Trailer: https://bit.ly/3lNMzo8

It’s not for everybody.

It’s about the money. And the jobs.

Stretching after my hike last night, not wanting to let a moment be wasted, also striving for the stimulation the internet affords, I read the “Washington Post” review of Fiona Hill’s new book:

“The rare Trump insider memoir that doesn’t obsess over Trump – In ‘There Is Nothing for You Here” Fiona Hill warns of the dangers to democracy and opportunity in America and beyond”: https://wapo.st/2XioADV

I highly recommend it. It’s more important than anything I’m going to write here. Left or right, it doesn’t matter.

“The preamble has become the point. Hill links her experiences in England, Russia and the United States to argue that the countries suffer a similar malady: a steady postindustrial decline that stokes cultural despair and leads to a polarized politics in which populists thrive. ‘From the late 1980s to the 2020s, in the heartlands of both Russia and the United States, I saw grim reflections of the decline of my hometown,’ she writes. ‘As the sense of hopelessness spreads, so does the anger — and the potential for people’s fears and frustrations to explode into the political arena.'”

To quote James McMurtry, you can’t make it here anymore. There is no lifetime employment, and you can’t make it on minimum wage. Meanwhile, there’s an entire sector of people who are flourishing, not only the billionaires but the college graduates living in cities who complain they can’t make it on $400,000 a year. That’s what Biden’s tax bill considers rich. And if you’ve got to pay for metropolitan housing, and private school and vacations, never mind the accoutrements denoting your class, the clothing and the cars, the elite say 400k isn’t nearly enough. Especially those on the right, the editorials in the “Wall Street Journal” have been screaming! On the other side of the equation we’ve got people who can’t make ends meet, who delay health care, never mind dental care, who live multiple generations per dwelling, who turn to drugs to get them through. As for lifting them up… Not if it costs the elite a single penny. After all, the elite’s efforts trickle down and enhance the pocketbooks of the poor, right?

But that’s today, when politics are everything. If you tell someone to stick to the script, to stay in their lane, the joke is on you, because this nation’s political situation is the most critical thing happening today, the future literally hangs in the balance, if you just want to party on…you may not like the consequences.

But it wasn’t like this in the sixties.

I know, the sixties are seen as an era of tumult…of riots, protests against the Vietnam War. And that’s all true, but there was more. There was a huge cultural explosion, a testing of limits, invention, primarily because there was so much money, primarily because there were no billionaires, and if you had a million dollars you were rich, your goals were not stratospheric.

So mothers didn’t have to work outside the home. Some chose to, some needed to, but today both parents have to work for the family to get by. Of course there are exceptions, but they don’t disqualify the rule.

So suddenly, starting in the fifties and evolving into the sixties, there was freedom to explore, to make your leisure time more than drinking and watching TV.

College was cheap. University was not about job preparation, our parents thought of our futures, but did not dictate them, they couldn’t get away with it. No, young people were on a journey of their own creation. And nothing would stop them. And this journey gained adherents and as a result, the sixties became the last cultural peak in this nation.

Of course they still make music today. TV and films. But it was different back then. Now, it’s all about the dollar, everybody shaves off their edges for the buck. And image supersedes art. It’s about you, the cult of personality, more than what you create. It’s the antithesis of Andy Warhol and its factory.

YET IT WAS A FACTORY!

That was Warhol’s breakthrough, to put the cash up front, previously taboo in the art world. And to continue the question of the century, as in what is art? You had not only Warhol, but before him the cubists and the abstract impressionists and then the minimalists… Being able to draw was no longer a prerequisite to a career as an artist, and being more than proficient at your instrument was no longer a prerequisite to playing music.

But that didn’t mean you’d become a star.

And there are a ton of stars in this film.

Like Mary Woronov. A Factory hanger-on who graduated to mainstream film roles as the decades wore on.

And Paul Morrissey. That was a thing back then, going to the cinema to see Andy Warhol films, which by the turn of the decade, from the sixties to the seventies, were really made by Morrissey.

Seems so quaint today. Making a journey to the theatre, sitting in a darkened room and seeing a film and…at best you could go home and talk about it. You couldn’t post on social media. The experience of going was everything, the message was on screen, the audience was not the star, as it is at so many concerts these days.

And these films were influential, BECAUSE THEY TESTED LIMITS!

