Live, if not as lively
Performances slowly return to area venues — with a few changes
Musician Mitch Webb is glad he’s finally able to play for live audiences again, but he also says it is far from what it was like before the COVID-19 pandemic put the kibosh on that sort of thing.
“It’s not as much fun,” said Webb, who fronts the Swindles. “It’s totally different than anything I’ve ever seen. We like to see people dancing. You can’t really do that at gigs any more.”
On the other hand, he said, fans who have been cooped up inside for months are hungry to get out and see their favorite bands. And they’ve made sure that the musicians know that.
“I’ve never seen an outpouring of love and empathy and understanding of what local musicians are going through,” said Webb, who also books live entertainment at The Cove, where he’s played some solo
shows in the past month or so. “The public, all the fans of our band, they’ve really reached out to us. So it brings us closer in some ways, but not in the normal ways.”
After about seven months of live entertainment shifting almost exclusively to the virtual realm because of the pandemic, it is tip-toeing back, mostly with solo artists or small ensembles playing to socially distanced audiences. And since big tours remain sidelined and restrictions on the size of gatherings are still in place, it’s likely to stay that way for a long time.
“We don’t expect any largescale events any time soon,” said Casey Heverling, vice president and general manager of the AT&T Center. “It’s more of these, I’ll call them manageable settings. Artists are human, too. They’re going through this, too, and they want to work so bad, but they also want what’s best for their fans.”
Just like everyone else in entertainment, Heverling is monitoring infection rates, as well as local, state and federal COVID-19 guidelines. He is hopeful that the numbers will eventually make it possible for larger audiences and shows.
The most recent guidelines from the state for indoor fine arts performance halls, issued Sept. 17, allow for 50 percent
capacity, with everyone masked and at least 6 feet apart. Groups of patrons are limited to no more than 10 people. There is no limit on crowd size for outdoor events, but those areas can’t be packed the way they once were because social distancing is required, and groups are capped at 10 people there, too.
The safety protocols that have been in place for virtually all public spaces since the spring are also the standard for performances. Masks are required, temperatures are taken before entry is granted at many places, seating is limited to allow for social distancing, and patrons are encouraged to avail themselves of hand sanitizer.
All those requirements alter the feel of a live show, said Chad Carey, owner of the Paper Tiger. The club had its first concert in months on Oct. 3, when the country cover band The Texases played in the courtyard.
“Everyone was very cool and cooperative about distancing, and it was a very fun night,” Carey said via email. “But our space does present limitations in terms of total capacity while distancing. And for many artists, the energy of a ‘packed house’ is a huge part of the appeal of live music.”
When the AT&T Center resumed live performances last month, it did so outside, too. First up was a concert by country singer-songwriter Ward Davis in the Bud Light Courtyard. Fans were seated at widely spaced tables of six, with attendance capped at about 25 percent of capacity. To keep them at those tables, they could order drinks and snacks from their phones, and the refreshments were delivered to them.
Getting back to presenting was a welcome development, Heverling said.
“This is what we do,” he said. “We like to put on these events and bring them to our communi
ty.”
Upcoming bookings include a sold-out performance by comic Bert Kreischer on Saturday, and a show by Aaron Lewis and Sully Erna, the frontmen for Staind and Godsmack, respectively, Oct. 28.
The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts has been giving the high-tech adjustable floor in the H-E-B Performance Hall a workout. The floor can be programmed to drop out individual seats or entire rows, creating physically distanced bubbles around ticketholders.
After a handful of free events designed to boost patrons’ comfort level and work out the kinks that come with new procedures, the building returned to ticketed indoor events last month.
First up was a weekend packed with the solo play “An Evening with C.S. Lewis” and a concert by the British Invasion band Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone.
Upcoming performances include acoustic solo shows by Christian musician Matthew
West on Saturday and country singer Travis Tritt on Oct. 28.
Aaron Zimmerman, vice president for programming, is cautiously optimistic.
“The energy on the ground feels like it’s coming back, and it’s progressing from where we were,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t want to get too overconfident. We still live in a COVID world.”
Gruene Hall in New Braunfels brought back live music in June, kicking things off in a big way with Robert Earl Keen.
“The first day we were open, there were folks waiting,” said Ryan Weinbrandt, director of operations for Molak Corp., which owns Gruene Hall, the Gristmill restaurant and other businesses in the historic district. “I had a guy grab my sleeve, and he said, ‘I wanted to be the first one here, but I was No. 7.’ ”
Audiences are capped at 220 in a space that can accommodate 800. Masks are required when moving through the hall, though they can be removed while folks are seated. There is no dancing.
And every act performs on the roomy stage to make sure musicians can spread out and aren’t too close to the audience.
Even with all those changes, having musicians once again playing in the legendary dance hall makes a big difference.
“Music in Gruene Hall radiating out into the street changes the whole feel,” Weinbrandt said. “When they closed on June 26, a little bit of life went away.”
Upcoming ticketed concerts in the space include a pair of 50th anniversary concerts by Asleep at the Wheel today and Saturday, Junior Brown on Oct. 23 and the Eli Young Band on Oct. 28-29. Free shows have returned, too.
Some performance venues are coming back slower than others. The Charline Mccombs Empire Theatre has just one concert announced for the months ahead: jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum on Nov. 20. Nothing has been announced for its big sister, the Majestic Theatre, for the rest of the year.
The show page for the nearby Aztec Theatre, too, is filled with postponements and cancellations for 2020.
The next show that has been announced is the Jan. 28 outing for the Spanish-language satire “Por qué los hombres aman a las cabronas?” (“Why Do Men Love Bitches?”)
Over the summer, Cassandra Parker-nowicki, executive director of the Carver Community Cultural Center, decided to drop all live programming for the rest of the year, moving as many shows as possible into 2021.
That does not mean the center will be entirely dark. KRTU is streaming concerts for its South Texas Jazz Project from the Little Carver Civic Center, with no audience. The series started last month with a performance by the Regency Jazz Band with George Prado.
“It was actually a little emotional the first night,” ParkerNowicki said. “It felt so good to hear music within these walls again, even if we couldn’t have an audience with us.”
Upcoming performances include the Joe Caploe Group on Oct. 29 and vocalist Jazzmeia Horn on Nov. 12. They will stream over the Facebook and Youtube channels for the Carver and KRTU.
As for when things might open for music fans looking for a bigger show than a few folks onstage, one recently announced date stands out: Freeman Coliseum plans to present Judas Priest’s 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour a year from now, on Oct. 12, 2021.
Paper Tiger owner Carey expects bigger shows to return to venues like his at some point, too.
“I believe that there will be a time when 1,000 people come to Paper Tiger for a sold-out show,” he said. “And it will look and feel like it did before. Now, I’m not sure when that’s going to happen. But it will be back. People love live music and love being around other people.”