Empty Stages, Broken Hearts: Watching My Favorite Musicians Fight to Survive the Pandemic

We would all like to forget it..but it happened. I apologize for bringing it back up. COVID. The world shutdown, locked down in March 2020. An unprecedented event for us all.  When COVID hit American shores, the unthinkable happened. Americans had to join the rest of the world and close schools and non-essential businesses to stop the spread.  Obviously, no one had any idea how long this pandemic could last. The pandemic abruptly ended any group gatherings which included live music. My hope is that recalling the details of this dark time will put it to rest.

Risky KISS

My personal music-pandemic experience started  on March 8th, 2020 with making an uninformed decision about attending a KISS concert. It was their 2nd (maybe 3rd) Farewell Tour and I was very motivated to go for a few reasons. Not the least of them was taking my sister along. She grew up in the house listening to a lot of KISS coming from my bedroom. She never saw them live. Also, I had just reunited with a friend from grammar school. We were early KISS Army Privates as 8th Graders in 1977. I needed to close that circle with him! News of the Covid pandemic was muddled, to say the least. I decided to go. The concert was packed and ‘the greatest show on Earth” moniker remained intact. As we filed out of the arena, in that slow-moving sea of humanity headed for the exits, I wondered if I had just been infected by a deadly virus. – ALL FOR THE SAKE OF ROCK AND ROLL.

10th Ave Shutdown

Only 11 days later, the state of California issued a stay-at-home order. Schools, restaurants, meeting places and many workplaces shut down! I don’t have to tell any reader how terrible it was on many levels. I’d like to focus on how a lover of live music, like myself, scratched THAT itch during this unbelievable stoppage. The symbiotic relationships between artist and fan were strained to the max as both sides scrambled to find their footing in these unprecedented times. 

The impact of the pandemic on the music INDUSTRY was quantifiable. According to Pollstar, an estimated $30 billion (with a “B’) was lost by the live music industry in 2020 alone. This included not just musicians but ALL the supporting people who relied on live shows for their living. Festivals, tours and album releases were delayed or canceled.  Benefit concerts, award ceremonies, all of it! Everyone on both sides of this equation (Industry and fans) wanted something, anything, to happen that resembled a return to normalcy.

Feeling Alright

It took a minute for the industry to reply. Slowly individual artists took to social media to strengthen their relationship with their fans.  At first, I started to see little ‘funny’ clips related to the pandemic.  For example, the washing of hands is a big deterrent to the spread of the disease. The ever-whimsical, Peter Frampton, suggested that you wash your hands to his 11 minute “Do You Feel Like We Do?” solo from his Comes Alive record.

It became obvious that our rock and roll heroes were going to come out of the pandemic just fine. Artists like The Rolling Stones, Sammy Hagar, Metallica and Neil Young all had the wherewithal to keep their brand in the public eye. These artists had back catalogs that could be mined for material. Metallica had archival concerts in their vault to release periodically on YouTube. They also held a pay-per-view acoustic concert benefiting their AWMH foundation.  Sammy Hagar still held his annual Birthday Bash on a beach on Catalina Island. His group, The Circle, performed to a lagoon full of boats packed with Red Heads. Again a pay-per-view. No worries for these guys.

Save Music Venues

It was the new artists and the peripheral businesses that would really suffer. A campaign was launched to help “Save Music Venues”. Proceeds from T-shirt sales went to the small music venue of your choice. Homemade virtual concerts were hitting at all levels of popularity. Hard working musicians struggled to get in front of an audience. With no venues, there were no stages for them to take. Artists took to the internet and ‘toured’ out of their living rooms. One independent band called Sure Sure had a unique take with their ‘Home Home’ tour. In this tour each room in their house acted as a new venue. “Today is a travel day as we load our gear into the Dining room for our gig tonight”. Some groups took to playing at Drive-In theaters to accommodate the ‘safe distances’.

Online Stars

Some other notably fun sightings during the ‘dark times’ included Brian May of Queen. He showed people how he played some of his famous licks. Actually, May turned out to be a stellar online personality during the pandemic. His soft approach and respectful tone was a nice respite in those crazy times.

I also ‘discovered’ the amazing Leland Sklar and his frequent video blogs. Leland is a session bass player who has been a participant in an incredible amount of recordings by big names. His big silver beard is famous and I totally recognized him but never knew his story.  He started out by playing bass for a newcomer named James Taylor. 50 years later and he hasn’t looked back. Sklar’s videos featured him playing live, to famous recordings he appeared on. Along with a closeup of a master bass player, one also got to hear the great stories. Leland is a gem and I would have never known this had there not been COVID. Leland still posts regularly.

YouTube became a meeting place for musicians and their fans and Spotify helped out by having donation links for struggling musicians. Lack of live concert revenue was partially offset by increased subscriptions to music streaming services. Record companies provided home connection technology to their artists to help them collaborate with other musicians while locked down at home. Sammy Hagar and his group, The Circle, recorded an EP entirely at home. Each member recorded his part from home. Paul McCartney recorded and released “McCartney III” (another album recorded with Paul playing all the instruments).

And We’re Back…

September 18th, 2021 was the big day. This was my first time back in a concert hall to see a live show. It was Boz Scaggs. He was on my bucket list for many years. I checked with my concert buddy to see if the required mask wearing was an issue for her. It was not, so we went. Another FIRST for me – -wearing a mask to a concert. Despite my reservations about how the mask would affect my enjoyment of ‘my favorite thing’, I still loved Boz Scaggs and his endless parade of incredible songs. Shout out to the album he was promoting, Out Of The Blue.  Apparently, wearing the mask does not affect hearing. I was so happy I bit the bullet and attended this long overdue show.

So that was 557 days between live shows.1 year, 6 months, 8 days! A minor hiccup in the greater scheme of things but for our purposes, it was an eternity. We wondered if the pandemic changed everything about live events. Once the restrictions were lifted,  live music came back with a vengeance. Arenas quickly filled up for today’s top acts. Ticket prices were at an all time high. The smaller venues and struggling acts had to try harder to get back to work. Some didn’t make it and that’s a shame. My old friend from 1977, who went to that KISS concert with me, did not make it out of the pandemic alive. I was shaken to my core to hear of his passing but thankful that we rocked out together one last time. I pray that we never have to experience a pandemic again.