You went because you had to, irrelevant of the reviews. What were the odds the critics would get it anyway? These films were influential. As Lou Reed himself began.

He didn’t want to be an accountant like his father. He wanted to be a rich and famous rock star. That’s made clear in this movie, from the very beginning, that was his goal. But it was a long hard road getting there.

First he had Warhol.

This film traces the trip from Long Island to the Factory.

And if you watch this film through twenty first century eyes you’ll keep asking yourself how all these people were getting by, paying their bills, but living was cheap back then! And you didn’t have to enter a career right after college for fear of forever being left behind.

Reed has a vision. But Manhattan is full of artists. They find each other. He gets hooked up with John Cale. Eventually they meet Warhol, who says yes to everything, that’s why people wanted to hang out with him at the Factory, and a bond is established. But in order to make it all work, Andy has to design the album cover and Nico has to front the band. Talk about being expedient, otherwise the Velvet Underground never would have happened.

So what you’ve got here is a slew of artists, with only Warhol having any real purchase on the mainstream culture, and at this point mostly in the metropolis, pursuing their passion as artists, filmmakers, painters, musicians… It was a hotbed of creativity.

And then there’s a stage show at the Dom. The Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Doesn’t that say it all? No one names their events like this anymore. Hell, most have their sponsor in the moniker! And they were events, immersive, in the dark, with performances and lights and being there opened your mind. Assuming you were there. And almost all people were not. But word started to spread. You read about it. There was a pull to the city, to become part of this.

Watching this film I wondered why in hell I went to college in Vermont. That wasn’t my place. I came to Los Angeles and found people exactly like myself, in Vermont there were none.

It’s different today. As a result of the internet you can be anywhere and play. But playing is not the same, because of that damn money factor. And there are so many messages odds are yours won’t be heard.

Like the Velvet Underground. Today their music would be unknown. Anybody can make a record. But when their albums were released we saw them in the museum known as the record store, everybody was aware of them, even if they never heard them. And the truth is where I lived, there was always someone who owned one, who insisted you sit down and listen to “Sister Ray” or another cut. You sat there and listened, did nothing else simultaneously, can you imagine?

Probably not, unless you lived through it.

So if you read the review of Fiona Hill’s book above you can picture the journey from there to here. Yet watching this film I can’t believe I was really alive and aware in the sixties. Yes, I was going to high school, fifty miles from New York City, the light shined that far, it was part of my everyday world. I can’t imagine that today. If for no other reason than nothing is universal, nothing has that amount of mindshare, even though the surviving institutions keep telling us they do.

Like movies. What a joke. Superhero events for the brain dead. As for art films, if you went to the theatre to see this, you’re probably over seventy, at least sixty, you’re inured to the old rituals. No, this movie is readily accessible on Apple TV+. That’s how we consume culture these days, at our fingertips. Put any impediment in its way and people don’t bother.

So watching this movie you’ll see what the early to mid-sixties were like. It’ll be a revelation if you weren’t alive back then, but you probably won’t even be interested. Yes, you know “Walk on the Wild Side,” but that’s enough for you.

And many people alive back then were clueless.

And then there were the artists, those who were a little offbeat, who were not accepted anywhere else, for which this movie and the Velvet Underground are manna from heaven. Hell, one of the best parts of the film is when Jonathan Richman testifies. When everybody else was getting noisier, Richman fired his band and got quieter. He continued to experiment in the seventies when everybody else was playing by the rules.

And in the eighties you had to be beautiful to be on MTV.

And then Napster came along and blew everything apart and if you were awake and aware beforehand you might still believe the music business is in turmoil. But it’s not. Those days are over. Now it’s no longer about the platforms, but the music itself. And that’s much harder to do. Everyone has an opinion on file-trading and streaming, but almost no one can create a hit record, even though seemingly every young person thinks they can.

But their heads are in the wrong place. Sure, after the Beatles broke we all bought guitars and formed bands, we had dreams but they were quick to be shattered, we realized we were not good enough. Some were, but their number was exceedingly small. Today’s generation believes marketing exceeds music, that if they make enough noise they must break through, not knowing it’s about one note, pure and easy, as Pete Townshend sang.

