionally, this vaccine is a medical marvel with the RNA discovery. It’s not a “dead virus” being injected, it’s a protein. It’s safe and fine. And if they don’t want it, stay at home. Fuck them for asking responsible people to stay home – the assholes should!

Who cares about giving info for a vaccine passport? We give out information every single day via smartphone and everything we do on the internet.

Don’t give ammo to these anti-vaxx idiots.

Alex Frank

PS – this isn’t a Democrat or Biden thing… it’s the smart thing.

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I wonder if any of these people trying to scream these vaccines are the answer bothered to read their warning labels, the part that says the vaccine might not even work… and did they look at the ingredients lists and analyze those?

Or are they so willing to run to the first person who claims they have a cure for a price? Can I sign up to just get COVID the natural way and gain herd immunity that way? Because that’s possible too….

I’d rather risk the virus itself than what I’ve researched.

As far as I’m aware that’s a violation of HIPA law to require someone tell you their medical status.

shardofshadows

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Hi Bob. Why do some of your idiot readers insist that the Covid vaccines approved for use in United States are experimental? The vaccines are no more experimental than Tylenol. They have gone through clinical trials and are proven to be safe and effective. They have been administered millions of times in the United States. Experimental?  Those people need to come up with a better excuse for not taking the vaccine.

Jon Brooks

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Oh Bob it is so sad sometimes you cannot help slag of Trump and yet it is your Deomcrats who are putting in passports

The US Is on its way to a one party authoritarian democrat state and you supported it

Balrama Balrama

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You can’t pay me to go to a live show ever again.

Anthony Tricarico

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while I can see returning to a club show with some social distancing I can’t see going to Madison Squate Garden for sports or a concert where you are literally on top of people next to you. with all we dont know just seems not worth it
gary borress

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I forget how much of your readership responses is full of bluster, conjecture and hyperbole.

Also, how absolutely little they actually know or understand what communism is. McCarthy and Co. did an absolute smash up job in miseducation.

Mark Hinkley

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I’m a bit surprised that no one mentioned the fact rock n roll audiences (and now country moreso) are historically anti-government, driven by rebellion against authority (until ridiculous signaling began in 2020)

I’ve consistently pointed out for a year that

this plan from Live Nation and other promoters of live events is utterly blind to reality.

The overwhelming majority of us simply will not go.

There will be a return to local festivals….hidden in the woods, in someone’s house, at a barn in the middle of nowhere. Bars/clubs will be separated by their “freedom” score. Totally unadvertised shows and yet masses of people without masks enjoying illegal freedom from the Democrat push to the uber-fascist police state you voted for.

ted75123

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Please tell Lukather that Jesus isn’t real and the virus is. Nut cases that believe in fairytales will be the cause of global catastrophe, not science or medicine or technology. Kooks that think some old book , any of them, holds answers will be our undoing.
Bob Maggio

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Hey Bob, well I am going to chalk up that rant your readers send in to my hero William Goldman’s classic, “Nobody knows anything”…….. except all of these people I guess. We WILL see in a few years when this is all played out.

One exception though, my buddy Luke’s comments were the highlight!

Marty Walsh

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I just thought I’d weigh in here. The only way we don’t have the vaccine passport for concerts is if people vote against it… with their wallets. Live Nation and their ilk will only cave if they can’t make money. And what will that kind of boycott do to the music biz? It’s not like the bands are going to say we’re not playing if you need a vaccine passport. So. We’re all going to have them in our phones. That’s it. The final version will include a passport for people that CAN’T get a vaccination for some reason that has been approved by the powers that be.

Tracy Lipp

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Fucking idiots.  You are already being tracked!

If you don’t like that then drop your phone in the water, delete all of your socials and email, get rid of credit cards, bank cards, extract all of your money into cash (which can also be tracked), and find a way to live off the grid.

Get over yourselves and think about humanity for once. Whiney ass bitches.

Jeff Sackman

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“Trump supporters believe in freedom” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL.

The hysteria here boggles the mind. 550,000 DEAD and proving you’ve been vaccinated is HITLER?

Michael Fremer

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This is communism in the highest form

WAKE UP! THE very man who’s pouring money into vaccines also said a billion people need to die. Hmm Is this even noted by anyone?Also if you are spreading this virus through its embryo in the vaccines hmm how long before at least One billion are vaccinated to die. Sound like Nazi Germany? Does anyone here know who Carl Marx is or Lenin or that Hitler murdered anyone who opposed his Reich? HELLO America how you doing?

(Bigbruce  Starzz Int.)

Oh and if your that worried I have a machine that kills Covid + .

