Artists Make Plans to Perform Despite Pandemic: Lincoln Prepares for Live Performances in 2021 as the Music Scene Adjusts to COVID-19 Precautions
Concerts are usually fun experiences. People love them. The experience of seeing an artist you enjoy listening to live is exciting. I remember the first time I was at a live performance. I even wrote about it last year for the Clocktower. But unfortunately, concerts do not really happen right now aside from watching live streams on YouTube.
There were a lot of concerts planned to come to our town before the pandemic, from Elton John to The E Street Band. They were all canceled due to…the obvious. That being said, from now until the end of the year, there are bands and artists that span all genres of music that are braving the pandemic and still coming to Lincoln.
Next year, concerts are coming back in a big way. Tom Lorenz, the manager for the Pinnacle Bank Arena, a large venue for artists where many artists have performed in the past, said that a lot of artists saved dates for the arena. “I think there’s a lot of pent-up demand, and everybody wants to get back on the road,” said Lorenz.
The variation of artists coming to our town next year is filled with every possible genre of music. But what about right now? What is happening in concerts with COVID-19? Well, oddly enough, smaller festivals are happening but with predetermined areas for each group of people. They are able to place blankets down and stay within that space. They are social distancing, but something is missing. Doing things like this removes something special from the experience of a festival.
There are also live-streamed concerts. A lot of artists have done this on YouTube recently. If they release an album, they might go on with their band or whoever is usually with them and perform for a while. But the downside to this is the same as recent festivals. There is something big missing from the experience. You cannot get the same energy as a real live concert.
I think we are all missing the experience of going to a concert and feeling the energy from the crowd and the audience. We miss seeing artists that make the songs we love to sing in the car, in the shower or just in our rooms studying. Maybe we just miss people.
TJ Pittinger is a Sophomore
Theology Major from
Gilson, Illinois