So most people don’t want to see a movie like this. About what happened fifty-odd years ago. Shot in an artistic fashion. Yes, the movie doesn’t even look like a tentpole blockbuster. There’s split screen and talking heads and…it’s an art film. Which if you’re a boomer you’ll remember, if you’re not, you probably won’t.

And art films were not solely about the ride, they were supposed to deliver more, you were supposed to leave the theatre thinking.

If you make it through the Velvet Underground movie you’ll be thinking. You’ll be thinking during it. You may even go back to it. It’s not here today, gone tomorrow, it sticks to you. Kind of like “Don’t Look Back,” a film that was dead on arrival that has since become legendary. Do I think the Velvet Underground movie will have the same impact down the road? Not quite as much, but it’s a unique document of an era, it’s far from me-too.

That’s one of its best qualities. It’s not a traditional rock doc. It’s not pure hagiography. It leans towards that at the end, deifying Lou Reed, but then the credits start to roll.

So will this movie make you love the Velvet Underground if you don’t already?

I highly doubt it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from it. It’s those outside who do it differently who change the world.

Then again, wasn’t changing the world a sixties thing?

Unfortunately so.

THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO HER!

In case you missed the memo, Kacey Musgraves’s new album was disqualified for the country music Grammy because it wasn’t country enough, despite her working with the same damn people she always has.

I don’t want to debate the issue. Because the Grammys are irrelevant. If they meant anything, their ratings would be sky high instead of bottom barrel. Nobody cares, it’s just a circle jerk for those sucking the at the tit of the organization and the wankers unknown by most people whose self-image is burnished by winning these crappy little trophies, physical in a world of digital, where the fake merch you buy for your videogame has more value. Real artists take no pride in awards. Because if you’re really pushing the envelope, organizations don’t give you your due until way after the fact. And art is not a competition. Then again, there are people invested in every tiny little niche, so I guess these males, and they are males, can live in their John Gruden world unfettered but they keep on committing these faux pas that draw attention to the inherent flaws of the generation.

Last year it was the Weeknd. He had the biggest record of the year and wasn’t nominated. THAT became the story. If he’d just been nominated and even won no one would have cared. But by being EXCLUDED, it was a big story, that ran for months, now everybody knows who the Weeknd is, everybody who cares was drawn to listening to “Blinding Lights” in a world where the history of recorded music is at one’s fingertips.

Do most Americans know Kacey Musgraves? NO WAY!

Most Americans don’t know anybody these days, except for maybe Donald Trump. This is the fallacy of the entertainment business. Everything is smaller than ever before. Look at TV ratings. Check the numbers for the networks. They’re less than A TENTH of what they were in their heyday, there’s just too much in the channel, and it’s even WORSE in music. So, you can make yourself feel good by hiring a PR company and getting ink in dead tree media that means nothing, or manipulate the “Billboard” chart by releasing signed CDs to people who don’t have CD players, but unless you’re the artist or the purchaser, no one cares whatsoever, NO ONE! No one cares what the number one television show is, nor the number one musical artist. That’s so last century. But the media loves charts, rankings… Today it’s all about the individual, their vertical, until there’s a train-wreck.

Like Donald Trump.

Like this Kacey Musgraves kerfuffle.

Kacey Musgraves is uber-talented. My only complaint is the endless plastic surgery/fillers/who knows what. She was a very cute woman who is now trying to achieve conventional beauty and ruining her appeal. It’s dangerous to even say this, but I’m sick and tired of women who change their looks, often permanently, to appeal to people who ultimately find it a turn-off. It seems women are doing their best to impress other women, because they’re certainly not impressing the men. And in this politically correct world one can’t even say this, even though I just did. Musgraves’s music is so honest, I wish she were happy, satisfied, with her God-given looks, which are better than almost all of the population’s to begin with!

But John Lennon urged us to give him some truth, and then Jack Nicholson told us we couldn’t handle the truth and then Leonard Cohen told us everybody knows the truth but in the end, truth is taboo, we have to deny it exists, to keep everybody happy.

Anyway, Musgraves’s latest album, “star-crossed,” is quite good. It’ll turn your head when you hear it, you’ll want to play the whole thing in a world where you can usually not even make it through the single. Is it her best work, is it great work? We can debate that all day long, but in a world of flotsam and jetsam it stands out.

