Lollapalooza Co-Founder Believes Concerts Won’t Return Until 2022
Marc Geiger, co-founder of Lollapalooza and former head of William Morris talent agency, believes concerts will not fully return until 2022. He stated his opinion on the Bob Lefsetz Podcast, pushing back on a growing belief that 2021 will see the rejuvenation of live music.
Highly anticipated tours from Rammstein, Megadeth and Lamb of God, Deftones, Gojira and Poppy, Judas Priest and others have been rescheduling their 2020 gigs, betting on a possible COVID-19 vaccine or herd immunity coming by summer 2021.
COVID-19 has caused countless issues for the economy and scientists alike, with very few U.S. states experiencing success in limiting the spread of the virus. Though a small number of concerts have been held in recent months, Geiger believes 2021 is too optimistic of a timeline for the return live music.
"In my humble opinion, it's going to be 2022,” Geiger said. “It's going to take that long before, what I call, the germaphobic economy is slowly killed off and replaced by the claustrophobia economy — that's when people want to get out and go out to dinner and have their lives, go to festivals and shows.”
"It's my instinct that it's going to take a while because super-spreader events — sports, shows, festivals, etc. — aren't going to do too well when the virus is this present. With [COVID-19], there's infinite liability. The next six months may be more painful than the last six months, and maybe the next six months after that are even more so." [via Lambgoat]
Only time will tell when individuals become comfortable with returning to packed venues. For a full list of rock and metal tours rescheduled to 2021, click here.
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