Big Bruce Hablutzel

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Do none of you have children? I have an 18 year old and have been asked to provide proof of vaccinations to her schools since preschool?  Doesn’t every doctor’s office ask you for your vaccination history. These records are in place and shared freely. I’m sure some parents object and I have not asked how the schools or doctors address the non-vaccinated. I’m just not seeing this as a sudden attack on our privacy or freedom.  These records are already computerized. More just business as usual.

Lou Ross

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Lukather is right about China (I’ve racked up over 20 visits) — an actor’s social score (brrr) started plummeting despite being a model (obedient) citizen, turned out her face on the side of buses caused facial recognition cameras to repeatedly bust her for jay walking. That’s a comedic aside but the reality is terrifying. And no question that elements in our own governments are watching with envy. Look out.

Charles Kennedy

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Everything now come down to politics and bs “ my freedom is being taken away”
Americans are a selfish lot..I choose to support my country by getting vaccinated for my safety and yours..and the others in my town, state, country and  world
Wtf happened to us  in the last 4 years…
Larry Clayman
San Rafael

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Whoooooooooaaah Carlos burned ya on that one! Haha!

Jordan Gaw

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Well I knew you kicked a big ass Retrumplican hornet’s nest on this one.

I think Paul Erlich’s reply was good.

At first I reacted negatively to your post, then realized if folks wanted to go to a concert w/o the vaxx, then it was their butt that could possibly go down.  I hear you can carry Coroner’s Virus while having the vaxx.

I guess the goal is to try to encourage those who fear Bill Gates controlling their antlers or Crazy Joe turning their hydraulics into digital acorns to get the shot.

Good luck there.  We’re in a new world with a new religion built on the rock of Q Anon and the tangerine Moses, Mafia Don.

richard sales

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I know some trumpers who refuse to take the vaccine, but they are happy to snort/shoot-up drugs purchased on the street.

David Appelbaum

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Get real clowns, none of your Civil rights are being obstructed. There is no law that says you have to get the vaccine so f*** you!  Stop making every issue a f****** political issue!

Tim Hurst

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ok but u missed one thing. are the passports transferable???? will help me make my decision

Ryan Brown

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Well you sure drew the tinfoil hat crowd out.

So Americans know anything about viruses, vaccinations, existing public health policies around the world, and statistics?
I’m sure people can read.  They just don’t seem to be able to discern the difference between a medical journal and USA Today.

Passports for vax already exist.  Yellow Fever for entry into most African countries. Others, depending on where and when you’re going.

All of the current approved vaccinations have an almost 100% effectiveness against dying from COVID and from becoming seriously ill.

You can still catch it. Especially with the new variants. But it’s not that big a deal.

Airlines are going to want you to be vaccinated to fly in their metal death tubes with shared air.  Wanna travel? Get a vax.

So one way or another, people who are vaccinated will have more privilege, and not just for having less skin pigment.

Pinhey-ABLE

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Kids cannot attend school without proof that they’ve been vaccinated for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella.
American adults can live by the same system.

Rich Costey

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I don’t understand your problem with this.

If you refuse to get vaccinated, you don’t get to go to a packed concert.  Seems perfectly logical to me.  I think vaccine passports are probably one of the more sane ideas we’ve heard since the pandemic started.  You need a way to verify who’s been vaccinated and who hasn’t.

And to your point about buying a ticket and reselling – NO of course its not on you to search the buyer and see if they’re vaccinated.  That’s on THEM!  If they bought a ticket they know they can’t use without a vaccination, then they made a stupid decision and should be treated as such.

-Brandon Zemel

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You wrote a post about something private companies are doing and got inundated with responses about how this is Biden’s fault.  Gotta love Republican reading comprehension.

-Jeremy Berg

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I’m in my late 50’s. Fuck it, I’ve seen all my favorite bands 50+ times each (GD, Widespread Panic, Phish, Cheap Trick) not to mention all the other hundreds if not thousands of shows since I was in diapers, so I won’t be attending any concerts ever again. I got my 1st shot a little over a week ago and I get the next in two weeks. I love live music, but I don’t want or need to get sick because of a concert. I’m fine watching from my couch with my JBL’s blasting in my face…

Love & Peace, Bob

Rodney Rowland

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Please explain to your audience that Live Nation and AEG are PRIVATE businesses. NOT the government.

Chip Latham

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Hi Bob, Dad’s job took our family overseas when we were growing up.  We had to have up to date vaccination records to leave the US and to enter the destination country, and the number and types of vaccinations depended on where we were going.  This was over 65 years ago.  What’s the big whoop?

Thomas Cokenia

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1. (Almost) Everyone ALREADY gave up their vaccination info to go to school/camp. Hardly a new precedent.