On Spotify, all of “star-crossed”‘s tracks have over a million plays. One has ten million. Sounds impressive until you compare it to the hits, which have triple digit millions, can even have a billion. Actually, Kacey has two tracks over a hundred million streams, and one very close to that number, from her previous LP, 2018’s “Golden Hour.” But rather than repeat the formula, Kacey continued to push the envelope, into new territory, and for this she is being PUNISHED!

Isn’t this what we want from artists, to stretch? Instead, the Grammys keep rewarding those who stay in their lane and repeat themselves, they hew to conventional wisdom, and that’s got nothing to do with art.

In a changing environment. They rap in country songs and have soul singers in country songs and some of these even cross over to pop…that’s the world we live in, especially amongst the younger generation, the genres have blurred. But no, in Grammyworld, they’re defined. You’d better not put a fiddle on your rock record, you’ll be excommunicated from the category!

And the truth is the hype on Kacey Musgraves’s new album has been monumental, there’s been a story in every outlet known to man, but it’s definitely not working, the streams are not there, they’re not commensurate. Because the public knows it’s hype and no longer trusts it. I was aware of the hype, I’ve even seen Kacey Musgraves twice live, but I didn’t listen to it, and then I heard a track from “star-crossed” on a playlist from someone I respect and it stood out from every other track, it was a cut above, I had to listen to it again, then I had to listen to the album, I almost wrote about it, didn’t, BUT NOW I AM! Because the Grammy organization messed with her!

Unlike the Weeknd, Musgraves didn’t get her knickers in a twist, she just posted a pic on Instagram giving the middle finger. That’s where you speak today, on social media, Musgraves is young and gets it, the old men at the Grammy organization are still clueless. Let’s see, Harvey Mason, Jr. has 13,100 followers on Twitter, Kacey Musgraves has 977,300. Harvey Mason, Jr. has 26,500 followers on Instagram, Kacey Musgraves has 2,300,000. I ask you, who has the power here? THE ARTIST! The way it was before Clive Davis and Tommy Mottola tried to tell us they were the stars. It hasn’t been this way since the seventies, the artists are in charge.

But that does not mean each and every one of them can gain traction.

But when you pour gasoline on the fire they’ve created, a conflagration can transpire. Now the story is how out of touch the Grammy organization is, by time it burns out, the story will have been EVERYWHERE! More and more people will check out Kacey’s music to form their own opinion, just like they did with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” which was deemed not country enough!

Categories are BS. Kacey Musgraves wasn’t promoting “star-crossed” based on category, it was just music. The Lil Nas X country kerfuffle was a manipulated story proffered by the establishment, it was not like any country radio stations had decided not to play it, THEY WEREN’T EVEN AWARE OF IT!

So now Lil Nas X’s career is all about spectacle, the music is secondary.

But with Kacey Musgraves the music is still primary. And when people go to check it out, a number will be intrigued. People will become fans. Her career will be enhanced, embellished, all because the Grammy organization is out of touch, not living in today’s musical reality, and doubling-down on the inanity. Didn’t the music business learn its lesson twenty years ago, with Napster, et al? If you don’t know what you’re talking about, SHUT UP! Then again, the more out of touch you are the less you’re aware your head is up your butt and you put yourself in the spotlight to be made fun of.

Let’s say “star-crossed” was nominated in the country category. It probably wouldn’t win, based on the number of streams, but even if it did, who exactly would be complaining? Not the rest of Nashville, because they know the Grammys are irrelevant, that it’s all about the CMAs. That’s right, country has its own awards show. Meanwhile, every other musical genre wants to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And you wonder why all these organizations have lost credibility.

This is no movie.

But that’s what the best art is. Like Kacey Musgraves’s song:

“If this was a movie
I’d be surprised
Hearing your car
Coming up the drive
And you’d run up the stairs
You’d hold my face
Say we’re being stupid
And we’d fall back into place
If this was a movie
If this was a movie”

“If This Was a Movie..”: https://spoti.fi/3iYCKBO

Gary Katz produced every Steely Dan album from “Can’t Buy a Thrill” to “Gaucho” as well as Donald Fagen’s “Nightfly.” Listen as we chart Gary’s career from Brooklyn to Hollywood, from Bobby Darin to Warner Brothers, with ABC/Dunhill in between. I guarantee you’ll learn something about Steely Dan you didn’t know!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/id1316200737

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

My youngest daughter and her wife went to a wedding in Alabama a few weeks ago. Both are healthcare workers. Both are vaxxed. Everyone at the wedding was vaxxed. When they came home, my daughter got sick. Was tested several times for covid, each test negative. Flu-like symptoms and eventually pink-eye. Not COVID. 

