By Shirley Halperin, Jem Aswad: “As entertainment businesses go, the live music sector has taken among the heaviest beatings by the coronavirus pandemic, with some experts positing that it will be at least 18 months before concerts and other stage performances return to something resembling normalcy.

… However, even if quarantines are lifted by late spring, it’s difficult to predict with an accuracy when authorities will give an all-clear to even smaller gatherings — let alone when people will feel secure enough to congregate.

A more realistic scenario, industry experts tell Variety, is a “staged evolution” — a gradual return to concertgoing, beginning with smaller venues and slowly ramping up to arenas and stadiums, presumably well after a vaccine has been proven effective.

“It’s not like someone’s going to ring a bell and say ‘It’s safe to go to any concert, anywhere,’” says one insider. “It will depend on the capacity of the venues, whether or not the venue is outdoors, where in the country they are and what the social-distancing possibilities look like.”

Source: Variety