Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Somebody’s Gotta Go First
First post-covid concert draws NYC photographer
This month alone, Kevin Mazur should have been in San Diego photographing opening night of The Rolling Stones’ tour; in Seattle to shoot the kickoff of Justin Bieber’s summer tour; in Napa Valley covering the BottleRock music and wine festival; and in his home town of New York City to capture what is, in his opinion, the biggest event in the country — the Met Gala.
The last time Mazur and his camera were in front of a group of musicians indoors was at the Beacon Theatre in New York City where more than 40 artists performed at the fourth annual LOVE ROCKS NYC benefit concert for God’s Love We Deliver. It would end up being the very last concert to happen before the pandemic halted live performances.
On May 18, the in-demand celebrity photographer and co-founder of WireImage found himself in Fort Smith, to document what was likely the first post-covid indoor concert. TempleLive, like venues across the country, shuttered its doors in midMarch when gatherings of more than 10 were banned in the U.S. to stem the spread of covid-19.
“That was my last fix of live music, so I’m getting my first fix of live music. I need it. I live for it,” said Mazur, who got his start as a photographer by sneaking his camera into rock concerts. Now, the photog with a portfolio stuffed with iconic images of Michael Jackson, Madonna, David Bowie and Nirvana says he felt like he was on a mission to document the momentous occasion at the former Masonic Temple building.
“I’ve shot some of the most historic concerts,” Mazur, shooting the show for Getty Images, said hours before it began. “I was there for Live Aid in Philadelphia; I was at the Freddie Mercury [tribute concert] in England; I was the photographer for the 9/11 concert in New York. I do all the big, historical events. To me, this is equal to that.
“All eyes in the music industry and the entertainment industry are on this show right now. Live Nation, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), everybody wants to see them succeed because this is going to be the start of getting our industry back.”
Though other areas lessened restrictions before Arkansas — Missouri, for example, has had the greenlight for concerts and other social gatherings since May 4 — the indoor concert “was the first one in the world, that we’re aware of,” said Mike Brown, vice president of operations for TempleLive, the morning after the performance.
Despite organizers’ assurances of a safe experience for audience and performers under detailed covid-19 operating protocol, controversy around blues rocker Travis McCready’s intimate acoustic show has been escalating for weeks. Announced on April 23, the original performance date for the concert was supposed to be Friday, May 15. But when Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced plans for the limited reopenings of indoor venues like theaters, arenas and lecture halls, the proposed date of May 18 came three days after the scheduled McCready performance.
The venue and concert organizers’ unwillingness to back down — confident their safety precautions would be enough defense from viral spread — instigated a back-and-forth between TempleLive and the governor’s office and Arkansas Department of Health that drew national, and even international, attention. A cease-anddesist order was issued; the club’s liquor license was “ripped” from the wall by Alcoholic Beverage Control Division agents, Brown said in a press conference; and use of law enforcement was threatened.
The show, of course, was eventually required to move to the state’s designated date — “against our will, that’s key,” Brown asserted. But even at three days later than hoped for, the concert is still one of, if not the very first, post-covid concert to take place in a large, indoor venue.
“It was as soon as it hit the media, I saw this, and I just had to be part of it, to help get everything back on track,” Mazur said of the show. “I love live music. It’s the heart and soul of our country. Everybody wants to go to live music and go out and enjoy themselves, but you have to take precautions. So I’m looking at what they’re doing here and I’m saying to myself, ‘This is what they’re going to be doing for all concert venues, until we get a vaccine, and everybody can get back to normal.’”
“I am glad we were able to resolve the issue in a way that brought the concert in compliance with Arkansas Department of Health directives,” said Gov. Hutchinson via email the night of the performance. “Music is important to Arkansas, and I’m delighted that we are able to host one of the first concerts in the country during this pandemic. We are all ready for music to echo through the hills again.”
Among the precautions in place for McCready’s performance, the 1,100-capacity house was reduced by 80 percent, with fewer than 250 tickets available for purchase. The venue was promised to be sanitized before and after the event. Groups of two to 13 were to be seated separated by six feet, and audience members would be required to wear masks.
“The only thing we had to change” between the concert’s April 23 announcement and the May 18 performance date, Brown revealed, “was that masks were mandatory for anyone over the age of 10. Everything else was pretty much over and above what the state was requiring large venues to do. So their narrative that we didn’t comply, the only thing that we didn’t comply with was the date that was chosen for whatever reason by the Arkansas Department of Health and the governor’s office.”
During his May 4 daily media update, Gov. Hutchinson declared the May 18 date for large venues — a 14-day window that would allow the state to monitor results of the phased reopenings. At the briefing, both Gov. Hutchinson and Arkansas Secretary of Health, Dr. Nate Smith, cited the Guidelines for Opening Up America Again released by the White House as justification for the May 18 date. The guidelines lay out a three-phrase approach for businesses and locations to reopen, allowing for discretion on the part of individual states and governors.
Gov. Hutchinson and the Arkansas Department of Health resolved to further isolate those phases in order to see the greatest impact of each action during the reopening, Smith shared on that date. By phasing in the types of businesses and gatherings allowed to reopen, Smith said, it would give the state time to get the appropriate protocols in place should Arkansas see a resurgence in virus cases.
“Our principle here is, we’d like to be as fair as possible, but it’s really based on the risk of covid-19 transmission and what restrictions we can put in place to make those safe,” Smith said on May 4. “In many cases, those restrictions are big sacrifices for those industries, but if they can keep the risk of covid-19 transmission to a minimum during this Phase One, we’re OK with moving forward with it.”
Despite the tension surrounding the event, the show was as great a success as it could have been, Brown said the morning after. Around 170 audience members — some ticketholders were unable to be there after the concert’s date change — attended what is presumed to be the nation’s first socially distanced indoor concert, before McCready headed north for an outdoor concert the following night in Pineville, Mo.
“It was surprisingly good,” Brown said proudly of the show. “It was loud. It was alive. It was everything you’d think a rock show would be.”
Mazur was in agreement over the show’s achievement, while stressing the importance for correct safety measures, like he believes TempleLive established. It’s not just elderly people dying from the disease, he said, almost begging for people to take the precautions seriously.
“Long Island, where I live in New York — I’m not in New York City, I’m out on Long Island — it looks like around here,” he said of Fort Smith. “We didn’t think it was going to hit us. And boy, when it hit us, it spread fast. So you have to take every precaution so it doesn’t spread. I want to get back to work; I want everybody to get back to work. But you have to take the necessary precautions to get back to work.”
Mazur, who was a medical photographer at the height of the AIDS crisis, said before the show that he was impressed with the measures in place at TempleLive and is optimistic about the way forward for music.
“People need it,” he said of the concert sparking a “new normal.” “People have to have hope, and they’re hoping to get on with their lives. So that’s why it’s so important. And that’s why people want to get back into church. This is my church — live music, this is my church. I need it. Music is good for the soul, especially live music. You feel it, you know?”