A few days later, her wife developed symptoms and then lost sense of taste. Tested- covid. 

Airline, airport, rental car, filling station…who knows. 

Tonight- this from my Eldest daughter ( a prof at Elon) 

“We’ve now lost a fourth student at UNC since the semester started. We’ve also lost a student at Elon. I’m devastated. 

My students are the best part of my week. I can’t imagine losing one of them. 

Please, please, please check in on the people (especially the young people) in your lives. This has been a rough year. 

If you are struggling and you think things aren’t ‘bad enough yet’, please reach out for help. You don’t need to suffer alone.”

John Williams

____________________________________

I decided not to play rec league hockey this winter. A huge decision here in Canada. Prime reason : if I get hurt playing I’m in for quite an experience trying to get treated. The anti vax folks have filled the hospitals and they get top priority. A fully vaxxed injured hockey player ? Of course if you are Wayne Gretzky you’ll get treated , otherwise wait in line. And it’s a long wait with the anti vax folks constantly cutting in line in front of everyone else. 

Cheers, Owen Dearing

____________________________________

Saw Jason Isbell two nights in a row at Austin City Limits Live (the first shows that he required vaccinations or negative tests). The venue wasn’t checking IDs with the vaxx cards, and barely glanced at your papers. They weren’t happy about having the extra work, at least the guy that “checked” our cards. Those shows were sold out, and looked to be at least 90% attendance. Then, I saw him in Schaumburg, IL at a baseball field a few weeks later, and it was probably less than half full. It might have been because the word was out about the entry requirements (they checked them carefully at the venue with your ID), or because it was in the suburbs, instead of the city of Chicago (gasp!). Who knows? I know that it was the first time I’ve seen Jason recently without a packed venue. I also caught Toad the Wet Sprocket at Park West in Chicago (who also checked documentation carefully, and required masks), and it was maybe half full. They played the same venue two years ago to a full house. Attendance definitely seems down, for whatever reason(s).

Kevin Goodwin

____________________________________

I had tickets to see Todd Rundgren last June. In March, when things shut down, I hoped that we’d be back to normal by June. 
 That didn’t happen.
When tix for the rescheduled tour went on sale in July, I felt confident enough that by Oct 23, we’d be good to go.

The Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theater (I’m happy to rant about the stupid name any time) DOES require proof of vaccination or negative test and masks allegedly. 
But as I’m reading all of responses here, I’m thinking it’s probably not worth it. 

I’m triple vaccinated, but a lung cancer survivor,  down a lung. Covid is the last thing I need. 

And I live in Floriduh. So I can’t trust anything. 

But, I haven’t been out to a live show in almost two years now. 
And it’s Todd Rundgren. 

I guess I have 22 days to figure out what to do.  

Nicole Sandler

____________________________________

I am in my mid-50s. My local venue in Connecticut (not a bad seat in the
house) has three of my all-time favorites coming in the next few weeks:

- Todd Rundgren (seen 17x)
- Rick Wakeman (seen at least 10x between Yes and solo shows)
- Pat Metheny (seen 24X)

I will go see exactly NONE of them. Just can’t get comfortable with it.

Also, I have been a subscriber to the NY Philharmonic for about a decade.
When they called me to renew for the 2021-2022 season, I told the person on
the phone how much I missed the symphony, but no thanks. I hoped to see them
in fall ’22 for the ’22-’23 season.

As much as I miss live music, there is no way I can sit
shoulder-to-shoulder, indoors, with strangers and enjoy myself, despite
being fully vaccinated and living in a generally vax-compliant part of the
country.

Just. Can’t.

Bill Baker

____________________________________

as a ticket broker i’ve noticed last minute sales are awful, but the
people planning to go are paying and buying. Also sports sales are
good, concert sales are worse

thanks, Tom

____________________________________

We had several shows lined up for October.  Many of the shows cancelled.  One of them was out of town.  I won’t be buying tickets for any big shows until they figure this shit out. 
 
