San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Music venues working out details of safe reopening.
Promoters, owners working out the details
The sound of music never faded completely during the pandemic. Musicians gave online concerts and held Zoom rehearsals to stay sharp, and some played outdoors while social distancing,
But as the city and state begin opening up, live music will once again be heard in bars, nightclubs and eventually larger indoor and outdoor venues, although performing arts venues like the Tobin Center have not yet been given explicit permission to resume operations under Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to reopen the state.
Exactly how live music will be heard — what precautions club owners will take, whether audiences will show up — remains to be seen.
Such details, everyone agrees, are still being worked out.
“I’ve been working on how to do that every day at home since we closed our doors in March,” said Michelle Rodriguez, owner of The Rock Box live music venue and bar on East Houston Street.
However it happens, one thing’s for sure: From owners to performers to fans, people want to get their groove on again.
“I’m getting calls from artists every day saying, ‘We just want to play,’ ” said Glenn Smith, owner of concert promotion company Glenn Smith Presents. “And people really want to get out and hear live music.”
The trouble is, under Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan, bars, wine tasting rooms and craft breweries can open at only 25 percent capacity. Mixing live music with state-mandated capacity controls and social distancing will be a difficult task for most venue owners and promoters.
The rules ensure, for example, that it will be a long time before you see a concert like the March 7 double bill at Sam’s Burger Joint that featured Led Zeppelin cover band Mothership and Heart tribute band Even It Up. During that show, which took place about a week before the stay-athome edict went into effect, audience members stood packed together as close to the stage as they could get.
“The next show we have on the schedule is for June 5,” said Keith Howerton, a partner and entertainment director at Sam’s Burger Joint, which has a live venue with a capacity of 450. “If it does happen, it’ll sure look nothing like that.”
What it will look like, however, is still up in the air.
Instead of crowding the stage, for example, Howerton said the audience might have to sit at tables, like at a nightclub.
“But the tables will have to be 6 feet from each other, with family groups able to sit together,” he said. “And it would be all table service to limit the number of people walking around.”
Other precautions may include audience members being required to wear face masks, use hand sanitizers and have their temperature taken before entering a club. Some venues may go cashless, requiring patrons to use no-touch payment terminals instead.
For outdoor venues, things are even less clear, but Smith said he can foresee the grounds being divided into “pods” where groups of family and friends will remain during the show.
“The best case would be to use snow fences to separate the pods,” he said, referring to perforated sheets of orange plastic originally used to prevent snowdrifts. “There’d be walking lanes 10 foot wide with one-way foot traffic.”
The return of live music also may mean a rethinking of how bands and bars make money, at least temporarily.
Generally, ticket sales or door covers go to pay the band while the venue makes money on food and drinks. But until venues can again sell as many tickets as patrons will buy, ticket prices may have to be raised and bands may have to accept less.
“They may have to make 80 percent to 90 percent less than they made just two or three months ago,” Howerton said.
“But the smart ones will do it to make sure their fans are still with them when we come out on the other side.”
Another short-term option agents and promoters are considering is turning a venue over two, even three times in a single night.
“It would require double the work from an artist for playing to the same amount of people,” said Blayne Tucker, owner of The Mix on North St. Mary’s Street. “But it’s something some venues may consider to get through these difficult times.”
Performing arts venues were not included in Phase 2 of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to reopen Texas.
Executives at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, unsure about where the facility falls in that plan, reached out to Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff for guidance.
Last week, Wolff said such venues probably would open sometime in June.
Michael Fresher, president and CEO of the Tobin, noted that its flooring system makes it uniquely suited to social distancing. The facility can remove every other row of seats.
“You could literally drive a small car between the rows,” he said. “We’re one of the only buildings in the country that won’t have to rely on string and paper signs to jury-rig a way to keep audience members separated.”
Other strategies the center is considering include keeping two seats empty between groups sitting in the same row, requiring food and beverage ordering through the Tobin’s mobile phone app, discouraging loitering in the lobbies, and having ushers escort all patrons to their seats to avoid crowding in the aisles.
“We may have to open the doors an hour and a half before showtime instead of only an hour, but this is something we’re considering,” Fresher said. “And we’ll leave those protocols in place for as long as they’re necessary.”
For many indoor clubs, opening at 25 percent capacity is a nonstarter. Outdoor spaces, on the other hand, don’t have capacity limits, as long as patrons stay socially distant.
Rodriguez from The Rock Box has been investigating having drive-in concerts in her club’s large parking lot.
“I figure we can get 50 to 80 cars in, and we have the technology to broadcast the music to their FM radios,” she said recently while sanitizing the club in preparation for when it reopens. “We’re not going to make a lot of money, but we’ll cover our overhead and keep the staff working.”
The demand for live music is perhaps best seen in the fact that just about every piece of concert equipment in the state has been leased through the fall, said Smith, the concert promotion company owner.
“There’s hardly a microphone, a bank of lights or anything else available until after the first of the year,” he said. “Everything is already leased by acts that have had to cancel all their shows since March.”
Perhaps the biggest question facing venues is whether, once doors open, anyone will show up.
“Live music goers are extremely enthusiastic,” said Erica Vigliante, owner of concert promotion company Twin Productions. “I think they’re ready.”
They may be a little worried, but as long as venues follow safety guidelines, she said, audiences will be be excited to again enjoy live music.