2. This is really just like TSA pre-check. I give up a little personal information to get in first, faster, and with less fuss. Let everyone else who didn’t bother with the vaccine/test ahead of time line up at the venue for a $5 (or whatever) test. Fail the test and your ticket goes into a virtual drop line that’s basically a pre-vaxxed waitlist to buy tickets to sold out shows. (And shows are going to sell out.) You get a full refund for the ticket once it sells. Make it inconvenient to attend (and travel commercially!) unless you’re vaccinated/pre-tested. I’m convinced this is the only way to move the needle with COVID deniers/anti-vaxxers.

Every ticket is already sold with terms & conditions, not that anyone reads them, and no one is being forced to buy a ticket.

Dave Conklin

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Worth noting that none of the big 3 covid vaccines is FDA approved. They all received “emergency authorization” but have not been around long enough or tested long enough to be FDA approved. https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines

In other words, mandatory vaccine passports mean forcing everyone to take a non-FDA approved vaccine in order to be able to freely live and function in America. Guess which demographic groups are most likely to be harmed by such a policy? (Hint: the same demographic groups that are harmed by every other restrictive policy.)

And, of course, no one should preemptively trust the pharmaceutical industry. Like all industries they are legally required to maximize shareholder value but have no similar mandate to maximize human health. These same pharmaceutical companies just fought to protect their own bottom line by lobbying heavily to prevent people in 3rd world countries from using their IP to make their own vaccines. Saints, they ain’t.

Jonathan Steigman

PS: Not an “anti-vaxxer,” not pro-Trump, not a Right-winger: I critique from the Left

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Kids already have to do this to go to public and private schools.  Everyone who can’t look beyond themselves is a pussy (read fine print for exceptions)

Anne Trenning

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When I was a kid and my dad was in the military, we vacationed in Mexico. When we drove to the border crossing at Nogales, we were made to get shots over again to gain entry back in the US because we had left our shot records at home. Could we have protested our rights were being violated back in the 60’s and been allowed to cross?

If the promoters want concerts to be safe for fans and the bands, and avoid liability, I’m willing to do the passport to see music, again. Anybody against it, stream it.

John Kauchick

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I’d rather show a vaccine passport than take my shoes off!

Philip Mondello

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You kidding? I’m for this. Fuck the people who refuse to get it.

Tim Lefebvre

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Bob…I understand your argument and the fears people have of having their phones tracked etc. And of course the players involved will abuse the process to their advantage etc.

But this is much bigger than just the music business. And to argue that it’s a case of having your “freedom” unfairly restricted is ridiculous.

The vaccine in not mandatory. You can choose to get it, or not get it, and no one will force you. But if you choose not to, you are not just jeopardizing your own health, which is your right to do. The fact is that you are also jeopardizing the health of your fellow citizens, full stop. You will still be able to transmit the virus even if you are unaware that you have it, and you will be a human Petri dish for the virus to continue to live and mutate into forms that could threaten even people who have chosen to get vaccinated.

So you have a right to do what you want to do for yourself, but you don’t have the right to endanger the rest of us, who want to be able to go to a concert, or a club, or a sporting event, or any other public place free from the fear of getting sick. You don’t have the “freedom” to do whatever you want to do. Just like you don’t have the “freedom” to drive a car without a license. Society, via the government, makes these kinds of decisions ALL the time. No one has a “right” to go to a concert. You don’t have a right to go to a concert and shoot off a canister of teargas.

So some people don’t believe the virus is real, or as some of the commenters have said, that the vaccine isn’t a vaccine because it doesn’t prevent infection, it just ameliorates the symptoms. Or they are willing to risk possible death (half a million and counting.) Whatever. That is their right. But they don’t get to have it both ways. They should be ok with accepting the consequences of their “freedom” and stay away from venues where they can infect others.

Oh…and what about the “freedom” of the privately run businesses that have the right to choose to not endanger the majority of their customers just because some others will feel left out? If you believe in freedom, you need to be consistent about what that means. It doesn’t just mean “I get to do what I want.”

Adam Gorgoni

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of is Broadway. None of us have played a show in a year and 3 weeks. Best case: September or October.

So, what if they open everything to 100% capacity tomorrow, or June or September? How many people are going to come to NYC, stay in a hotel, eat in a crowded restaurant and the pay $250 dollars to sit in a theater with 999 strangers…or 1499? Who are you sitting next to? Where have they been?

There are 25-30 shows on Broadway at any given time. Each does 8 shows a week. Theaters hold from 500 on the small side to 1700+. How many people a month are necessary to support this multi-billion dollar industry?