Dinosaur Jr., State Theater, Ithaca, NY CANCELLED (rescheduled for September 2022!)
Dead & Co, WPB, FL CANCELLED (they were in a catch-22 b/c state doesn’t require masks, but will fine the artist for each violation of COVID protocols, $5,000 per violation, per individual.  That made it impossible for Dead & Co to entertain in the State of Florida)
Tame Impala, AA, Miami, FL CANCELLED (after being rescheduled)
 
Made the effort to see James Bond in the theater this past weekend.  What a horrible waste of my vaccine.
 
Finally, I live in a State that does not see the benefit of wearing masks and is bucking their way through vaccine mandates.  As long as the individual states do not agree on how to approach this virus, we will be in this holding pattern for quite some time.  I’m not going to stay home, but I am going to continue to wear a mask, social distance as much as possible and wash my hands often.
 
Khila L. Khani
Hollywood, FL

____________________________________

As somebody in the ticketing industry which manages over 3000 venues, there is no doubt that tickets sales have not returned to to pre COVID levels. However they are rising steadily. Not sure what people are expecting before we can even say with any confidence we are through the Pandemic.
Last week I attended a show at A.R.T in Boston which was packed, not a free seat in the house and nearly everybody was a boomer. The venue was masked and you had to show proof of vaccine before you were admitted.
Many ticketing companies including ours are integrating with Vaccine Apps and there is an overwhelming energy from Venue operators to ensure the safest environments possible.
More than this, many people are looking to smaller venues in their communities who have made it this far through the pandemic. People want to support local community venues that do not inflict huge ticketing fees on hardcore fans. There may indeed be a significant shift in the industry as Venues take more control over their brand in lieu of advances from larger ticketing companies.
These companies who breeze into town to promote larger events and may not have the same community spirit. If these events become super spreader events then it will be the smaller community venues that will feel the pain the most from a further winter lockdown.
I am confident that the public would much rather attend a live event than sit on their sofas and watch more streamed content, its just with Internet overload consumers are likely to be much more considerate of the quality of the bands they choose to go and see.

Regards

Stefan Prescott

____________________________________

I attended my first post-COVID show on Friday night with my 15-year old daughter, a Harry Styles concert in Sunrise, Florida, in Broward County.  

We are New Yorkers and in town visiting my in-laws for the long weekend. I had no idea what to expect, given the DeSantis anti-mask campaign and his general misinformation m.o. 

All ticketholders at the FLA Live Arena were required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test within 48 hours of entry and be wearing a mask. The crowd, which was 90% young woman and teenage girls, was a compliant one, as far as concerts go. Even in the arena, which felt sold out, many patrons tended to keep their masks on (which didn’t seem to mute the Beatlemania-like shrieking throughout the show).  Before taking the stage, Harry’s voice was heard in a pre-recorded PSA asking the audience to keep masks on and be safe.  

I couldn’t help but think that Harry’s devoted, “treat-people-with-kindness” fanbase had something to do with my overall feeling of safety. There was also very little testosterone among the crowd, let alone any displays of political affiliation (unless one associates feather boas with liberals). Whatever it was, I was pleasantly surprised in South Florida.

Tony DiNota

____________________________________

I’m  a double vaxxed boomer and I’ve been to perhaps 40 UK shows and festivals since restrictions were lifted, first social distanced shows since April, and then no-restriction shows since August. 
 
Here there is no legal requirement to show Vax certificates / passes or wear masks, however perhaps 50% of the shows do ask to see some evidence (certificate or rapid test). I’ve not seen anyone complain when asked and it’s quick and efficient, mostly. The biggest indoor show as Gorillaz at the 02, a free show for 18,000 health workers  and I’m regularly at small club shows, 100-300.
 
BTW I work in music and I have to admit, I’m not over-risk-adverse, although I would definitely not class myself as a high-risk-taker. Generally, I feel safe and in the instances where perhaps a club is just too crowded, I stand at the back.
 
Ticket sales are varied, some big shows selling out when you don’t expect them to, some smaller shows at lesser capacity, but at least shows are happening and musicians and crews are getting work (not enough money though, for sure).
 
Oh and as a manager of artists, I can tell you Brexit is a HUGE problem for our country and of course especially for most musicians who simply cannot tour profitably on mainland Europe any more… I take issue with ‘no one is telling the truth about Brexit’ trust me 60% + of the country are Fully aware that it was Boris’ Brexit Bullshit that has sold this country down the river, for his own personal benefit and many more now have ‘buyers remorse’…. 
 
