{"id":434585,"date":"2020-07-23T18:01:47","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T16:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/?p=434585"},"modified":"2020-07-22T13:28:16","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T11:28:16","slug":"6-concert-solutions-for-the-so-called-new-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/inspire\/6-concert-solutions-for-the-so-called-new-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Concert Solutions for the so-called “New Normal”"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a fact: the world has changed. After a global pandemic<\/strong> of which the full scope is still unknown<\/strong> (not to mention its inevitable outbreaks<\/strong> to come) it’s no surprise. While in Europe<\/strong> it seems that the worst has passed, having already practically completed the phases of “de-confinement<\/strong>“, we will enter an era<\/strong> that, by some, is called the “New Normal<\/strong>“: a period that will last until scientists decide that the health crisis is over (or until there is a vaccine<\/strong>). Among other regulations, this new stage allows for the reopening of restaurants, bars and – wait for it… concert<\/strong> halls<\/strong>. But of course, with many restrictions and strict rules. In this article we will try to summarize several of the ideas that promoters<\/strong>, venue<\/strong> owners<\/strong>, recruitment<\/strong> agencies<\/strong> and musicians<\/strong> have put on the table to undertake the challenge of performing concerts in a period of uncertainty and confusion.<\/p>\n

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Streaming in concert halls<\/h3>\n

Like working from the home office, streaming<\/strong> is here to stay. During these months, hundreds of artists have used their social networks<\/strong> (especially their Instagram<\/strong><\/a> profiles) to offer their followers live performances<\/strong>. Perhaps calling these videos “concerts” is too much, but it is evident that this type of format will be complementary in the future to the concerts of a lifetime. One idea that has stuck during these weeks is to offer concert streams in actual venues<\/strong>, which would correct one of the main problems of DIY<\/strong> videos: poor sound quality<\/strong>. That is, a band plays in a concert hall<\/strong> and whoever buys a ticket (obviously at a reduced price), will be able to see the concert through a private<\/strong> link<\/strong>. Possible drawbacks? It remains to be seen if the format works, i.e. if it will be profitable<\/strong> for the bands, venues and promoters involved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Drive-in concerts<\/h3>\n

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Another possible solution. If you can go see movies<\/strong> on a large screen in the car<\/strong>… why not concerts? Yes, yes, it is true that a concert is a totally different experience from what it means to go to the cinema, but in these circumstances, this would be the only possibility of seeing a massive concert (artists whose rooms are too small) and that it is not an absolute monetary sink for the promoters.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Acoustic tours<\/h3>\n

To cut costs, one of the measures that most bands seem to take is to tour<\/strong> acoustically<\/strong>. The reason seems clear: fewer musicians, less gear and staff needed<\/strong>\u00a0and much cheaper<\/strong> production<\/strong> costs<\/strong>. Although there has been the occasional criticism related to the simplification of bands (and the lack of work for the musicians that it would entail), it could be a good opportunity to explore more intimate formats.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Outdoors<\/h3>\n

Given that the reason why the capacity of concerts will be limited is the impossibility of hosting a large influx of people respecting the minimum safety distance<\/strong> of 1.5 meters, outdoor concerts would eliminate this limitation right away. It’s not as easy as it sounds, anyway: open air concerts<\/strong> won’t mean you can call your drummer and bass player and guitar player and start playing in the main square of your city. In this sense, a coordinated plan<\/strong> with the town councils will be necessary, which must rethink the public spaces where live music can be offered. There is more work than meets the eye.<\/p>\n

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The good old days<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/h3>\n

Concerts, but sitting at a distance<\/h3>\n

We said it in the previous point: the obligation to maintain a safe distance is the measure that will most affect concerts in the new normality. Therefore, in all the rooms (and outdoors) there will always be numbered tickets<\/strong> with assigned<\/strong> seats<\/strong>. Each person in the audience will have a chair that cannot be moved<\/strong>. Given the complaints that this momentary solution raised, many promoters are talking about modifying it: standing<\/strong> concerts<\/strong>, but with restricted areas of movement<\/strong>. In other words, you enter the room and you can jump and dance and everything you want, but without leaving a few tiles of floor space<\/strong>. Another idea is for the bands to play two sets<\/strong>, instead of one, for two different (smaller) groups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other proposals<\/h3>\n

There are also people thinking of alternatives to everything we have discussed. Two of the most valued so far are the disinfection tunnels<\/strong> and the Marko System<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Disinfection tunnels would be installed at the gates of major festivals<\/strong> and are supposed to ensure that anyone who crosses them would be, as the name suggests, disinfected<\/strong>. The problem? They are, apparently, not so effective at the moment. That is, in a context in which thousands of people can share space at their leisure for many hours, disinfection tunnels are currently not a sufficient guarantee<\/strong> that the virus would not circulate freely. The Marko system, devised by the Spanish Josan Serrano<\/strong>, would consist of a subdivision of the space into small areas of 150 square meters<\/strong>. Each box would have a maximum capacity of 50 people<\/strong> and there would be admission arches<\/strong>, so that only one user could be given access to one area. This would also allow easy control of the capacity. In addition, in all four spaces there would be a central bar<\/strong> with food<\/strong> and drink<\/strong>. Regarding the restrooms<\/strong>, they would be placed in a row on both sides of the enclosure and the people within each space would have assigned restrooms.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We suppose that the success of one of these alternatives will be determined by its economic performance<\/strong> – always respecting the safety and health measures – that they bring to those involved in the celebration of a concert.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

WHO has spoken<\/h3>\n

The World Health Organization<\/strong> has issued a report with a series of recommendations for organizing and holding concerts. For promoters, the WHO recommends holding events virtually<\/strong>, or outdoors<\/strong>, restricting the capacity<\/strong>, evaluating the status of potential attendees, adjusting the duration<\/strong> of the concert, evaluating the ability to respond to a possible panic situation, installing hand washing stations<\/strong>, frequent disinfection of spaces<\/strong> and proximity control<\/strong>. For those attending the concerts, the World Health Organization advises to avoid attending these events if you have had symptoms of covid-19 or have been with people who have\/had it, as well as if you are in the group of people at risk. And yes, just as you imagined, the WHO advises against any get-together or group dance outside the permitted measures. It’s time to be patient, friends.<\/p>\n

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How can musicians, bands, venue owners and promoters work around this covid crisis? Here are some possible solutions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":435810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tblog_post_audio_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10676,10720],"tags":[3922,5033,14869,13500,13494,14906,14912,13502,14908,14490,6465,4724,11510,4962,4966,14910,14871,9343,12151],"class_list":["post-434585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspire","category-learn","tag-audience","tag-concert-en","tag-concerts","tag-corona-en","tag-coronavirus","tag-coronoa","tag-covid-en","tag-covid-19-en","tag-crowd","tag-dance","tag-festival-en","tag-outdoor","tag-people","tag-perform","tag-play","tag-promoters","tag-solutions","tag-venue","tag-virus-en"],"category_colors":{"color_key":"inspire","css_classes":{"text":"cat-inspire","text_light":"cat-inspire-light","bg":"cat-bg-inspire","bg_light":"cat-bg-inspire-light","border":"cat-border-inspire","text_on_bg":"cat-text-on-inspire"}},"reading_time":{"minutes":6,"formatted":"6 min"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}