What’s going to get people to feel safe enough to come?

What’s going to get people to feel safe enough to sit on a plane? Or go to a concert? Or sit in a restaurant? Or go to a store?

Freedom, huh? People don’t want to get vaccinated? People don’t want a vaccination passport? So they’re going to make an exception for country concerts because they know that those people WON’T get vaccinated because there’s money to be made, public health be damned??? But, of course, don’t make me wait for my AR-15.

One of my gigs is at a school. That got me in on phase 1b here in NY State. I got my first dose on January 20th, inauguration day. The state ran out of vaccines 2 days later because the outgoing administration in DC had no plan, no infrastructure, no one in charge, hadn’t coordinated with the incoming admin and didn’t care to have any supply beyond the moment when they scurried out of town. After the Bidens came in, it took about 10 days to get supplies out again and for me to get an appointment for my 2nd, a month later.

Imagine where we’d be if that MF’r was still grifting from the White House.

But back to “Freedom”. Why is it that so many don’t believe in a social contract? Millions are vaccinated, almost no one has gotten ill from it (beyond short term side effects). It’s proven effective, it’s working. And what’s so bad about a vaccination passport? Is google or the big bad government going to know more about any of us that they don’t already?

Got any better ideas?

Polio, Small Pox, Measles…all gone.

For Fux Sake!!!!!!

Jack Morer
Vaccinated,
Still riding the subway with 2 masks because of the occasional mask hole,
and flying to Florida on Sunday to see my Mom for the first time in 13 months because she was finally able to get vaccinated as well.

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I am a long time veteran of the touring and music business. I was a

road guy starting back in 1988.  I have completed all levels of touring,

cars-vans-vans/trailers-buses-bus/trailer-buses & trucks.

 

I have been acting now as a production manager for venues and for a

promoter that produces, books and manages two of Ohio’s largest

outdoor music festivals.  I have been studying this COVID pandemic

from every angle.  I have sat in on many Zoom panels, read many

industry documents and now listened on several Clubhouses.  We

touring workers/artists and local live event vendors want to get back to

work. We want to do it safely and efficiently.  We don’t want to take

the risks of getting our people sick.  We do not want all the prep work

that it will take to get ready to Re-Open to go down the financial toilet.

We are not in a hurry to make a bad decision.

 

I have been thinking the Vaccine Passport (better worded: Certification?)

is not a bad thing.  It will only facilitate the process of reopening safely

and swiftly.  It will not work if “Mandated”.  It will work if it is used as a

tool to process audiences into venue, festivals, etc. faster.  You will

send your Vax-Info to an app (of which many are in development).  It

would best as a voluntary, empathetic process to further the audiences

“know before you go” responsibilities.  Venues have their jobs, but the

audience also has their part/job in the concert process.  Bring your

wallets, bring your ID’s, bring your tickets, well now to get yourself

processed sooner bring your proof of vaccination.  No one expects

you to give up your rights, privacy, but concerts do expect patrons to play

their part.  Remembering the no-more smoking in venues transitions?

We got over them, it was a better protocol for everyone.  Even the

smokers eventually came around to it.

 

All entering get their temp checks, wear their masks, get their rapid

tests if needed.  Those that have their VAX-cert get in the faster line, no?

We bought our advance tix, for that there were perks: you get in,

you picked a better seat, you’re not standing in line at the box office,

you’re in line, your tix on your phone and poof in ya go.  Win-win.

So now some see this Vax-cert as a perk.  Not all can do, not all will do

it, but not all get into sold out shows either.  You play your role as the

responsible consumer and you get the benefits.

 

This Certification idea(s) will also help backstage as well, for all the

obvious common sense reasons, number one being to keep the artists

healthy.  No artists, no shows.  A simple part of the live event equation, no?

 

Bob Dlyan told us years ago, the times are a changing.  Times for now are

in a change, how long is only up to mother nature. She may have found a

way to tell us humans to slow down, shut up, pay attention to a few things

for the betterment of ALL of us.  Pushing a reset button works at times.

The BFH tool, never really works.  Thanks for keeping us all thinking,

talking and trying to figure stuff out.

 

Sincerely,

Mark O’Shea

The Elevation Group

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Never before have I wished more that this email was your annual April fools joke. Alas, this isn’t funny and really is about to become our new “new normal”. Keep safe, Bob.

Theo Aronson

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Oh shit – this was an actual real Lefsetz Letter??  I swear about half way through reading it I started laughing because I was positive that it was an April Fools post.  I love and miss my country, but I’m pretty happy to be down here in Australia away from the lunacy currently going on in the US.

-Gregg Bell