We will never Stop calling Boris and Brexit out (and the left-leaning media still does), and wont stop until the day we re-enter the EU, even if it takes 20 years or more so my kids can enjoy the same rights and freedoms that we did.
 
Stephen  Budd

____________________________________

I am 65, but don’t call me a boomer, cause I’m not. Anyway, with many things closed down in my town since last March, only recently have shows started happening. In that time, our only smallish venue closed and was torn down, so there are no shows with people packed together here for now.

In the last week and a half, I went to 4 shows, all at a small theatre, 3 of which had been postponed from last year and which I still had tickets for.
As I know the promoter and some of the staff, and one of them usually gives me a ride, I saw all the pre-show stuff. I have been double vaccinated and brought my card, and we were all wearing masks. As all these particular shows were folk music, much of the crowd were my age, but there were numbers of younger people.

Here’s the interesting part of this story. At the first show, I met a new worker for the promoter, a 21-year old college student who was doing merch for those shows. We got to talking quite a bit. I informed her about the artists she was selling stuff for so she’d have a better idea what people might ask. At three of the shows, the artists did not sign stuff at. One of them, a duo did, and it came off pretty great. Everything went well.

So yesterday, I got a call from my friend, and he let me know that the young woman had lost her taste and smell. It has been determined that she likely got it from another student at the college and not at the theatre. As a result she could not work shows on Sunday or tomorrow (Tuesday). She also was going to go home on a school break to see her parents starting on Friday but will now have to stay in quarantine.

I had been notified online a few days ago that there were going to be boosters available yesterday and on Wednesday and Friday. Initially, I was going to wait as the location is inconvenient for me. But I decided that I would do it this Wed, but NOT for me. I feel fine, and I try not to worry about this kind of thing. But I decided I wanted to do this for HER, so when I see her again (probably on Oct 25th) there will be one less person she has to worry about. That is really what we all should be doing – this is the only way it will ever end, if we don’t care about others, it will take much longer for the virus to go away.

Hope you and yours are well,
David Bly

____________________________________

Respect for those artists going out and braving the cold temperatures.  Where I live, people are filling restaurants, wedding events, and downtown bars to capacity again, have been for quite awhile, but the live music industry continues to struggle.   Ticket sales, at least for my clients, are 50% what they were in 2018 & 2019, and 10-25% of those 50% bought their tickets a year ago and just don’t show.   The science says that if you got the shot, it was supposed to be more safe to go back out again, and many are, it’s just relative to what people are choosing to do.   

Jordan Burger
Madison House

____________________________________

I do not know why the music industry, and specifically music festivals take so much heat and have so much pressure put upon us vs other entertainment options regarding Front of House COVID protocols. 

As we demonstrated this summer, Elevation is fully committed to running the safest events possible. My colleagues across the music industry have gone to great lengths (and expense) to insure the safety of our fans. I am proud of the efforts put forth by so many. 
 
But, in my opinion, the reality is, while music promoters and venues are checking ticket buyers for proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test,  most football, baseball and basketball stadiums/arenas across the country are doing nothing in this regard. 

NFL and NCAA football stadiums have been packed each of the past five weeks. No masks required, no proof of vax needed. 

Just last week, Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse – in Cleveland – released their COVID rules moving forward: “Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse this week announced some COVID restrictions for certain events, but those will  not include any regular season Cavs or Monsters games.”

https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2021/10/05/covid-protocols-at-rocket-mortgage-fieldhouse-could-differ-for-concerts–cavs-games

What are we saying to the ticket buying public? Could the messaging be anymore mixed? Does science really tell us that a packed football stadium or basketball arena is free of COVID transmission, but a concert at the same venue is not????  How can we – as an industry – compete with these other high profile options? Wow!

Denny Young
President
The Elevation Group

____________________________________

False Vacc Documents or tests…  They are out there!  Ridiculous!!!! Very Worried about this!!! We are going on the Blues Cruise Nov.  Kind of impressed with the safety protocol of the Cruise Lines! Wish us SAFTEY!!!!

XOXO

Mardi Silva
Controller
Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise

____________________________________

The number of bands I’m dying to see?  Tons.  The number of bands I’m willing to die to see?  Zero

Peter Burnside