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Concerts after COVID: Venues await direction from State before reopening

One year after COVID-19 closed concert venues in Michigan, they don't appear to be any closer to reopening, as promotors await direction from the State.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's been one full year since the day the music died.

On March 10, 2020, the first case of the COVID-19 virus was discovered in Michigan, triggering a statewide shutdown two days later that included the closing of concert venues.

A full 365 days later, venue operators say they're no closer to reopening than they were 12 months ago, as they continue to await specific directions from the State detailing what they are and aren't allowed to do.

"I just remember the whole month of March last year being booked with shows," recalls Scott Hammontree, who is an operating partner at The Intersection in Grand Rapids. "There were so many shows and a bunch of sellouts."

March 12, 2020 was the last concert at The Intersection. The venue has been closed to the public since, forcing Hammontree to furlough his entire staff and do all he could to keep the business from drowning in debt.

"I remember thinking once the shutdown started, 'Well, maybe we can be back at it by summer,' then that changed to, 'Well, maybe by the fall,'" said Hammontree. "Who knows when we'll see shows again."

Along with operating The Intersection, Hammontree is also the president of the 'Michigan Independent Venue & Promoter Association' (MIVPA), which is a trade group Hammontree helped form in November 2020 to give promoters and music venues a 'collective voice' as they fight to survive. 

The group lobbied for $10 million in grants to save the state's live music industry, which has been devastated by COVID-19. 

In mid-January 2021, the state heard the plea, but only awarded concert and event venues $3.5 million in grants.

"It's not what we hoped, but these funds will act as some kind of bridge until some federal money gets dispersed in the next couple months," Hammontree said. "Individual venues are eligible for up to $40,000 in emergency funding."

Six weeks have passed since the $3.5 million was awarded, but venues haven't received the money yet.

"The MIPVA just made a recommendation to the State [on Friday, March 5], so that money should start going out to the venues in the next week or so," Hammontree said.

While the money will certainly help concert venues cover costs for the near-term, Hammontree says promoters are waiting for something else from the state that's almost as important.

"We've heard nothing from the State about when we can reopen," said Hammontree. "The health orders that are coming down are pretty unclear; what we need is some well written standards and rules so we know what we can and can't do."

Hammontree says it will be nearly impossible to enforce social distancing even if venues are 25% or 50% capacity when reopening, but some detailed guidelines would certainly help him better prepare for what the post-COVID concert reality will be like.

"Every day, vaccinations keep improving and we're getting closer to that herd immunity number," said Hammontree. "I can't bring my staff back; I can't do much until we hear from the State."

What Hammontree has done is book a few shows for fall 2021, operating on the assumption that some sort of normalcy will be back by then.

"There's just so much pent-up demand for people to reconnect and go see their favorite bands perform," sand Hammontree.

As MIPVA president, Hammontree says he can't wait for the State's next move much longer.

"I don't have anything else to work on right now, since we don't have concerts, so I will be knocking on doors and trying to get us introduced to the individuals that are making the rules," Hammontree said. "Concert venues were the first to close and we're going to be the last to reopen."

Hammontree adds that it's been frustrating not being able to tell patrons who call or email The Intersection asking what the post-pandemic concert experience will look like.

"There's definitely going to be consumers who won't come back to concerts," said Hammontree. "There may be some bands, too, which is why it's become important that we get some concrete information that we can share with our consumers."

Hammontree says he's looking into possibly doing some summer concerts outside in the parking lot of The Intersection, but that's still in the discussion phase. 

He, like every other concert and event venue promoter in Michigan, needs guidance before they can truly move forward.

"We'll be prepared to do whatever the State and local health departments make us do," said Hammontree.

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